Online Answers to a Postal Survey: A Comparison of Election Surveys in Belgium, 2019-2024

Abstract

The main advantage of postal surveys is that they allow for a universal initial sampling. It has become standard practice to include an online answering option in those surveys, but a concern remains that not all groups of the population are equally inclined to use this option. In this note, we compare the answering options that were used in two election surveys in Belgium, that were conducted in 2019 and 2024. As a larger proportion of all respondents now uses the internet option, some elements of stratification like gender and education level have indeed weakened. Differences with regard to age however, remain strong as especially older age groups continue to prefer the pen and paper answering option. Our recommendation therefore remains that if one is interested in reaching a representative sample of especially older respondents, providing the pen and paper option does remain important.