Discuss the disadvantages of email surveys

1.Speed: An email questionnaire can gather several thousand responses within a day or two. There is practically no cost involved once the set up has been completed. Pictures and sound files can be attached. The novelty element of an email survey often stimulates higher response levels than ordinary mail surveys

.2.The interviewees must have access to a computer or it must be provided for them. As with mail surveys, computer direct interviews may have serious response rate problems in populations due to literacy levels being low.

3.Researcher must possess or purchase a list of email addresses. Some people will respond several times or pass questionnaires along to friends to answer.Many people dislike unsolicited email even more than unsolicited regular mail. Findings cannot be generalised with email surveys. People who have email are different from those who do not, even when matched on demographic characteristics, such as age and gender. Email surveys cannot automatically skip questions or randomize question.

4.Interviewer bias is eliminated. Different interviewers can ask questions in different ways, leading to different results. The computer asks the questions the same way every time. Response rates are usually higher as it looks novel and interesting to some people