Randomized Testing of Alternative Survey Formats Using Anonymous Volunteers on the World Wide Web
- Affiliations of the authors: UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California, and RAND Health, Santa Monica, California (DSB, CMM); Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (CEK)
- Correspondence and reprints: Douglas S. Bell, MD, PhD, UCLA Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research, 911 Broxton Plaza, Room 201, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1736; e-mail: 〈dbell{at}ucla.edu〉
- Received 28 February 2001
- Accepted 31 May 2001
Abstract
Consenting visitors to a health survey Web site were randomly assigned to a “matrix” presentation or an “expanded” presentation of survey response options. Among 4,208 visitors to the site over 3 months, 1,615 (38 percent) participated by giving consent and completing the survey. During a pre-trial period, when consent was not required, 914 of 1,667 visitors (55 percent) participated (odds ratio 1.9, P<0.0001). Mean response times were 5.07 minutes for the matrix format and 5.22 minutes for the expanded format (P=0.16). Neither health status scores nor alpha reliability coefficients were substantially influenced by the survey format, but health status scores varied with age and gender as expected from U.S. population norms. In conclusion, presenting response options in a matrix format may not substantially speed survey completion. This study demonstrates a method for rapidly evaluating interface design alternatives using anonymous Web volunteers who have provided informed consent.
Footnotes
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This work was supported in part by grant G08 LM05705 from the National Library of Medicine, for IAIMS planning at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Dr. Bell was supported by the Mary and Irving Lazar Program in Health Services Research and by National Research Service award T32 PE19001-09 from the Health Resources and Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Mangione was supported by Generalist Faculty Scholar Award 029250 from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
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Preliminary results of this study were presented at the Third Annual National Research Service Award (NRSA) Trainees Research Conference, cosponsored by Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) and Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), June 13-14, 1997, in Chicago, Illinois.
