Web Survey Bibliography
There is a lot of debate about whether questions should be presented on a grid or in a single item per screen. Operationally, grids take less time for respondents to complete. Use
of grids should decrease response burden, although new research shows that respondents seem to prefer a single item per screen. From a measurement point of view, grids pose numerous issues: higher item non-response, higher item non-differentiation, and sometimes higher measurement error.
In this experiment, we are testing the Vitality (4 items) and Mental Health (5 items) scales of the SF-36v2® Health Survey. The SF-36v2 asks 36 questions to measure functional
health and well-being from the patient's point of view. It is called a generic health survey, because it can be used across age (18 and older), disease, and treatment groups, as opposed to a disease-specific health survey which focuses on a particular condition or disease. Two of the four items of the vitality scale and two out of five items of the mental health scale are reversed in scoring.
A sample of 2,500 KnowledgePanel® respondents was randomly assigned to one of five experimental conditions: Group 1: Standard grid; Group 2: Shaded grid; Group 3: One item per screen with horizontal response options; Group 4: One item per screen with vertical response options; Group 5: One item per screen with vertical shaded response options. Approximately 360 respondents completed the survey per condition for a completion rate of 73.4%. The survey was optimized to be seen on a screen with minimum resolution of 800 by 600 pixels. During the study we collected the browser type for each respondent. This allowed us to exclude cases in which the survey was taken either on a MSNTV or on an iPhone/PDA because they could not properly see the grid items. The final sample used for the analysis, after exclusions, was of 1,419 cases for an average group size of about 280.
We hypothesized that items presented on a grid would lead to more measurement error as indicated by a higher rate of “inconsistencies” in the self-reports to grid questions and a lower rate of inconsistencies in the self-reports to the single-item questions. We speculated that presenting items on a single screen allows the respondent to bring more cognitive focus to each question and therefore be more consistent in their answers to questions. In contrast, when items are on a grid, it is easier for the respondent to get confused, especially when the meaning of some of the items is reversed. We computed an index of consistency by correlating the total sum of scores for the reversed items with the total sum of scores for the non-reversed items. If respondents are consistent in their answers the correlation between reversed and non-reversed should be higher. We calculated Cronbach's alpha scores to measure consistency in answers for each of the five experimental conditions.
The direction of the study findings were consistent with our hypotheses -- lower alpha level for the grid presentation and higher correlation for the single-item presentation -- although the differences among groups do not reach statistical significance.
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Web survey bibliography - Callegaro, M. (41)
- Assessing the Accuracy of 51 Nonprobability Online Panels and River Samples: A Study of the Advertising...; 2016; Yang,Y.;Callegaro,M.;Yang,Y.;Callegaro,M.;Chin,K.;Yang,Y.;Villar,A.;Callegaro, M.; Chin, K.; Krosnick...
- Report of the Inquiry into the 2015 British general election opinion polls; 2016; Sturgis, P., Baker, N., Callegaro, M., Fisher, St., Green, J., Jennings, W., Kuha, J., Lauderdale, B...
- The quality of data collected using online panels: a decade of research ; 2015; Callegaro, M.
- Metrics and Design Tool for Building and Evaluating Probability-Based Online Panels; 2015; DiSogra, C.; Callegaro, M.
- Yes-no answers versus check-all in self-administered modes ; 2015; Callegaro, M.; Henderson, V.; Murakami, M.; Tepman, Z.
- 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.
- Recent Books and Journals in Public Opinion, Survey Methods, and Survey Statistics; 2014; Callegaro, M.
- Paradata in web surveys; 2013; Callegaro, M.
- From mixed-mode to multiple devices. Web surveys, smartphone surveys and apps: has the respondent gone...; 2013; Callegaro, M.
- Web coverage in the UK and its potential impact on general population web surveys; 2013; Callegaro, M.
- Effects of Progress Indicators on Short Questionnaires; 2012; Sedley, A., Callegaro, M.
- Effects of Pagination on Short Online Surveys; 2012; Sedley, A., Callegaro, M.
- A Systematic Review of Studies Investigating the Quality of Data Obtained with Online Panels; 2012; Callegaro, M., Villar, A., Krosnick, J. A., Yeager, D. S.
- A taxonomy of paradata for web surveys and computer assisted self interviewing (Casi); 2012; Callegaro, M.
- Unpublisihed internal Google report on break off rates by device type; 2011; Callegaro, M.
- Should we use the progress bar in online surveys? A meta-analysis of experiments manipulating progress...; 2011; Callegaro, M., Yang, Y., Villar, A.
- IVR and web administration in structured interviews utilizing rating scales: exploring the role of motivation...; 2011; Yang, Y., Callegaro, M., Bhola, D. S., Dillman, D. A.
- The Effect of Email Invitation Subject Title and Text on Online Survey Completion Rates in Internet...; 2009; Kruse, Y., Thomas, M., Nukulkij, P., Callegaro, M.
- Differences Between Internet and Non-Internet Households on Survey Items: Do These Differences Disappear...; 2009; Zhang, C., Callegaro, M., Thomas, M.
- Producing Straightlining and Item Non-Differentiation in a Web Survey: How Visual Design Plays a Role...; 2009; Callegaro, M., Shand-Lubbers, J., Dennis, J. M.
- Do we hear different voices?: Investigating the differences between internet and non-internet users...; 2009; Zhang, C., Callegaro, M., Thomas, M., DiSogra, C.
- The Effect of Email Invitation Customization on Survey Completion Rates in an Internet Panel: A Meta...; 2009; Callegaro, M., Kruse, Y., Thomas, M., Nukulkij, P.
- Panel Conditioning and Attrition in the AP-Yahoo! News Election Panel Study; 2009; Kruse, Y., Callegaro, M., Dennis, J. M., DiSogra, C., Subias, S., Lawrence, M., Tompson, T.
- Recruiting Probability-Based Web Panel Members Using an Address-Based Sample Frame: Results from a Pilot...; 2009; DiSogra, C., Callegaro, M., Hendarwan, E.
- Presentation of a Single Item versus a Grid: Effects on the Vitality and Mental Health Scales of the...; 2009; Callegaro, M., Shand-Lubbers, J., Dennis, J. M.
- Computing Response Rates for Probability-Based Web Panels; 2009; DiSogra, C., Callegaro, M.
- Is the digital divide still closing? New evidence points to skewed online results absent non-Internet...; 2008; Callegaro, M., Wells, T.
- Effects of Pre-coding Response Options for Five Point Satisfaction Scale in Web Surveys; 2008; Callegaro, M., Wells, T., Kruse, Y.
- An implementation of a within-household selection procedure for web surveys; 2008; Callegaro, M., Osborn, L., Debell, M., Leuvano, P.
- Response options order effect and category number association: An experiment using items on a five point...; 2008; Tang, G., Callegaro, M.
- More than the digital divide?: Investigating the differences between Internet and non-Internet users; 2008; Zhang, C., Callegaro, M., Thomas, M.
- “R U in the Network?!” Using Text Messaging Interfaces as Screeners for Working Cell Phone...; 2008; Buskirk, T. D., Rao, K., Callegaro, M., Arens, Z., Steiger, D. M.
- Computing Metrics for Online Panels; 2008; Callegaro, M., DiSogra, C.
- Impact of new technologies in data collection methods; 2008; Callegaro, M.
- Key Issues in Research Accuracy: Sources of bias and error in online research; 2008; Dennis, J. M., Callegaro, M.
- The influence of mobile telephones on telephone surveys; 2008; Kuusela, V., Callegaro, M., Vehovar, V.
- The influence of advance letters on response in telephone surveys; 2007; de Leeuw, E. D., Callegaro, M., Hox, J., Korendijk, E., Lensvelt-Mulders, G. J.
- Using Text Messages in U.S. Mobile Phone Surveys ; 2007; Steeh, C. G., Buskirk, T. D., Callegaro, M.
- Response latency as an indicator of optimizing. A study comparing job applicants and job incumbents...; 2004; Callegaro, M., Yang, Y., Bhola, D. S., Dillman, D. A.
- Electronic Voting Machines – A comparison applying the principles of computer-human interaction...; 2003; Callegaro, M., Peytcheva, E.