Abstract
With low response rates posing a challenge to public opinion surveys, the NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute is examining the potential of “Web Public Opinion Survey” (hereinafter “web method”)—a method collecting responses online from respondents randomly selected from the Basic Resident Register after sending advance letters by post. The research team carried out two experimental surveys, one in 2016 and the other in 2017, using the web method, which did not limit the collection to online and complementarily allowed some respondents to return the questionnaire by post. A conventional postal survey was also conducted to compare the results with those of the web method. The major findings from the experiment are as follows.-The web method can be effective for respondents selected by random sampling from the Basic Resident Register by applying appropriate survey design and survey materials.- For people aged 30 and older, the web method marked a response rate as high as that of the postal survey that had been conducted for comparison, but effects for improving response rates of younger generations were not observed.-The web method’s sample composition ratio of valid respondents does not substantially deviate from that of the Basic Resident Register.In addition to the above, we will also examine whether the difference in data collection modes causes differences in responses, and if so what the factors are. The study findings are to be reported in a future issue.
