Showing papers by "Sara Kiesler published in 1999"

A Meta-Analytic Study of Social Desirability Distortion in Computer- Administered Questionnaires, Traditional Questionnaires, and Interviews

Abstract: A meta-analysis of social desirability distortion compared computer questionnaires with traditional paper-and-pencil questionnaires and face-to-face interviews in 61 studies (1967-1997; 673 effect sizes). Controlling for correlated observations, a near-zero overall effect size was obtained for computer versus paper-and-pencil questionnaires. With moderators, there was less distortion on computerized measures of social desirability responding than on the paper-and-pencil measures, especially when respondents were alone and could backtrack. There was more distortion on the computer on other scales, but distortion was small when respondents were alone, anonymous, and could backtrack. There was less distortion on computerized versions of interviews than on face-to-face interviews. Research is needed on nonlinear patterns of distortion, and on the effects of context and interface on privacy perceptions and on responses to sensitive questions.

Information and Communication: Alternative Uses of the Internet in Households

Abstract: the Internet a superhighway to information or a high-tech extension of the home tele- phone? We address this question by operationalizing information acquisition and enter- tainment as the use of the World Wide Web and interpersonal communication as the use of electronic mail (e-mail), and examine how 229 members of 110 households used these services during their first year on the Internet. The results show that e-mail drives people's use of the Internet. Participants used e-mail in more Internet sessions and more consistently than they used the World Wide Web, and they used e-mail first in sessions where they used both. Participants used the Internet more after they had used e-mail heavily, but they used the Internet less after they had used the Web heavily. While participants' use of both e-mail and the Web declined with time, the decline in Web use was steeper. Those who used e-mail more than they used the Web were also more likely to continue using the Internet over the course of a year. Our findings have implications for engineering and policies for the Internet and, more generally, for studies of the social impact of new technology.

Ethical issues in conducting sex research on the internet

Abstract: The Internet offers a “virtual world” in which to carry out innovative sex research, but this new world may entail new ethical dilemmas. Ethical issues in recruitment, informed consent, data collec...