A Test of Web and Mail Mode Effects in a Financially Sensitive Survey of Older Americans

This study leverages a randomized experimental design of a mixed-mode mail- and web-based survey to examine mode effects separately from sample selectivity issues. Using data from the Cognitive Economics Study, which contains some sensitive financial questions, we analyze two sets of questions: fixed-choice questions posed nearly identically across mode, and dollar-value questions that exploit features available only on web mode. Focusing on differences in item nonresponse and response distributions, our results indicate that, in contrast to mail mode, web mode surveys display lower item nonresponse for all questions. While respondents appear to prefer providing financial information in ranges, use of reminder screens on the web version yields greater use of exact values without large sacrifices in item response. Still, response distributions for all questions are similar across mode, suggesting that data on sensitive financial questions collected from the two modes can be pooled.