My breaks between posts are getting longer and longer. Sorry my dear readers. Today, I am writing about research done over a year ago that I did with Vera Toepoel and Alerk Amin. Our study was about a group of respondents we can no longer ignore: Mobile-only web survey respondents. These are people, who do no longer use a laptop or desktop PC and use their smartphone for most or any of their Internet browsing, but instead use a smartphone.
In late august of 2011 I attended the Internet Survey Methodology Workshop. There were people from academia, official statistics and market research agencies there. One of the issues discussed there has had me thinking since: the topic of panel conditioning. Some people seem really worried that respondents in panel surveys start behaving or thinking differently because of repeated participation in a survey.
Panel conditioning is closely linked with the issue of ‘professional’ respondents.