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Abstract Do web surveys still yield lower response rates compared with other survey modes? To answer this question, we replicated and extended a meta-analysis done in 2008 which found that, based on 45 experimental comparisons, web surveys had an 11 percentage points lower response rate compared with other survey modes. Fundamental changes in internet accessibility and use since the publication of the original meta-analysis would suggest that people’s propensity to participate in web surveys has changed considerably in the meantime. However, in our replication and extension study, which comprised 114 experimental comparisons between web and other survey modes, we found almost no change: web surveys still yielded lower response rates than other modes (a difference of 12 percentage points in response rates). Furthermore, we found that prenotifications, the sample recruitment strategy, the survey’s solicitation mode, the type of target population, the number of contact attempts, and the country in which the survey was conducted moderated the magnitude of the response rate differences. These findings have substantial implications for web survey methodology and operations.

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Despite increased use of Web surveys, relatively little is known about standards for designing Web questionnaires. Since there is no help from an interviewer for the respondent taking a Web survey, the design of self‐administered Web questionnaires is even more important in order to achieve high data quality. Question wording, form and graphic layout of the questionnaire are particularly important. This paper presents some basic experiments to address these issues: one vs. multiple‐page design, use of logotypes, and survey topic. The research was performed within the national RIS – Research on Internet in Slovenia ‐ project (http://www.ris.org) in extensive testing since 1996.

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The available research indicates mixed results regarding the internet’s role in social relations. The article contributes to this research by studying the provision of support in egocentred social networks. Data regarding size, structure and communication channels were assessed through two specially designed surveys. The results show that the internet has a relatively limited impact on social relationships. Internet users have slightly larger social networks only in certain socially de-privileged segments (e.g. divorced, less educated). However, they reveal some specifics with respect to the structure of networks (more friends and less kin, weaker ties) and communication channels (typically the internet is used as a complement). The article also illustrates certain serious problems when drawing a causal inference from non-experimental data.

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