USING E-MAIL AS A RESEARCH TOOL

It is decided to send the questionnaires to the respondents through e-mails. The principal feature of using e-mail as a research tool is stated by Selwyn and Robson (1998) as the speed and immediacy it offers. Although some of the researchers argue that the response rate for e-mail is lower than mail (Alan, 1998), many others report high response rates from 63 per cent to 96 per cent (Selwyn and Robson, 1998). According to Selwyn and Robson other advantages of e-mail questionnaires are as follows:

▫       E-mail questionnaires cost considerably less to administer, both in terms of money and time.

▫       As it is possible to send the same e-mail to multiple addresses in one action, a large 'mail-shot' of subjects is relatively straightforward.

▫       Most e-mail software also allows the dispatcher of the message the option of notification when the recipient has received the message and when they have read it. Although this possibility raises questions of liberty and ethics, e-mail does offer the researcher slightly more 'control' over the questionnaires once they have been sent.

Finally Thach (1995) states that it is virtually impossible to guarantee the respondent anonymity as their name (or at least their e-mail address) is automatically included in their reply, but this lack of anonymity does not preclude the researcher still guaranteeing the respondent confidentiality.

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