The Effect of Online and Mixed-Mode Measurement of Cognitive Ability

A number of studies, particularly longitudinal surveys, are collecting direct measures of cognitive ability, given its importance as a measure in social science research. As longitudinal studies increasingly switch to mixed-mode data collection, frequently including a web component, differences in s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social science computer review 2019-02, Vol.37 (1), p.89-103
Main Author: Al Baghal, Tarek
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cognitive ability
Cognitive functioning
Correlation analysis
Data acquisition
Data collection
Internet
Polls & surveys
Social research
Webs
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Summary:A number of studies, particularly longitudinal surveys, are collecting direct measures of cognitive ability, given its importance as a measure in social science research. As longitudinal studies increasingly switch to mixed-mode data collection, frequently including a web component, differences in survey outcomes including cognitive ability may result from mode effects. Differences may arise due to respondent self-selection into mode or due to the mode causing differential measurement. Using a longitudinal survey that measured cognitive ability after introducing a mixed-mode design with a web component, this research explores if and how mode affects cognitive ability outcomes. This survey allows for control of several possible selection mechanisms, including a limited set of direct cognitive ability measures collected in a single mode in an earlier wave. Findings presented here show clearly that web respondents do better on a number of cognitive ability indicators. However, it does not appear that this is wholly explainable by respondents of different ability self-selecting into particular modes. Rather, it appears that measurement of cognitive ability may differ across modes. This result is potentially problematic as comparability is a key component of using cognitive ability in further research.
ISSN:0894-4393
1552-8286
DOI:10.1177/0894439317746328