Web Survey Bibliography
Modern software tools for web surveys increasingly enable fast and friendly implementation of web questionnaires and overall management of the survey process. However, there exists a general tradeoff between easiness of use and powerfulness/capability. Feature-rich solutions may require a high amount of learning and/or even some programming skills, while user-friendly and intuitive applications may offer too few features. In our study, we empirically addressed these two contradicting characteristics of web survey software tools.
We analyzed the largest online list of web surveys software tools – the WebSM database (www.websm.org). The database is continuously updated and includes more than 300 web survey tools.
Initially, we analyzed all database entries according to pricing, complexity, ownership, code availability, language, location and hosting. This provides a general picture about the software that is currently available on the market.
Next, we selected a subsample of 30 software tools from typical groups of tools and studied in more details their features and user-friendliness:
- We repeated a study from 2006, which evaluated and compared the availability of basic and advanced features of web survey software tools.
- Observations and corresponding statistical analyses of the number of clicks needed to create two standardized questionnaires (one simple, one with conditions) was performed.
- The effectiveness and intuitiveness of user interfaces were systematically rated by experts.
- The evaluation was also performed by the end users, who applied certain tools and created a predefined web questionnaire.
Relations between different components of evaluation and relations between different evaluation approaches were analyzed as well. This enables an empirically evaluation of the tradeoff between the two characteristics: user-friendliness and powerfulness.
Finally, we provide some guidance in establishing criteria for selection of the software. This can help users in choosing the optimal software solutions, which fulfill their needs for functionality, usability and cost-effectiveness.
Conference homepage (abstract)
Web survey bibliography (457)
- Handbook of Research Methods in Health Social Sciences; 2017; Liamputtong, P.
- Necessary but Insufficient: Why Measurement Invariance Tests Need Online Probing as a Complementary...; 2017; Meitinger, K.
- Device and Internet Use among Spanish-dominant Hispanics: Implications for Web Survey Design and Testing...; 2017; Trejo, Y. A. G.; Schoua-Glusberg, A.
- Role of online survey tools in creating temporally accurate Environmental Product Declarations (EPD)...; 2017; Ganguly, I.; Bowers, T.; Pierobon, F.; Eastin, I.
- CAQDAS at a Crossroads: Affordances of Technology in an Online Environment; 2017; Silver, C.; Bulloch, L. S.
- Development and Pilot Test of a Mobile Application for Field Data Collection; 2016; Chiappetta, L.; Kerr, M. M.
- A streamlined approach to online linguistic surveys; 2016; Erlewine, M. Y.; Kotek, H.
- The Effects of Vignette Placement on Attitudes Toward Supporting Family Members; 2016; Lau, C. Q., Seltzer, J. A., Bianchi, S. M.
- Using Web Panels to Quantify the Qualitative: The National Center for Health Statistics Research and...; 2016; Scanlon, P. J.
- Bees to Honey or Flies to Manure? How the Usual Subject Recruitment Exacerbates the Shortcomings of...; 2016; Snell, S. A., Hillygus, D. S.
- The Use of a Nonprobability Internet Panel to Monitor Sexual and Reproductive Health in the General...; 2015; Legleye, S; Charrance, G.; Razafindratsima, N.; Bajos, N.; Bohet, A.; Moreau, C.
- GreenBook Research Industry Trends Report; 2015; Murphy, L. (Ed.)
- Does Sequence Matter in Multimode Surveys: Results from an Experiment; 2014; Wagner, J., Arrieta, J., Guyer, H., Ofstedal, M. B.
- The Use of Cognitive Interviewing Methods to Evaluate Mode Effects in Survey Questions; 2014; Gray, M., Blake, M., Campanelli, P.
- Build your own social network laboratory with Social Lab: a tool for research in social media; 2014; Garaizar, P., Reips, U.-D.
- Using Eye Tracking to Evaluate Email Notifications of Surveys and Online Surveys Collecting Address...; 2014; Olmsted, E. L., Nichols, E. M.
- Correlates of Attrition in the German Internet Panel: Drop-Outs and Sleepers; 2014; Blom, A. G., Beissel-Durrant, G.
- Survey Breakoff in Online Panels; 2014; McCutcheon, A. L.
- Inside the Turk Understanding Mechanical Turk as a Participant Pool; 2014; Paolacci, G., Chandler, J.
- Nonresponse and measurement error in an online panel; 2014; Roberts, C., Allum, N., Sturgis, P.
- Estimating the effects of nonresponses in online panels through imputation; 2014; Zhang, W.
- Professional respondents in nonprobability online panels; 2014; Hillygus, D. S., Jackson, N. M., Young, M.
- Informing panel members about study results; 2014; Scherpenzeel, A., Toepoel, V.
- Determinants of the starting rate and the completion rate in online panel studies; 2014; Goeritz, A.
- The untold story of multi-mode (online and mail) consumer panels; 2014; McCutcheon, A. L., Rao, K., Kaminska, O.
- Online panels and validity; 2014; Groenlund, K., Strandberg, K.
- Assessing representativeness of a probability-based online panel in Germany; 2014; Struminskaya, B., Kaczmirek, L., Schaurer, I., Bandilla, W.
- A critical review of studies investigating the quality of data obtained with online panels based on...; 2014; Callegaro, M., Villar, A., Yeager, D. S., Krosnick, J. A.
- Online panel research: History, concepts, applications and a look at the future; 2014; Callegaro, M., Baker, R., Bethlehem, J., Goeritz, A., Krosnick, J. A., Lavrakas, P. J.
- Motives for joining nonprobability online panels and their association with survey participation behavior...; 2014; Keusch, F., Batinic, B., Mayerhofer, W.
- Targeting the bias – the impact of mass media attention on sample composition and representativeness...; 2014; Steinmetz, S., Oez, F., Tijdens, K. G.
- Exploring selection biases for developing countries - is the web a promising tool for data collection...; 2014; Tijdens, K. G., Steinmetz, S.
- The quality of ego-centered social network data in web surveys: experiments with a visual elicitation...; 2014; Marcin, B., Matzat, U., Snijders, C.
- Switching the polarity of answer options within the questionnaire and using various numbering schemes...; 2014; Struminskaya, B., Schaurer, I., Bosnjak, M.
- Measuring the very long, fuzzy tail in the occupational distribution in web-surveys; 2014; Tijdens, K. G.
- Interest Bias – An Extreme Form of Self-Selection?; 2014; Cape, P. J., Reichert, K.
- Online Qualitative Research – Personality Matters ; 2014; Tress, F., Doessel, C.
- Recent Books and Journals in Public Opinion, Survey Methods, and Survey Statistics; 2014; Callegaro, M.
- Does Gamification Work? - A Literature Review of Empirical Studies on Gamification ; 2014; Hamari, J., Koivisto, J., Sarsa, H.
- The Use of Paradata to Predict Future Cooperation in a Panel Study; 2014; Funke, F., Goeritz, A.
- Pret met panels [Fun online]; 2013; Roberts, A., de Leeuw, E. D., Hox, J., Klausch, L. T., de Jongh, A.
- The Short-term Campaign Panel of the German Longitudinal Election Study 2009. Design, Implementation...; 2013; Steinbrecher, M., Rossmann, J.
- The Future of Social Media, Sociality, and Survey Research; 2013; Hill, C., Dever, J. A.
- Second Life as a Survey Lab: Exploring the Randomized Response Technique in a Virtual Setting; 2013; Richards, A., Dean, E.
- Virtual Cognitive Interviewing Using Skype and Second Life; 2013; Dean, E., Head, B., Swicegood, J. E.
- Social Media, Sociality, and Survey Research; 2013; Hill, C., Dean, E., Murphy, J.
- Investigation of background acoustical effect on online surveys: A case study of a farmers' market...; 2013; Tang, Xi.
- Should the third reminder be sent? The role of survey response timing on web survey results; 2013; Rao, K., Pennington, J.
- Web panel surveys – can they be designed and used in a scientifically sound way?; 2013; Svensson, J.
- Using an Item Response Theory Approach to Measure Survey Mode of Administration Effects: Analysis of...; 2013; Mariano, L. T., Elliott, M. N.