Abstract #300707

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JSM 2003 Abstract #300707
Activity Number: 397
Type: Invited
Date/Time: Wednesday, August 6, 2003 : 2:00 PM to 3:50 PM
Sponsor: Section on Survey Research Methods
Abstract - #300707
Title: Interactive Aspects of Web Surveys
Author(s): Frederick Conrad*+ and Mick P. Couper and Roger E. Tourangeau
Companies: University of Michigan and University of Michigan and University of Maryland
Address: Institute for Social Research, Ann Arbor, MI, 48106,
Keywords: web surveys ; user interfaces ; interactive features
Abstract:

The World Wide Web has evolved from a way to present users with static pages to an interactive medium. This is reflected in the design of web surveys by their evolution from paper-like forms to dynamic instruments. It is now common for web-based questionnaires to include standard features from computer-assisted interviews (e.g., automatic skips, consistency checks) but designers are now exploring new interactive features. These include "user models" to monitor respondents' understanding and decision-making; links to definitions so that clarification is available on demand; "progress indicators" to inform respondents of their movement through the questionnaire; and calculators to assure that tallies add, for example, to 100%. Much of the promise of interactivity is that it allows designers to combine the advantages of self-administration (e.g., privacy, respondent-control) and interviewer-administration (e.g., clarification, motivation). But it is also possible respondents will not use these features or if they do will be less satisfied or accurate than with more static designs. We will present the results of several studies that evaluate the use of interactive features in web surveys.

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