engleski

Coverage Problem in Internet-Based Research of Public Opinion

The aim of research was to investigate the possible effect of coverage bias in Internet-based surveys of public opinion in Croatia. Research was conducted in March 2009, on a representative probabilistic sample of Croatian population. Sample included 4007 respondents from 200 communities. At the spring of 2009, approximately 50% of adult population of Croatia had access to the Internet. As expected, Internet users differ significantly from nonusers in some demographic and social characteristics, but also in their political and social attitudes (they are more interested in politics, more critical of the political institutions, and less satisfied with the situation in society). When comparing the results of the total sample with those of the Internet-users, the observed differences point to a significant bias in many examined variables of political attitudes and behavior. An additional, important source of bias stems from the unresolved issue of probabilistic sampling.

public opinion research ; research methodology

nije evidentirano