There has been limited research on the impact of the inclusion of a quick response code (QR) code option on recruitment to a web screening survey, and on data quality when a screening instrument can be either self-administered or interviewer-administered. As part of a screening effort to recruit a new birth cohort to a long-standing panel study, an area probability sample of households was randomly assigned to one of two data collection protocols: web-first with in-person follow-up, or in-person first, with nonresponding cases followed up via the web. Both treatment arm protocols included a mailed letter, either as an invitation for the web-first arm or as a form of nonresponse follow-up for the in-person first arm. Each of the mailed letters included a QR code alongside a URL for accessing the web screener. We found that a majority of households chose to use the QR code to access the web screener. We also found that those who chose to use a QR code were under 45 than those who chose to use a URL. We did not observe any data quality differences between those who chose a QR code versus those who chose a URL.
