Themes of Issue 02/2009

Bert Weijters, Maggie Geuens and Niels Schillewaert

Cross-mode surveys are on the rise. Unfortunately, data obtained from different modes of data collection (e.g., telephone and online data) may not be comparable due to measurement bias, especially differences in acquiescence, disacquiescence, extreme and midpoint response styles. This article discusses a study that finds response style differences between data based on the same questionnaire, but obtained by different modes of data collection: paper-and-pencil questionnaires, telephone interviews, and online questionnaires. Similar problems may also occur in cross-national data. We propose a new method to measure response styles and correct for them: the representative indicators response style means and covariance structure (RIRSMACS) method.