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Online Panel Research: A Data Quality Perspective

Reg Baker
Jelke Bethlehem
Anja S. Goritz
Jon A. Krosnick
Paul J. Lavrakas
Wiley (2014), pp. 512

Abstract

This edited volume provides new insights into the accuracy and value of online panels for completing surveys Over the last decade, there has been a major global shift in survey and market research towards data collection, using samples selected from online panels. Yet despite their widespread use, remarkably little is known about the quality of the resulting data. This edited volume is one of the first attempts to carefully examine the quality of the survey data being generated by online samples. It describes some of the best empirically-based research on what has become a very important yet controversial method of collecting data. Online Panel Research presents 19 chapters of previously unpublished work addressing a wide range of topics, including coverage bias, nonresponse, measurement error, adjustment techniques, the relationship between nonresponse and measurement error, impact of smartphone adoption on data collection, Internet rating panels, and operational issues. The datasets used to prepare the analyses reported in the chapters are available on the accompanying website: www.wiley.com/go/online_panel