Exploring the difference in participants’ factual knowledge between online and in-person survey modes

Abstract

Over the past decade, an increasing number of scholars and professionals have turned to the Internet to gather samples of subjects for research ranging from public opinion surveys to experiments in the social sciences. While there has been a focus on whether online samples are representative and accurate, fewer studies examine the behavioral differences between individuals who participate in surveys and experiments on a computer versus in-person. Here, I use an experiment to gauge whether respondents who self-complete surveys online are more likely to register higher knowledge scores compared with respondents who self-complete surveys with pen and paper in a laboratory. The results show that subjects in the online group are significantly more likely to answer knowledge questions correctly across a range of topics. Patterns in the data imply respondents are researching some answers.