Web-Based Survey Techniques (2006) / Chapter Skim
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From page 20... ...
Not all guidelines by Dillman 20 are always adhered to exactly by experienced web survey researchers, and any reasons for diverting from his suggestions will be discussed as well. Some of Dillman's most important guidelines are: • Use a welcome screen that is motivational, emphasizes the ease of responding, and that instructs users how to proceed.
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This technique runs somewhat contrary to Dillman's recommendation to treat a web-based questionnaire like a paper-based questionnaire; however, the research team's experience suggests that web surveys work better by making the branching seamless so that the respondent does not even notice it. This is accomplished effectively by using the one-question-per-page method and programming any required branching logic in the underlying web-based survey code.
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One advantage of using CSS is that it can make the process of complying with 508 guidelines significantly easier for the web survey designer. COVERAGE AND UNIT NONRESPONSE ERROR AMONG DIFFERENT SURVEY TYPES Although this synthesis report is focused on web-based surveys, it is important for transit researchers to understand when it makes the most sense to incorporate a web-based survey into their research.
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For any study, the researcher must review all sources of error and not dwell solely on one type. For example, it is Considerations Survey Methods: Online Web CATI (Computer- assisted telephone interview)
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Responses to the synthesis survey indicated that optimized multi-method surveys are the current state of practice, with Considerations Survey Methods: Online Web CATI (Computer- assisted telephone interview) Computer- Based Surveys, Not Online Paper-Based, via Hand or Mail-out In-Person Interviews Limitations Coverage While improving, coverage issues are still a problem x Limited ways to randomly sample a known geographic area x Coverage error is a problem among very low income populations and is a growing issue for other populations (often in urban transit environments such as major metropolitan areas)
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When asked "What do you feel are the reasons your organization does not conduct web-based surveys? ," two-thirds of researchers not currently conducting web surveys also cited coverage error/sampling bias as reasons.
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There are a variety of sources for web penetration data, the most comprehensive being the U.S. Census' Computer Use and Ownership from the Current Population Survey.
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Web-based surveys have advantages over telephone surveys in terms of unit nonresponse. Web surveys do not suffer as much as telephone surveys from the issue of high unit nonresponse rates as a result of call-monitoring techniques such as answering machines and caller ID (1,4,9)
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. At the same time however it is important that real-time editing and response validation in web surveys do not dissuade the respondent from continuing their questionnaire because the checking and editing become too onerous.
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One of the limitations of web surveys is that there is currently no way to generate a random list of e-mails for potential survey respondents in a particular geographic region. This limitation makes contacting random samples of wide areas difficult for web surveys.
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From page 30... ...
For example, when transit agencies need to sample their ridership, they know how to find them: they are on board the vehicles, at the stations and terminals, and possibly in their customer database. Therefore, researchers conducting rider origin–destination and customer satisfaction surveys, for example, will be able to directly intercept riders using a paper-based, hand-out survey or a personal interview on board transit vehicles or at transit stations and facilities.
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Many transit studies have been conducted using multimethod surveys. NJ TRANSIT's Rail Customer Satisfaction ePanel study is discussed in chapter six.
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Many surveys require significant complexity to obtain useful information. A good example is stated preference mode choice surveys, where customized future transportation scenarios need to be constructed for each respondent.
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From page 33... ...
An example follows as a case study in chapter six in which TriMet asked respondents for feedback on its new interactive map feature on its website. • Information may be needed for a specific purpose such as evaluating features of regional fare cards [San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART)
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