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