ABSTRACT
As Internet availability grows exponentially, survey research methods continue to move to email and web-based formats, leaving traditional face-to-face interview and pencil-and-paper survey methods behind. It is essential for today’s researchers to adapt alongside technology proliferation by being able to understand how to best use the available tools and methods involved in conducting web survey research. Though web surveys provide a wealth of opportunities for psychological science, researchers must have a firm understanding of their complexity in order to design and execute an effective web survey. This chapter focuses on the methodological issues specific to web surveys, including an overview of the advantages (e.g., time and cost effectiveness, anonymity, convenience, possibility for collecting large, demographic/cultural diversity samples) and challenges (e.g., sampling, non-response, multiple submissions and non-serious responding) that may arise when using survey methods on the Internet. Best practices for constructing an effective web survey are offered (e.g., careful consideration of question content and wording, using web platform features for formatting) and tips for platform selection are discussed.
