Data collection mode differences between national face-to-face and web surveys on gender inequality and discrimination questions

- Compared eight gender-related questions between face-to-face and Web national surveys.
- Face-to-face surveys elicit more socially desirable responses than Web surveys.
- Item nonresponse rate is higher in face-to-face surveys than Web surveys.
- The mode effect is larger for male respondents than female respondents.

The topic of gender inequality and discrimination has received constant attention from social scientists. Given that the majority of the research is based on survey data, a solid understanding of the impact of data collection mode on survey responses to this type of questions is important. This study utilizes the 2012 American National Election Studies to examine the response difference between face-to-face and Web surveys. The analyses reveal that mode effects exist both for substantial responses to the survey questions, but also item nonresponses. As expected, face-to-face surveys elicit more socially desirable responses than Web surveys. Also, the item nonresponse rate is higher in face-to-face surveys than Web surveys. In addition, this study demonstrates that the mode effect is not uniform across all respondents. Rather, the mode effect is larger for male respondents than female respondents. This is evidenced by the larger mode effect among male than female respondents in terms of both substantial responses and item nonresponses. Direction for future research is discussed.