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This paper addresses the question of which factors determine the interview duration in Web surveys. Previous research shows that several factors on different conceptual levels might contribute to interview length. First, on the level of survey and questionnaire design, overall length of the questionnaire (i.e. the number of questions), use of graphical elements, complex designs, and software choice contribute to this central characteristic. Second, different types of questions influence the time a respondent needs to respond. Finally, on the level of the individual, personal characteristics of the respondents have an impact on response speed. For example, previous research shows that older and lower educated respondents answer questions at lower speed. Also, the respondent’s motivation might affect response speed. In this paper we apply a broad methodological approach. First, we bring together the levels of survey design and individual explanations of interview duration. Second, we use data from 18 Web surveys on political attitudes and behavior of German Internet users conducted between 2009 and 2012. For each of these surveys we collected information on interview duration, survey and questionnaire design as well as on question and respondent characteristics. Our analyses show that all levels explain parts of the variance in interview duration but that not all levels are of equal importance. Furthermore, we find interactions between the different conceptual levels.
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