Using the Internet for audience and customer research

Using the Internet as a medium for collecting communication research data can save time and money. Both synchronous and asynchronous data can be collected for research designs that call for either questionnaire or transcript data collection. Cost curves for Internet-based and traditional methods of data collection show that the Internet methods are significantly cheaper. Online research methods for a geographically-defined population are best seen as a supplement to traditional methods, as Internet users are still quite different from the general population, but for populations defined by demographics or by Internet use itself, the Internet can be an excellent medium for research. Analysis of actual studies indicates that Internet respondent cooperation rates are similar to telephone interviewing rates. Cooperation rates are influenced by the respondents' involvement with the research topic, incentives, recruitment techniques, required technology and ease-of-use of the research instruments. Internet-based research techniques have a learning curve that requires an investment by organizations conducting many research studies, suggesting that infrequent users of online research may benefit from contracting projects to Internet research suppliers.