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Evaluation & the Health Professions, Vol. 30, No. 1, 35-46 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0163278706297344
© 2007 SAGE Publications

Sampling Bias in an International Internet Survey of Diversion Programs in the Criminal Justice System

Kathleen Hartford

Lawson Health Research Institute, London, Ontario

Robert Carey

Lawson Health Research Institute, London, Ontario

James Mendonca

Lawson Health Research Institute, London, Ontario

Despite advances in the storage and retrieval of information within health care systems, health researchers conducting surveys for evaluations still face technical barriers that may lead to sampling bias. The authors describe their experience in administering a Web-based, international survey to English-speaking countries. Identifying the sample was a multistage effort involving (a) searching for published e-mail addresses, (b) conducting Web searches for publicly funded agencies, and (c) performing literature searches, personal contacts, and extensive Internet searches for individuals. After pretesting, the survey was converted into an electronic format accessible by multiple Web browsers. Sampling bias arose from (a) system incompatibility, which did not allow potential respondents to open the survey, (b) varying institutional gate-keeping policies that "recognized" the unsolicited survey as spam, (c) culturally unique program terminology, which confused some respondents, and (d) incomplete sampling frames. Solutions are offered to the first three problems, and the authors note that sampling bias remains a crucial problem.

Key Words: sampling bias • methodology • Internet surveys • mentally ill


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