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Unlike other data collection modes, the effect of labeling rating scales on reliability and validity, as relevant aspects of measurement quality, has seldom been addressed in online surveys. In this study, verbal and numeric rating scales were compared in split-ballot online survey experiments. In the first experiment, respondents' cognitive processes were observed by means of eye tracking, that is, determining the respondent's fixations in different areas of the screen. In the remaining experiments, data for reliability and validity analysis were collected from a German adult sample. The results show that respondents needed more fixations and more time to endorse a category when a rating scale had numeric labels. Cross-sectional reliability was lower and some hypotheses with respect to the criterion validity could not be supported when numeric rating scales were used. In conclusion, theoretical considerations and the empirical results contradict the current broad usage of numeric scales in online surveys.

Research on mixed devices in web surveys is in its infancy. Using a randomized experiment, we investigated device effects (desktop PC, tablet and mobile phone) for six response formats and four different numbers of scale points. N = 5,077 members of an online access panel participated in the experiment. An exact test of measurement invariance and Composite Reliability were investigated. The results provided full data comparability for devices and formats, with the exception of continuous Visual Analog Scale (VAS), but limited comparability for different numbers of scale points. There were device effects on reliability when looking at the interactions with formats and number of scale points. VAS, use of mobile phones and five point scales consistently gained lower reliability. We suggest technically less demanding implementations as well as a unified design for mixed-device surveys.

"Verweigerungen stellen einen beträchtlichen Anteil systematischer Ausfälle in Umfragen dar. Einige Umfragen erheben Verweigerungsgründe während des Datenerhebungsprozesses. Neben einer Zusatzinformation zum Ablauf der Datenerhebung liefern diese Daten auch Informationen, die zur Reduzierung der Verweigerungsraten genutzt werden können. Allerdings fehlen derzeit standardisierte Instrumente zur Erfassung von Verweigerungsgründen, die eine zuverlässige Datenerhebung sichern würden. In diesem Artikel stellen wir ein standardisiertes Instrument – ein Kategorienschema – zur Klassifizierung der Verweigerungsgründe vor, das als Teil einer Inhaltsanalyse entwickelt wurde. Als Datenbasis nutzten wir offen erhobene Angaben der Interviewer in Kontaktprotokollen im ALLBUS 2008. Die Intercoder-Reliabilität der Codierung beträgt 0,84 und ist zufriedenstellend. Abschließend geben wir Hinweise zur Nutzung des Kategorienschemas für die Codierung der offen erhobenen Daten sowie zur Datenerhebung direkt durch den Interviewer im Feld." (Autorenreferat)

Interview falsifications in face-to-face surveys have the potential to seriously contaminate survey data. Thus, detection methods are of crucial importance. One idea is to use several falsification indicators derived from existing survey data. Here, real and falsified data are compared in two experimental studies. Response sets are used to develop formal indicators, and content of responses is used to develop content-related indicators. During the analysis, numerous formal indicators are tested and compared with content-related indicators. The results indicate that the majority of formal indicators allow for differentiation between real and false data, and, in addition, certain content-related indicators are useful for such differentiation. The results are discussed in terms of the usefulness of indicators in identifying potential falsifiers. Adapted from the source document.

Postal surveys are an important data collection mode in social science survey research. One key task when implementing postal surveys is to motivate the potential respondents to participate. This is done by means of the cover letter, the design of the questionnaire, and repeated contacts. Methodological aspects of the implementation of postal surveys are discussed against the background of theories that explain target persons' willingness to participate.