Survey Experiments with Google Consumer Surveys: Promise and Pitfalls for Academic Research in Social Science

dc.contributor.author

Santoso, Lie Philip

dc.contributor.author

Stein, Robert

dc.contributor.author

Stevenson, Randy

dc.date.accessioned

2020-05-11T09:44:34Z

dc.date.available

2020-05-11T09:44:34Z

dc.date.issued

2016

dc.date.updated

2020-05-11T09:44:31Z

dc.description.abstract

<jats:p>In this article, we evaluate the usefulness of Google Consumer Surveys (GCS) as a low-cost tool for doing rigorous social scientific work. We find that its relative strengths and weaknesses make it most useful to researchers who attempt to identify causality through randomization to treatment groups rather than selection on observables. This finding stems, in part, from the fact that the real cost advantage of GCS over other alternatives is limited to short surveys with a small number of questions. Based on our replication of four canonical social scientific experiments and one study of treatment heterogeneity, we find that the platform can be used effectively to achieve balance across treatment groups, explore treatment heterogeneity, include manipulation checks, and that the provided inferred demographics may be sufficiently sound for weighting and explorations of heterogeneity. Crucially, we successfully managed to replicate the usual directional finding in each experiment. Overall, GCS is likely to be a useful platform for survey experimentalists.</jats:p>

dc.identifier.issn

1047-1987

dc.identifier.issn

1476-4989

dc.identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10161/20629

dc.language

en

dc.publisher

Cambridge University Press (CUP)

dc.relation.ispartof

Political Analysis

dc.relation.isversionof

10.1093/pan/mpw016

dc.title

Survey Experiments with Google Consumer Surveys: Promise and Pitfalls for Academic Research in Social Science

dc.type

Journal article

pubs.begin-page

356

pubs.end-page

373

pubs.issue

3

pubs.organisational-group

Duke Kunshan University

pubs.organisational-group

Duke Kunshan University Faculty

pubs.organisational-group

Duke

pubs.publication-status

Published

pubs.volume

24

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