Using web-survey to collect data on psychological impacts of COVID-19 on hotel employees in Ghana: A methodological review

• Main Author: Christopher Mensah
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2021-12-01
• Series: Cogent Psychology
• Subjects: web-survey; covid-19; psychological impact; hotel employees; ghana; methodological review
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23311908.2021.1880257

Increasing global Internet penetration and technological advancement have stimulated the adoption of online mode of data collection by scholars across different disciplines. Web-based surveys are popular in the Western world, however, their usage among Ghanaian hospitality and tourism scholars is rare despite the several advantages of web-based surveys. This research note compares the demographics of a web-based sample with previous hotel employee studies conducted in Ghana, and in so doing, highlights the advantages and limitations of using a web-based survey in a developing country context. Relative to paper-and-pencil questionnaires, it was less costly using the web-survey to investigate the psychological impact of COVID-19 on hotel employees in Ghana. Furthermore, the web-survey relatively produced quick results as well as reaching respondents in different locations in the country. The demographics of the web-survey appeared comparable to those reported in previous studies conducted in the country. However, employees with college degrees working in star-rated facilities were overly represented in the web-survey sample. Duplicate responses were also observed in the web-survey sample. Web-based surveys provide a viable option for hospitality and tourism research work in Ghana, particularly in the period of COVID-19 and its associated social distancing, lockdowns, and high risk of infection. However, there are potential challenges regarding representativeness, sampling bias and multiple submissions.