Internet Interviewing Tips

Sample

Determine carefully whether or not the Internet is the best methodology to use for the type of survey you will be conducting and for the people you are trying to reach.  According to the latest statistics from a major supplier of samples for Internet interviewing, the response rate for random panel sample is around 30%, for targeted sample it averages 2% to 5%, and for business targeted sample it averages around 3%. The questionnaire topic and qualifications for the study will also impact the response rate.    

Questionnaire

Try to limit your questionnaire length to no more than 10 minutes. Long surveys are not always practical for the Internet. This will reduce your amount of “quits” and “refusals”, “timeouts”, and general respondent fatigue. Keep your surveys as simple as possible. Respondents use a wide variety of Web browsers and Internet Providers. Some may not recognize features that you choose to use in your questionnaire. Some features may rely on a respondent having specific software installed on their computer, such as macromedia software. If the respondent does not have macromedia software installed on their computer, the respondent will not be able to see that feature.     

Email Blast

TAG requires 48 hours lead time if you would like TAG to send an email blast with a security database (password protected access to a survey). TAG requires 24 hours lead time for an open invitation email blast or if you are doing the email blast yourself. We will make every effort to accommodate your emailing schedule. TAG has numerous Internet studies running on our website and we monitor the usage. Depending upon the size of the blast, we conduct one email blast per business day.  Respondents tend to respond very quickly after the blast so traffic to our website is very high immediately following an email blast.  We recommend that no more than 500 emails are sent at a time followed by another group of 500 emails every two hours. (If TAG is doing the email blast, this is still  considered one blast for pricing purposes.) 

Respondents may not be using an Internet Provider that allows them to click on the link to our website. The email should include instructions for cutting and pasting the website into the address box to access our website. If you are using ‘Cookies’ to keep a respondent from participating in the study more than one time, keep in mind that only respondents that have their computers set to ‘Cookies enabled’ can accept ‘Cookies’.  (The default setting is ‘Cookies enabled’.)   

General Information

TAG uses our QueryWeb software for Internet interviewing.  Respondents can access QueryWeb using Internet Explorer 5.0 and above and Netscape 6.0 and above.  If a respondent reports trouble completing a survey it is usually and issue with their computer, Internet Provider, Internet browser or Internet connection. If you can successfully complete the survey, the problem is usually on the respondent’s end.  

TAG allows up to 300 connections to our website at one time.  We monitor the activity and reserve the right to limit the number of connections to preserve the integrity of all studies running. 

Occasionally our website may not be available as a result of a power failure or Internet outage.  TAG has no control over Internet outages. We have four hours of reserve back up on our Web server for power failures. We update our server from time to time. Updates are conducted when monitoring indicates a low activity level. 

Pop Up Ad Managers

Pop Up Ad Managers are programs designed to prevent websites from launching new browser windows in Internet Explorer.  Most people use these programs to control the amount of advertising they see when visiting various web sites. The amount of control ranges from what browser windows the program will "kill" to no control.

QueryWeb launches a new browser window when a respondent clicks "Begin Survey" or when they click "Logon" after entering a security code. If  pop up manager is set up to automatically "kill" launched browser windows, the respondent will receive a scripting error and will not be able to conduct the survey. To participate in a survey, the respondent must either disable their pop up manager program or permit it to open up the survey in a new browser window.