Using Web-Hosted Surveys to Obtain Responses from Extension Clients: A Cautionary Tale

Surveys are important tools for Extension professionals. Given the development of Web-hosted surveys, two important questions are When can they be used? and How does the data differ from those collected by other methods? The study reported here compares three modes of delivery: mail only, mail/Web choice, and Web preference with a mail option. Data showed the response rate for the mail-only mode was highest (64.5%), followed by the mail/Web choice mode (59.2%) and the Web preference mode (52.6%). The evidence indicates a need to consider how the results might be affected by methodological decisions to use the Internet