In a short essay, discuss online intercept and online recruited sampling techniques

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

a. Online intercept sampling. Visitors to a Web site are intercepted and given an opportunity to participate in the survey. The interception can be made at one or more Web sites, including high traffic sites such as Yahoo!. In nonrandom sampling, every visitor is intercepted. This may be meaningful if the Web site traffic is low and the survey has to be completed in a short time and no incentive is being offered. However, this results in a convenience sample. Quotas can be imposed to improve representativeness. In random intercept sampling, the software selects visitors at random and a "pop-up" window asks whether the person wants to participate in the survey. The selection can be made based on simple random or systematic random sampling. If the population is defined as Web site visitors, then this procedure results in a probability sample (simple random or systematic, as the case may be). However, if the population is other than Web site visitors, then the resulting sample is more similar to a nonprobability sample. Nevertheless, randomization improves representativeness and discourages multiple responses from the same respondent.
b. Online recruited sampling- Internet panels. These function in ways similar to nonInternet panels as discussed in Chapters 3 and 5 and share many of the same advantages and disadvantages. In recruited panels, members can be recruited online or even by traditional means (mail, telephone). Based on the researcher's judgment, certain qualifying criteria can be introduced to prescreen the respondents. They are offered incentives for participation such as sweepstake prizes, redeemable points, and other types of Internet currencies. Members typically provide detailed psychographic, demographic, Internet usage, and product consumption information at the time of joining. Opt-in panels operate similarly except that members choose to opt-in as opposed to being recruited. To select a sample, the online company sends an e-mail message to those panelists who qualify based on sample specifications given by the researcher. All of the sampling techniques can be implemented using both types of Internet panels. The success of probability sampling techniques depends upon the extent to which the panel is representative of the target population. Highly targeted samples can be achieved, e.g., teenage girls who shop in malls more than twice a month.
c. Online recruited sampling- Nonpanel. These techniques request potential respondents go online to answer a survey. To illustrate, a computer store such as CompUSA may hand its customers a flier that directs them to a specific password protected site to respond to a questionnaire. If the population is defined as the company's customers, as in a customer satisfaction survey, and a random procedure is used to select respondents, a probability sample will be obtained. Other nonpanel approaches involve the use of e-mail lists that have been rented from suppliers. Presumably, these respondents opted-in or gave permission for their e-mail addresses to be circulated. Offline techniques such as short telephone screening interviews are also used for recruiting Internet samples. Several companies routinely collect e-mail addresses in their customer relationship databases by obtaining that information from customer telephone interactions, product registration cards, on-site registrations, special promotions, and so on.