Nuts & Bolts of Online Surveys PRISM Brownbag April 24, 2009 Delia Dumitrescu

Why Online Surveys? Cheap research opportunity Cheap research opportunity Boost data obtained through interviews Boost data obtained through interviews Possibility for experimental work Possibility for experimental work Virtually unlimited cross-national comparisons Virtually unlimited cross-national comparisons Widespread internet access  access to difficult-to-reach populations Widespread internet access  access to difficult-to-reach populations

Online Survey Companies state.edu/workshops/survey_of_surv eys/ state.edu/workshops/survey_of_surv eys/ state.edu/workshops/survey_of_surv eys/ state.edu/workshops/survey_of_surv eys/ Survey Gizmo (free package) Survey Gizmo (free package) Survey Monkey (free package) Survey Monkey (free package) Zoomerang (free package, but data kept for limited number of days) Zoomerang (free package, but data kept for limited number of days) Lime Survey (free altogether) Lime Survey (free altogether) Checkbox Checkbox Snap Survey Snap Survey

Survey Gizmo: Question Types Virtually every type of question Virtually every type of question Single response (e.g. Likert) Single response (e.g. Likert) Multiple responses Multiple responses Tables of questions Tables of questions Ranking Ranking Visual comparison Visual comparison Text/Essay Text/Essay s/124603/prism s/124603/prism s/124603/prism s/124603/prism

Questions: Practical Issues Question randomization on page Question randomization on page Option randomization Option randomization Trigger questions + Trigger questions + Hidden questions on page Hidden questions on page Required questions Required questions Question editing: Question editing: Coding Coding Text – Beware of copy/pasting MS Word Text – Beware of copy/pasting MS Word

Question Editing

Question Randomization

Likert Scales

Likert Scales (cont’d)

Trigger Questions

Option Randomization

Trigger Window

Table Questions

Table Questions (Cont’d)

Rankings (Cont’d)

Ranking (Cont’d)

Image choice

Image choice (Cont’d)

Essay Questions

Essay Questions (Cont’d)

Overall Survey: Practical Issues Skip pages Skip pages Branching Branching Appearance Appearance Colors/ Fonts Colors/ Fonts Languages Languages Forward only surveys Forward only surveys Informing subjects on progress Informing subjects on progress IMPORTANT: check that survey is working on multiple OS IMPORTANT: check that survey is working on multiple OS

Survey Customization

Survey Customization (Cont’d)

Data: Practical Issues Quick reports: frequencies & graphs Quick reports: frequencies & graphs 611/127173/AT073EN6RSYBL3R A1Q8KW7642Y5RSU/?ts= /127173/AT073EN6RSYBL3R A1Q8KW7642Y5RSU/?ts= /127173/AT073EN6RSYBL3R A1Q8KW7642Y5RSU/?ts= /127173/AT073EN6RSYBL3R A1Q8KW7642Y5RSU/?ts= Format: csv Format: csv Checking for multiple responses: Checking for multiple responses: Cookies? Cookies? Respondent ID Respondent ID

Increasing Respondents’ Confidence Login from polisci website Login from polisci website itrescu/survey_info.htm itrescu/survey_info.htm itrescu/survey_info.htm itrescu/survey_info.htm How to send mass s (and avoid the dangers of “spamming”): How to send mass s (and avoid the dangers of “spamming”): “Send personally” “Send personally” groups groups

Resources Prism brownbag survey on the intra-net (pdfs) Prism brownbag survey on the intra-net (pdfs) Surveygizmo.com – tutorials, FAQs, forum (replies within a reasonable time delay) Surveygizmo.com – tutorials, FAQs, forum (replies within a reasonable time delay) Survey questionnaire design: Survey questionnaire design: PS 702! PS 702! The Psychology of Survey Response (2000) The Psychology of Survey Response (2000) Asking Questions... (2004) Asking Questions... (2004) Online surveys: Mail & Internet Surveys (2007) Online surveys: Mail & Internet Surveys (2007)

Conclusions Inexpensive and time effective method of data collection Inexpensive and time effective method of data collection Significant resources out there to help with the design of effective web surveys Significant resources out there to help with the design of effective web surveys Potential liabilities: respondent interest in the survey (loss of focus), respondent identity, multiple responses Potential liabilities: respondent interest in the survey (loss of focus), respondent identity, multiple responses