The shift to on-line research - managing and taking advantage of it

Brian Fine, Steven Davies and Jim Alexander

This paper sets out the benefits and disadvantages of using online as a research methodology. Rigorous processes and quality controls are necessary in setting up good online research: clients need reliable and representative sample frames to work with when determining sample design, while panel operators should have tested panel representativeness, as well as any weighting procedures required to ensure the sample provides a valid reflection of the target group being researched.

The shift to on-line research – managing and taking advantage of it

Brian Fine, Steven Davies and Jim AlexanderAMR interactive, Australia

INTRODUCTION

We can hardly believe the dramatic changes in the methodology landscape over the past few years. In 1999, researching online was a methodology that attracted many sceptics and a lot of cynicism, and in most countries there was insufficient internet penetration to consider online methods could deliver samples representative of the population. There was always a caveat about the people excluded from samples, and the approach was only really taken seriously if we...

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