The Net Effect: A Comparison of Internet and Mail Survey Respondents.

Multiple-mode surveys can improve response and reduce survey error and costs. Although web surveys are an increasingly popular mode of survey administration, the full effect of web data collection on a primarily mail survey is not yet fully understood. This paper details response rates for a large-scale health care survey fielded by mail with a web response option. It also compares characteristics of those who responded online to characteristics of those who responded by mail to determine whether web respondents differ from mail respondents and whether particular subsets of the population are more likely to respond over the internet.