Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
In other cases, there are more general services available such as SurveyPro
(www.surveypro.com), SurveyMonkey (www.surveymonkey.com) and SurveySaid
(www.surveysaid.com). Some are designed for a corporate market, some are more
academically oriented, and others are more general for a broad audience. Some
allow you to purchase a basic subscription while others require an institutional
license for use. Issues to consider when evaluating an online survey service
provider are listed in the following box.
Tips 'n Tricks
Evaluating web-based survey service providers
How does the application service provider license use of their applica-
tion? Do they charge a basic fee by number of questions in a survey, num-
ber of surveys administered, by how long a study runs, or by the number
of participants in a study?
Do they limit the number of participants who can take your survey? What
happens when you reach their limit?
Do they limit how long the survey can run on their service? If so, when
does the time limit begin?
Is the application easy to use and intuitive in how it is designed for use?
What are the data storage options (and how do you access your data during
the study)?
Will your survey appear online with banner advertisements or can they be
eliminated? (Banner ads are those blocks that appear on the sides, top
and bottom of a page advertising a product or service when accessing a
web page. Many service providers keep their prices low for the user by
selling banner advertisement space on their site.)
How much flexibility does the program allow for survey customization?
Can you change the background? Fonts? Colors? Insert images? Create an
if/then algorithm to branch participants into different tracks in a study?
Are there any tools available for viewing your findings, especially graph-
ically, or is visual review of your findings only available after download-
ing data into another application?
Does the vendor provide technical support? Online? Email? Telephone? Is
it included in the service or will you be assessed a fee each time you
access assistance? Is the phone number an “800,” or is it a standard area
code (which for some users can be problematic if left on hold or having
to work their way through a system to get to a person, all the while
paying for the phone time)? Do you have an unlimited amount of support
time or is it limited to a certain period of time? Is it available 24 hours or
during a particular time period (in a particular time zone)?
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