Market, Opinion and Social Research is increasingly relying on non-probabilistic online panels as data sources and quota sampling as the default sampling method. Quota sampling applied to online panels requires discarding participants to ensure that the final sample match the target population distribution. This article analyzes how different features of a quota sample (such as the sample size, number, and types of quotas) impact the number of participants that must be discarded during the data collection (fieldwork efficiency). Both analytical models and simulation have been used for this purpose. Finally, we show how uncertainty about participants relates to fieldwork efficiency, providing practical recommendations in pursuing this goal.
BakerR.BrickJ. M.BatesN. A.BattagliaM.CouperM. P.DeverJ. A.. . . TourangeauR. (2013). Summary report of the AAPOR Task Force on non-probability sampling. Journal of Survey Statistics and Methodology, 1, 90–143.
3.
BlomA. G.Ackermann-PiekD.HelmschrottS. C.CornesseC.SakshaugJ. W. (2017). The representativeness of online panels: Coverage, sampling, and weighting. Paper presented at General Online Research 2017 Conference, 15–17 March 2017, University of Mannheim, Germany. Retrieved from http://www.gor.de/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/gor17_program_print.pdf
4.
BreakwellG. M.HammondS.Fife-SchawC.SmithJ. A. (1995). Research methods in psychology. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
5.
CurtinR.PresserS.SingerE. (2005). Changes in telephone survey nonresponse over the past quarter century. Public Opinion Quarterly, 69, 87–98.
6.
de LeeuwE.de HeerW. (2002). Trends in household survey nonresponse: A longitudinal and international comparison. In GrovesR. M.DillmanD. A.EltingeJ. L.LittleR. J. A. (Eds.), Survey nonresponse (pp. 41–54). New York, NY: Wiley.
7.
DodgeY. (2003). The Oxford dictionary of statistical terms. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
8.
DorofeevS.GrantP. (2006). Statistics for real-life sample surveys: Non-simple-random samples and weighted data. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
9.
ElliottM. R.ValliantR. (2017). Inference for nonprobability samples. Statistical Science, 32, 249–264. doi:10.1214/16-STS598. Retrieved from https://projecteuclid.org/euclid.ss/1494489814
10.
ESOMAR. (2016). Global market research 2016. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Author.
11.
GosnellH. F. (1937). How accurate were the polls?Public Opinion Quarterly, 1, 97–105.
HansenK. M. (2006). The effects of incentives, interview length, and interviewer characteristics on response rates in a CATI-study. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 19, 112–121.
Lozar-ManfredaK.VehovarV. (2008). Internet surveys. In de LeeuwE. D.HoxJ. J.DillmanD. A. (Eds.), International handbook of survey methodology. New York, NY: Lawrence Erlbaum.
17.
MoserC. A. (1952). Quota sampling. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Series A (General), 115, 411–423. Retrieved from www.jstor.org/stable/2980740
18.
NeymanJ. (1934). On the two different aspects of the representative method: The method of stratified sampling and the method of purposive selection. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, 97, 558–625.
19.
SchoeniR. F.StaffordF.McGonagleK. A.AndreskiP. (2013). Response rates in national panel surveys. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 645, 60–87. doi:10.1177/0002716212456363
20.
SquireP. (1988). Why the 1936 literary digest poll failed. Public Opinion Quarterly, 52, 125–133.
21.
SteehC. (1981). Trends in nonresponse rates, 1952–1979. Public Opinion Quarterly, 45, 40–57.
