Differences in Online and Telephone Responses

Does the Mode of data collection affect respondent’s behavior? Specifically, do telephone interviews or online surveys lead to extremity of responses? Many may assume that there is no difference in survey responses conducted online or over the phone. However, evidence supports that respondents give more extreme responses over the telephone than an online survey. We would like to test if what has been found in previous research holds for the Hispanic population, since it is the fastest growing ethnic minority in the United States; therefore they are impacting the culture, the marketplace, and politics within the country. We conducted our analysis by surveying 500 Hispanics nationwide using telephone interviews and online surveys in order to compare the difference in responses between the two modes of data collection. Our analysis supports that there a statistically significant difference in respondents behavior between online surveys and telephone interviews.