Internet Survey by ESC

Theory about Internet Surveyand Practices by ESC, NCCUpresented by Chia-hung Tsai forESC and NSYSU survey center2012.5.101

What is internet survey• Asking questions by mailing peoplethrough internet interface• It’s like mail survey; response rate is anissue (non-sampling error).• Respondents may be from telephonesurveys or large databank.• Could be biased toward young, educatedinternet-users.2

What is NOT internet survey• Entertainment polling: CNN(Quick vote),Yahoo…• Voluntary-panel: 優 仕 網• Self-selected web surveys: government3

Cost of Internet Survey• No cost of space, supervisor,interviewers, equipments, and telephonefees.• Need to collect Emails, maintainrespondents, and reward respondents.4

Advantages of internet surveys• Interesting interfaces.• More visual elements: video, audio, andscales• Easy to do experiments.• Easy to track respondents’ attitudes• No boundary of space and time5

Some inspiring examplesBusiness• Harris Interactive• YouGovResearch• TESS• Three Ontario Votes

Disadvantages of internet surveys• Not representative of population; young,educated, office people• Self-selection bias• Not sure about who answers thequestions• Not sure about how many people willrespond.• Not able to ask knowledge questions10

2007 primary research for RDEC• We successfully contacted 3,000 peopleout of more than 15,000 previousrespondents through telephone.• Over 90% of people can log on internet.• 57% of people said they often surf theinternet.11

(continued)• Only 1,000 people agreed to join thepanel.• About 300 people responded to thesurvey each time.• We offered $2.5 dollars for eachinterview plus some rewards for loyalparticipants.• Spending too much to build up a panel.12

Difference in Gender,4 wavesDifference in Education, N=3250.0 1.0 2.0 3.0-20 0 10 20 30male male male maleele. high univ.Difference in Age, N=325Difference in areas, N=325-10 -5 0 5-1 0 1 2 3 420-29 40-49 60+N1 Tao Yun Yi

Switching to New Method• We recruit people when we are doingsurveys beginning from 2009.• We’re able to recruit 20-25% ofrespondents each survey.• About 7,000 panelists are in our pool.• 7 surveys have been conducted.14

Number of Panelists Recruited from Projects0 100 200 300 400 500 600 70020071201 20091202 20100303 2010080215

Last 4 Surveys' Res. RatesLast 4 Surveys' Obs.%0 2 4 6 8 10 12 140 100 200 300 400MayOct.MayOct.16

Gender, N=3631Male Female17-0.4 -0.2 0.0 0.2 0.4

Age, N=3631-10 -5 0 520-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60+18

Education, N=3629-30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40ele. junior high college univ.19

Areas, N=3622-2 0 2 4 6N1 N2 Tao Chung Yun Kao Yi20

Party Identification, N=3631DPP Ind KMT NP PFP TSU21Difference, %-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1

Unification/Independence Issue, N=3631Difference, %0 5 10 15Strong Uni. Depends Ind. Non22

Taiwanese identityTaiwanese Both Chinese Non23Difference, %-6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 8

Ma's Popularity'10.1 '10.2 '10.5 '10.10 '10.10240-10 scale4.25 4.50 4.75 5.00

DPP Chairperson Tsai's Popularity0-10 scale5.25 5.50'10.1 '10.2 '10.5 '10.10 '10.1025

New Phrase: Website• We built facebook and website in 2011.• Facebook: PollcracyLab• Website: 線 上 調 查 實 驗 室• We announce our results on facebook andwebsite.26

What can we do?• We send out questions to around 1500respondents about every 2 weeks.• Each wave of survey gets 500 completions.• Every participant can collect 20 points forevery completion. 600 points can makeNTD$600 7-11 gift card.27

Difference in Gender, 4 wavesDifference in Education, N=5070 1 2 3 4 5-20 0 10 20 30 402012.1 2012.1 2012.2 2012.2ele. junior high collegeDifference in Age, N=507Difference in Area, N=507-10 -5 0 5 10 150 5 1020-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60+N1 N2 Tao Yun Yi29

Internet survey, 2012.2Blue Green Ind.2010 TEDSBlue Green Ind.300.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.50.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4

Ma’s popularity(Strongly Dislike-Strongly Like)31

Ma’s popularity (0-10 scores)

TFD minus Internet PollDiff. in Edu(2012.3)−20 −10 0 10ele. junior high college univ.

TFD minus Internet PollDiff. in Age(2012.3)−25 −20 −15 −10 −5 0 520−29 30−39 40−49 50−59 60+

TFD minus Internet PollDiff. in Partyid(2012.3)−5 0 5 10 15Blue Green Ind.

TFD minus Internet PollEarnings can Satisfy My Life?(2012.3)−15 −10 −5 0 5 10 15Not Enough at AllVery Well

TFD minus Internet PollSocial Welfare Good Enough?(2012.3)−15 −10 −5 0 5 10Very Bad Just Okay Very Good

TFD minus Internet PollEconomy Better than Last Year?(2012.3)10.80.60.40.20Better About the Same Worse

Conclusions• It’s difficult to get low-educated, seniorpeople for internet surveys.• In Taiwan, respondents may be morepro-blue than other surveys.• Hot issues may increase sample size.• Feeling about economy is precise.35

Future directions• Matching panelists with samples frompopulation• Multi-level analysis• Half RDD samples and half panelists