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Journal of Travel Research
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Article

Online Versus Paper: Format Effects in Tourism Surveys

Sara Dolnicar1*, Christian Laesser2, and Katrina Matus1

1 University of Wollongong
2 University of St. Gallen, University of Wollongong

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: sarad{at}uow.edu.au.


  Abstract
The popularity of online surveys is rising, yet the validity of survey data collected online is frequently questioned. This study compares online surveys versus paper surveys administered via regular mail in the tourism context, and examines in detail the extent and nature of survey bias resulting from survey format-specific respondent self-selection. Results suggest that (1) both online and mail samples deviate from census data population statistics regarding sociodemographics to the same extent (but differ in nature), (2) no differences exist in the contamination of data by response styles, (3) online respondents have a lower dropout rate and produce less incomplete data, and (4) responses to tourism-related questions differ significantly, indicating that survey format can dramatically influence results of empirical studies in tourism. Our findings show that neither pure online surveys nor pure paper surveys administered through regular mail are unbiased. Format-specific self-selection of respondents to participate leads to systematic biases in both cases, making multimethod survey approaches the most reliable way of data collection at present.

First published on November 24, 2008, doi:10.1177/0047287508326506

Journal of Travel Research 2009;47:295.

A more recent version of this article appeared on February 1, 2009

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