Internet Surveys: Potentials For Use In Scientific Research

Fast development of the Internet in terms of both technological possibilities and number of users opens new possibilities for research in social sciences. Until now, online surveys were primarily used in the field of marketing research. Number of online marketing research agencies is constantly growing, and the research techniques they use are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Nevertheless, more and more members of the scientific community are also recognizing benefits of Internet based research. This paper reviews current achievements related to Internet based research and examines its advantages and drawbacks. Furthermore, it discusses methodological issues of several surveys conducted over the Internet on a large panel of Croatian Internet users. Finally, the paper presents some possible applications of Internet research in social sciences, including Internet based experiments and surveys on groups that are hard to reach by classical data collection methods.