Despite the promise of Internet surveys, there are significant concerns about the representativeness of the sample and survey instrument effects. This article seeks to address these questions by examining the differences and similarities between parallel Internet and telephone surveys conducted in Quebec after the provincial election in 2007. Our results indicate that the responses obtained in ...

We examined measurement invariance and age-related robustness of a short 15-item Big Five Inventory (BFI-S) of personality dimensions, which is well suited for applications in large-scale multidisciplinary surveys. The BFI-S was assessed in three different interviewing conditions: computer-assisted or paper-assisted face-to-face interviewing, computer-assisted telephone interviewing, and a self...

OBJECTIVE To compare estimates obtained through household and telephone surveys for monitoring, intervention and development of health policies. METHODS The study analyzed data from 2,526 and 1,900 individuals aged 18 and over, living in Campinas, SP, interviewed by the household survey (ISACamp) and by the telephone survey (Vigitel), respectively. Sex, age and schooling were used to characte...

OBJECTIVES This pilot test assessed the feasibility of a cost effective population based approach to STI monitoring using automated telephone interviews, urine specimen collection kits sent out and returned by US Postal Service mail, and monetary incentives to motivate participation. METHODS 100 residents of Baltimore, MD, USA, completed an automated telephone survey and agreed to mail in a u...

This study assesses the measurement properties of Ryff's scale of Psychological Well-Being (PWB) -a widely-used scale designed to measure six dimensions of PWB. Analyses of self-administered PWB data from three major surveys – Midlife in the United States (MIDUS), National Survey of Families and Households II (NSFH II), and the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS) yielded very high overlap among ...

BACKGROUND Prevalence estimates may be biased if the characteristics of respondents differ from those of non-respondents in surveys. In this study, we used a follow-up telephone interview of initial non-respondents to examine the differences--in terms of self-rated health and health behaviours--to initial postal respondents and to assess improvements in prevalence estimates. METHODS Following...