Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
being senior management. Given that end users
themselves have a large degree of control over the
success or otherwise of their applications, there
is also a need to consider end users' perceptions
of the various approaches to reducing risks. The
final aim of this study was therefore to:
procedure
A summary of the results of the earlier spread-
sheet study was mailed to all participants, along
with a request to participate in the current study
by completing an enclosed questionnaire. Some
participants, for whom no postal address details
were recorded, were initially contacted via e-mail
and asked to participate in the current study before
being mailed the questionnaire. Those who failed
to return the questionnaire and for whom e-mail
addresses were recorded were sent a reminder by
e-mail after approximately 3 weeks. 167 ques-
tionnaires were mailed out and 60 completed
questionnaires were received, giving a response
rate of 36%.
4.
Investigate the perceptions of end-user
developers as to the importance of various
approaches to reducing the risks of end-user
Web development.
the projeCt
This study was conducted via survey. The partici-
pants were a group of end users who were known
to have developed spreadsheet applications, but
whose experience with Web development was
unknown. This group was targeted as it provided
an opportunity to explore the uptake of end-user
Web development amongst experienced end-user
developers, and also to compare perceptions of
the benefits and risks of the two types of devel-
opment.
the Questionnaire
The questionnaire consisted of several sections.
The first section asked questions about the back-
ground and previous computing experience of
participants. The second section asked specifi-
cally about Web page development experience
and training, and where relevant, explored rea-
sons for nondevelopment. The third and fourth
sections included questions to be answered by
all respondents about the potential benefits and
risks of both spreadsheet development and Web
page development. The final section addressed
approaches to reducing the risks of end-user Web
development. The draft questionnaire was pilot
tested by four end users and slight changes made
to clarify the questions.
participants
The sample for this study consists of 60 end-user
developers who had previously participated in
a study on end-user spreadsheet development.
The participants in the previous study were ac-
tive end-user developers from a wide range of
business organizations. They had a wide range
of experience and training (details of the original
study can be found in McGill, 2004). 35% of the
participants in the current study were males, and
65% were females. Ages ranged from 20 to 67
years with an average of 45 years.
Section : Background Information
The first section asked questions about the partici-
pants and their previous training and experience
with computers, spreadsheets, and the Internet.
Experience was measured in years. Questions
relating to spreadsheet and Internet training asked
about formal courses and self study separately
using measures that were adapted from Igbaria
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