Actions for What if they don't (or can't) fill out your web survey? Experiences from conducting a survey of public officials about suicide prevention programming
What if they don't (or can't) fill out your web survey? Experiences from conducting a survey of public officials about suicide prevention programming / Daniel J. Mallinson, Eunsil Yoo
Online surveys conducted through platforms like Qualtrics or Google Forms are increasingly prevalent in social science research. But research with public officials reveals specific concerns about the use of such platforms. Namely, that officials may either be unable to open a survey due to their network security connections or they may simply ignore the survey and send a "paper" response. This case study draws from one such experience that involved two surveys about suicide prevention programming-one of county mental health officials and one of school district superintendents- and substantial noncompliance with using the Qualtrics platform. It offers considerations for designing solicitation documents to maximize information gathering in the event of noncompliance and weighing follow-up that pushes respondents to the online survey platform. Finally, it will discuss how to reconcile "paper" responses with electronic responses.