Understanding Respondents' Attitudes Toward Web Paradata Use

Abstract

The collection and use of paradata is gaining in importance, especially in web surveys. From a research ethics’ perspective, respondents should be asked for their consent to the collection and use of web paradata. In this context, a positive attitude toward paradata use has been deemed to be a prerequisite for respondents’ willingness to share their paradata. The present study aimed to identify factors affecting respondents’ attitudes toward paradata use. Our findings revealed that adequately informing survey respondents about what paradata are and why they are used was an important determinant of their attitudes toward paradata use. Moreover, we found that respondents with a positive attitude toward the survey were more likely to have a favorable opinion of paradata use. Our findings suggest that a thorough understanding of the factors that contribute to a positive attitude toward paradata use provides the basis for improved paradata consent procedures, which in turn will increase rates of consent to paradata use and help attenuate the risk of consent bias in web surveys.