Page switching in mixed-device web surveys: prevalence and data quality

Sequential On-Device Multitasking within Online Surveys: A Data Quality and Response Behavior Perspective

“…More recent studies that examined multitasking use more elaborate JavaScript-based tracking tools such as OnBlur (e.g., Höhne et al 2020;Schlosser and Höhne 2018) to automatically detect respondents' ODM. These have also reported varying frequencies: Sendelbah et al (2016) found that more than 60% of their respondents had at least one ODM event (switched tabs or windows) during a 10 min survey: In three different studies Baier and Fuchs (2020) detected ODM events in case of between 15% to 33% of their respondents (no specific information on survey duration available), and Höhne et al (2020) observed about 12% ODM events during a 20 min survey.…”

“…Moreover, at least two very recent studies also focused on possible device effects and whether ODM is related to some individual respondent attributes. Concerning the device effect, Höhne et al (2020) and Baier and Fuchs (2020) found that answering the survey on a computer is also associated with more ODM behavior, compared to mobile device use. Moreover, both studies found that younger respondents are more prone for showing ODM behavior and no evidence for an effect of respondents' sex on ODM behavior (Baier and Fuchs 2020;Höhne et al 2020).…”

“…Concerning the device effect, Höhne et al (2020) and Baier and Fuchs (2020) found that answering the survey on a computer is also associated with more ODM behavior, compared to mobile device use. Moreover, both studies found that younger respondents are more prone for showing ODM behavior and no evidence for an effect of respondents' sex on ODM behavior (Baier and Fuchs 2020;Höhne et al 2020). Concerning respondents' educational level, results are mixed: While Höhne et al (2020) found that low education is negatively associated with ODM, Baier and Fuchs (2020) found no evidence for an education effect.…”

“…Previous research has suggested that distractions and multitasking can be a problem for data quality in online surveys (Höhne et al 2020;Wenz 2021). There is concern that multitasking behavior and thereby less focused survey participation might be indicative of insufficient effort responding and satisficing (e.g., Baier and Fuchs 2020;Roberts et al 2019;Sendelbah et al 2016). The logic behind these concerns is that respondents showing multitasking behavior experience a competitive struggle of cognitive resources in deciding between reliable survey participation and at least one alternative task.…”

“…Combined with its probability-based large-scale field study approach, this study was able to generate a unique perspective on a contemporary form of multitasking that is considered to be detrimental to survey performance. Through this novel approach, focusing only on SODM, this paper contributes to the research on media multitasking in general (e.g., Parry and le Roux 2019; Shin et al 2019) as well as to different areas of survey research, including survey distractions (e.g., Aizpurua et al 2018;Baier and Fuchs 2020;Höhne et al 2020;Wenz 2021) and the flourishing areas of detecting insufficient effort responding and satisficing behavior (e.g., Nichols and Edlund 2020;Roberts et al 2019).…”