RRelevance and research question
The concept of paradata, also called process data, was first introduced in the survey research community by Mick Couper in 1998 and referred primarily to computer assisted interviewing in general. In 2001 Jeavons introduced the concept of paradata for web surveys at an Esomar event in Barcelona. Paradata are data about the process of data collection and come primarily from the system used in collecting the data.
Paradata have been collected since the beginning of computer administered interviewing and used primarily by survey managers and field supervisors to monitor the progress and quality of the data collection. Since then there have been many usages of paradata.
In this paper I create a new taxonomy of paradata for web surveys.
Methods and data
There are many possible types of paradata that can be collected for web surveys and computer assisted self interviewing (Casi).
Paradata for web surveys and Casi can be classified as
a) device type and
b) questionnaire navigation paradata.
In the first case it is possible to know what device have been used to fill out a survey (e.g.a smart phone or a desktop computer) the location of the device ( by using either the I.P. address or GPS information) and other parameters such as screen resolution and language of the operating system.
Questionnaire navigation paradata capture all sort of movements within the questionnaire, change of answers, time spent per question, mouse clicks and other non questionnaire related data such as activation of error messages, prompts, or clicks on help/FAQ within the survey.
Results
For each paradata types I provide examples of its usage in terms of quality improvements in the questionnaire or data collection, and in terms of understanding of the self administered response process.
Added value
This seems to be the first attempt to create a taxonomy of paradata for web surveys and computer assisted self-administered interviews (Casi). The paper will result in a book chapter already accepted for publication and presented as preview at GOR.