This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Ballard, C. Articles by Prine, R. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Citizen Perceptions of Community Policing

Comparing Internet and Mail Survey Responses

Valdosta State University, cballard{at}valdosta.edu

Rudy Prine

Valdosta State University, rkprine{at}valdosta.edu

Internet surveys alone and mail surveys alone display limitations in terms of cost, convenience, sampling, representativeness, and flexibility that neither method completely resolves. The authors were asked to design a survey that would measure resident perceptions of community policing in a small city in south Georgia. The fact that city residents were offered low-price Internet access as part of the city’s range of local services gave the authors the opportunity to employ both a mail survey and an Internet survey posted on the city’s web page. They examined the effect of the two methods on respondents’ survey answers and compared the Internet and mail responses on response rate and comparability of responses on their community-policing indicators. Method of data collection did not significantly affect answers given. Those inclined to complete and return mail surveys sponsored by community institutions do not differ substantially from those who tend to respond by Internet.

Key Words: web survey • community policing • online surveys • mail surveys

Social Science Computer Review, Vol. 20, No. 4, 485-493 (2002)
DOI: 10.1177/089443902237324


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				S. Dolnicar, C. Laesser, and K. Matus Online Versus Paper: Format Effects in Tourism Surveys Journal of Travel Research, February 1, 2009; 47(3): 295 - 316. [Abstract] [PDF]

				S. Lee An Evaluation of Nonresponse and Coverage Errors in a Prerecruited Probability Web Panel Survey Social Science Computer Review, November 1, 2006; 24(4): 460 - 475. [Abstract] [PDF]