Taming the cyber frontier: Techniques for improving online surveys

The World Wide Web and other new electronic technologies might soon become prime survey vehicles due to convenient, verifiable, low-cost delivery and return systems as well as easy access and feedback mechanisms. However, along with the benefits of this new technology come new experiences and les-sons to be learned and shared by researchers. The authors created and posted a survey on the Web to examine the uses of the Web for political information. The purpose of the article, however, is not to report on the political survey’s findings but rather to address issues concerning online research, discuss the implications of an online environment for traditional survey techniques, share Web survey experi-ences from an ex post facto perspective, and present recommendations for future online research, spe-cifically in the areas of Web survey design, sampling, data collection and responses, and publicity