Transcript Document

10.45- 1.00 Online questionnaires
Jane and Clare
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Programme
10:00 - 10:40
10:45 - 1.00
1.00 - 1.45
1.45 - 3.00
3:00 - 3.10
3.10 - 3.45
3.45 - 4.00
Introduction
Online questionnaires
Lunch
Online Interviews
Tea break
Ethics and online research
Any questions, evaluation, online futures,
future directions etc
Structure
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Set up computer account
Types of online questionnaires
When to use an online questionnaire
Advantages of online questionnaires
Disadvantages of online questionnaires
Sampling issues
Break
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Design issues overview
Activity: timing of questions
Implementation overview
Activity: Developing an online questionnaire
1. Activity: Register for an account
• Go to www.surveys.com and register for an
account.
• You will have to provide them with some
background details.
• Remember to check the relevant box to say
you don’t want loads of spam.
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2. Types of online questionnaires
Web-based questionnaire
questionnaire designed as a web-page and hosted on
web-site
E-mail questionnaire
questions are submitted as part of the email itself
Questionnaire attached to an email
questionnaire is sent as an attachment to an email e.g. as
a word document
3. When to use an online questionnaire?
• Internet offers great methodological potential
and versatility
• Resulted in proliferation in online
questionnaires
• But use of online questionnaire must be
appropriate and justified for each particular
research project
– e.g. to address aims of research, selection of most
relevant questionnaire type and question format for
addressing aims, establishing a justified sampling
strategy to recruit relevant respondents and ensure
appropriate response rate
4. Advantages of online questionnaires
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Speed and volume of data collection
Savings in costs
Flexible design
Data accuracy
Access to research populations
Anonymity
Respondent acceptability
5. Disadvantages of online questionnaires
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Sample bias
Measurement error
Non-response bias
Length, response and drop out rates
Technical problems
Ethical issues
6. Sampling issues
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Recruitment
Sampling
Identity verification
Incentives
Response rates
In conclusion…
The quantity of information that may be
generated, and the speed at which responses
can be collected, can result in pleasing piles of
data- but we should be wary of being seduced by
sheer quantity; data is only useful if it is
representative of the larger population.
Wakeford (2000, 33)
7. Design issues
Will your questionnaire be easy to use?
Usability
Or will the interface, colours and question
types frustrate people and put them off?
Will your questionnaire be accessible?
Accessibility
Or will it crash on old computers, render
weirdly on different operating systems and
be impossible to use with a screen reader?
Will your questionnaire be doable?
Doability
Or are your multi-media dreams running
ahead of your technical ability and are your
data arriving in an unusable format?
Exploring online research methods links
Questionnaires module
• Design issues 1: Appearance
http://www.geog.le.ac.uk/orm/questionnaires/quesdesign1.htm
• Design issues 2: Content
http://www.geog.le.ac.uk/orm/questionnaires/quesdesign2.htm
Technical guide module
• Web forms
http://www.geog.le.ac.uk/orm/technical/techforms.htm
• Key design issues
http://www.geog.le.ac.uk/orm/technical/techdesign.htm
8. Optional activity: exploring question
formats
Complete the following questionnaire as
quickly as you can
http://wads.le.ac.uk//gg/orm/timingform.htm
• Consider how the different question formats
influence the ease of response, and quality of
data collected.
9. Online Survey Implementation Overview
• Wide range of options available for developing
online questionnaires.
• Most claim to be WYSIWYG and to require no
technical knowledge. (This is never true!)
• Before deciding on what to use:
– Do some research
– Speak to your technical support
– Run a pilot
Implementation Options
• Technical support: Get someone else to do it for you.
• Questionnaire tools
– Commercial (SurveyMonkey)
– Public/freeware (BOS)
– Institutional (Plone, bespoke systems)
• Hand crafting
– Building a questionnaire using your technical skills and
the software and hardware resources available.
– Typically using HTML, JavaScript, ASP, Flash etc.
See our Technical Guide for further advice
www.geog.le.ac.uk/orm/technical/techsoftware1.htm
Using an online tool
• Bristol Online Survey (BOS) www.survey.bris.ac.uk
• Developed by the Institute for Research and Learning Technology
at the University of Bristol.
• Enables researchers to develop, deploy, and analyse surveys via
the Web.
• Used by approximately 80 universities and other public bodies and
companies.
http://www.survey.bris.ac.uk/support/faq/accounts/which-otheruniversities-and-organisations-are-using-bos
10. Activity: Developing an online questionnaire
In pairs.
• You are researchers who are interested in exploring
the ways in which parents use online parenting
websites for advice and information.
• You have decided to use an online questionnaire to
administer a survey and have secured cooperation
from the main parenting websites to help you access
participants.
• Spend 10 minutes thinking about the types of
questions that you would want to ask to address this
issue .
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Activity: Using the Bristol Online Survey Tool
In pairs.
• Login to BOS (www.survey.bris.ac.uk) using
the username and password you have been
provided with.
• Use the Parents survey as a template and edit
the questions in order to start to develop your
survey.
• Try to use some different question formats.
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