timothy johnson survey research laboratory university of illinois at chicago march 2011 introduction...
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Timothy JohnsonSurvey Research Laboratory
University of Illinois at ChicagoMarch 2011
Introduction to Web Surveys
Web Surveys
First reported use in early 1990’sDramatic increase in use over the past
decadeNumerous web survey software packages
now available
Basic Advantages of Web Surveys
SpeedCostConvenient (self-administered)Multi-media delivery (sound, video)Power of computer-assisted
programmingUnique, hi-techSimilar arguments were made regarding
CATI (in the 1970s) and CAPI (in the 1980s) technologies
Designing Web Questionnaires
Basic Design Approaches• Static web questionnaire
• Survey in single HTML document• Respondents can scroll through document• Data sent to server once when survey is
completed• Interactive web questionnaire
• Questions are delivered one at a time or in modules
• Data is sent to server after each screen is completed
• Conducive to use of skip patterns, consistency checks, range checks, etc.
Static Web Questionnaires
• Very similar to mail and other self-administered questionnaires
• Can minimize download time• Respondents can skip questions, but the
process is not usually automated• Hypertext links can be used to facilitate skips
• All information is lost if respondent quits before finishing
• More advantageous for short questionnaires
Interactive Web Questionnaires
• This approach permits the use of all computer-assisted programming devices
• May increase length of survey due to additional download time
• Partial data is captured for respondents who quit before finishing questionnaire
• More advantageous for longer and more complex questionnaires
Progress Indicators• The purpose is to motivate respondents to complete
the questionnaire in the absence of an interviewer• Couper et al. (2001): 89.9% completed survey with progress
indicator vs. 86.4% completing survey without one• Very useful in interactive questionnaires, where
respondent does not know how long the questionnaire is
• Not necessary in static questionnaires where respondents can determine the length by scrolling through it
• May add to survey length if increase download time• There is some concern of increased break-offs
• Transition sentences are an alternative• Empirical evidence regarding effectiveness not clear
General Screen Design• Do not use background color or images
• Background colors can create contrast & reading problems
• “visual noise”
General Screen Design #2
• Be aware that images may bias responses• Witte et al (2004) – National Geographic Survey
• Images increased support for species protection• Couper et al (2007) – healthy vs. sick person image
• When exposed to fit person, respondents consistently rated their own health as lower than when exposed to sick person
• Use upper right corner for contact information• Privacy/IRB information can be clickable from there
• If top of screen format is consistent:• Respondents will tend to ignore that section across
pages• “Banner-Blindness”
General Screen Design #3
• Access to other relevant information can also be provided:• Answers to commonly asked questions about
the survey• pdf versions of the full questionnaire
Effect of Color on Web Survey Completion
• Do not overuse color but use it consistently• Use red only for emergency messages• Red-green distinctions a problem with persons who
are color-blind • 10% of males are color blind • 99% of color blind persons cannot distinguish green & red
• White or off-white backgrounds seem to work best• Some evidence that R’s view black-on-white web
pages as being more ‘professional’ than white-on-black web pages
• Couper (2008) prefers light blue backgrounds
Color, continued
• For maximum readability, should be high contrast between text color and background color
• Bright colors are easier to see than pastels• Colored backgrounds often used by
spammers and may reduce response rates
Color Associations for AdultsColor Positive Associations Negative Associations
Red Power, love, fire, passion, intimacy, courage
Danger, aggression, blood, hot, stop
Green Money, freshness, envy, nature, growth
Inexperience, misfortune
Purple Royalty, luxury
Pink Female, cure, soft, gentle
Blue Male, sky, water, peace, truth, calm
Sadness, depression
Orange
Autumn, Halloween, creative
caution
Yellow Happiness, sunshine, optimism, summer
Illness, hazard
Brown Earth, nature Bland
Gray Maturity, dignity Gloomy, conservative, boring
White Winter, virginity, clean, innocent, truth, peace, snow
Cold, sterility, clinical
Black Formality, style, power, depth
Death, evil, mourning, night, mystery, fear
Text• Always avoid small font sizes (use 10-12
point)• Appears to be some preference for Arial
over Times Roman font• Do not overuse bold, underline, italics and
other forms of emphasis
Question Presentation• Avoid requiring R to horizontally scroll
• Avoid any scrolling may be best
Question Presentation• Avoid requiring R to horizontally scroll
• Avoid any scrolling may be best• No agreement about inclusion of question
numbers • Excluding them may avoid skip logic
confusion• Likert questions (fully-labeled) should be
displayed vertically
Question Presentation #2• Respondents less likely to skip words
when lines are kept short• Provide computer-operating instructions
at the precise point when a R may need to use that information
• When # of responses cannot be fitted on single screen:• Double- or triple-banking may be best
approach• Place a box around the categories in order to
‘group’ them as being relevant to the question
Question Presentation #3• Visibility principle
• Options that are visible are more likely to be selected than those that are not visible until the R takes some action to display them
• Response models• Serial processing model
• Search options for pre-existing judgment
• Deadline processing model• Spend certain amount of time and select best answer
found before cognitive deadline (a form of satisficing)
Common Types of Response Options for Web Surveys
1. Radio buttons or boxes2. Drop-down boxes3. Check boxes4. Slider bars5. Text boxes6. Open-ended questions
Radio Buttons
•Options are typically mutually exclusive
Be careful not to use long grids that lose column headings:
Boxes instead of buttons
Drop-Down Boxes
•Useful only for closed lists of response options•Can be designed to allow for single or multiple choices•Options provided must be exhaustive•Drop boxes more difficult to use than radio buttons
Beware of Scroll MiceHealy (2007)
Drop-downs (compared to radio buttons) led to higher item nonresponse and longer response times
Respondents using scroll mice to complete the survey were prone to accidentally changing an answer if presented with drop-down questions
Check Boxes
•Unlike radio buttons, multiple choices can be clicked via check boxes
Radio Button/Check Box Hybrid
Slider Bars (a.k.a. visual analog scale, graphic rating scales,
“sliders”)
Slider Bars - Research• Random experiment by Bayer & Thomas
(2004) of Harris Interactive• Slider bars took about twice as long for
completion as any other scale type (including semantic differentials, likert, etc)
• Answering 2 slider bar questions averaged 42.3 seconds, compared to 21.3 seconds for semantic differential questions
• Couper (2008) says results using slider bars are “quite similar” to what is obtained from a scale that uses radio buttons
Open-ended Questions
•providing more space encourages respondents to provide longer answers
Present Single or Multiple Items per Screen?
• For interactive questionnaires, multiple items per screen:• Are completed more quickly by respondents• May provide more context• Intercorrelations among items are consistently
higher when grouped together on one screen (Couper et al. 2001).
• Also, multiple item screen versions:• take less time to complete• produce less missing data
Survey Navigation
• A consistent format should be followed• Use action buttons that are different from
any response input elements such as radio buttons• “next screen” or “next question” buttons should
be on all pages• Crawford et al (2005) recommends putting them
in the lower left corner• “previous screen” or “previous question”
buttons should be in the bottom right corner
Key Point
• Never force respondents to answer a question• Adds to frustration• IRB implications• No other questionnaire formats ‘force’ answers
Key Questionnaire Design Principles Summary
• Minimize respondent burden and frustration• The fewer ‘clicks,’ the better• The less scrolling, the better• The fewer distractions, the better• The fewer problems knowing how to navigate
the questionnaire, the better• The less download time required, the better• Never forcing respondents to answer
questions
Some other design recommendations to consider (from Couper 2008):
• Remove unneeded content and clutter• Minimize the number of different colors
and fonts being used• Use consistent design formats through
the entire instrument• Avoid putting too much material on any
page
SummaryWeb surveys vary greatly in their goals,
design, execution, analysis, etc.Evaluation must be done in the context of
the type of survey being conductedCannot say that all web surveys are good
or badMethodological research is being done on a
moving target
timj@uic.edu
Thank You
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