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Comparing a Cell Phone Survey and a Web Survey of University Students

In many countries, the proportion of the population using cell phones is higher than that with Internet access. Cell phone and Internet penetration rates are high in most university populations. Despite the recent attention focused on surveys of cell phone users, and the preference for using the Internet to survey university students, there have been few studies comparing cell phone surveys and Web surveys of the student population. This article reports on a mode of experiment conducted using an annual survey of students at a large university in South Korea. The frame of registered students contains both cell phone numbers and e-mail addresses. A sample of students was selected from the list and randomly assigned to a computer-assisted telephone interviewing or Web survey mode. Students were notified of the survey in both modes using both text messaging and e-mail messages. We find that the cell phone survey has an advantage over the Web survey in terms of response rates, coverage of key domains, and item nonresponse. Substantive differences between the two modes were found for about half the survey questions. This suggests that cell phone surveys may be useful for surveys in populations with universal or near-universal coverage, and where cell use may be more popular than Internet use.