EXPLORING THE EFFECTS OF REMOVING “TOO FAST ” RESPONSES AND RESPONDENTS FROM WEB SURVEYS

Abstract This paper addresses speeding, that is, “too fast ” responses, in web surveys. Relying on the response process model, we argue that very short response times indicate low data quality, stemming from a lack of attention on the part of respondents. To identify speeding, prior research employed case-wise procedures. Using data from nine online surveys, we demonstrate that response behavior of individual respondents varies considerably during a survey. Thus, we use case- and page-wise procedures to capture speeding behavior that taps different, although related, phenomena. Moreover, page-specific speeding meas-ures capture aspects of data quality that traditional quality measures do not cover. Employing both page-specific and case-wise speeding meas-ures, we examine whether removing speeders makes a difference in substantive findings. The evidence indicates that removing “too fast” responses does not alter marginal distributions, irrespective of which speeder-correction technique is employed. Moreover, explanatory mod