Purpose – This article aims to draw on experience in supervising new researchers, and the advice of other writers to offer novice researchers such as those engaged in study for a thesis, or in another small-scale research project, a pragmatic introduction to designing and using research questionnaires. Design/methodology/approach – After a brief introduction, this article is organized into three main sections: designing questionnaires, distributing questionnaires, and analysing and presenting questionnaire data. Within these sections, ten questions often asked by novice researchers are posed and answered. Findings – This article is designed to give novice researchers advice and support to help them to design good questionnaires, to maximise their response rate, and to undertake appropriate data analysis. Originality/value – Other research methods texts offer advice on questionnaire design and use, but their advice is not specifically tailored to new researchers. They tend to offer options, but provide lim...

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Designing and using research questionnaires

This research explores literacy teachers’ perceptions of integrating information communication technologies (ICTs) into literacy instruction. To this end, a national survey of 1,441 literacy teachers in the United States was conducted. The survey provided data concerning the types and levels of reported availability and use of ICTs, beliefs about the importance of integrating ICTs into literacy instruction, and perceived obstacles to doing so. The analysis of data included descriptive statistics, an exploratory factor analysis, and a path analysis used to test a model hypothesizing a relation between teachers’ perceived importance of technology and reported levels of integration. Results revealed relatively low levels of curricular integration, consistent perceptions about obstacles to integration, and technological rather than curricular definitions of ICTs and of integration. The path analysis suggested several characteristics and influences associated with higher levels of integration and use. The findings advance understanding of the extent to which ICTs are being integrated into literacy instruction and what factors should be considered toward profitably increasing integration consistent with expanding definitions of literacy.

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Teachers' Perceptions of Integrating Information and Communication Technologies into Literacy Instruction: A National Survey in the United States

Objective To evaluate the policy making process, implementation by NHS organisations, and patients’ and carers’ experiences of efforts to introduce an internet accessible personal electronic health record (HealthSpace) in a public sector healthcare system Design Mixed method, multilevel case study Setting English National Health Service; the basic HealthSpace technology (available throughout England) and the advanced version (available in a few localities where this option had been introduced) were considered Main outcome measures National statistics on invitations sent, HealthSpace accounts created, and interviews and ethnographic observation of patients and carers Data analysis was informed by a socio-technical approach which considered macro and micro influences on both adoption and non-adoption of innovations, and by the principles of critical discourse analysis Participants 56 patients and carers (of whom 21 opened a basic HealthSpace account, 20 had diabetes but were not initially using HealthSpace, and 15 used advanced HealthSpace accounts to exchange messages with their general practitioner), 3000 pages of documents (policies, strategies, business plans, minutes of meetings, correspondence), observational field notes, and 160 interviews with policy makers, project managers, and clinical staff Results Between 2007 and October 2010, 172 950 people opened a basic HealthSpace account 2913 (013% of those invited) opened an advanced account, compared with 5-10% of the population anticipated in the original business case Overall, patients perceived HealthSpace as neither useful nor easy to use and its functionality aligned poorly with their expectations and self management practices Those who used email-style messaging were positive about its benefits, but enthusiasm beyond three early adopter clinicians was low, and fewer than 100 of 30 000 patients expressed interest Policy makers’ hopes that “deploying” HealthSpace would lead to empowered patients, personalised care, lower NHS costs, better data quality, and improved health literacy were not realised over the three year evaluation period Conclusion Unless personal electronic health records align closely with people’s attitudes, self management practices, identified information needs, and the wider care package (including organisational routines and incentive structures for clinicians), the risk that they will be abandoned or not adopted at all is substantial Conceptualising such records dynamically (as components of a socio-technical network) rather than statically (as containers for data) and employing user centred design techniques might improve their chances of adoption and use The findings raise questions about how eHealth programmes in England are developed and approved at policy level

https://www.bmj.com/content/bmj/341/bmj.c5814.full.pdf

Adoption, non-adoption, and abandonment of a personal electronic health record: case study of HealthSpace

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act identified secure patient-physician e-mail messaging as an objective of the meaningful use of electronic health records. In our study of 35,423 people with diabetes, hypertension, or both, the use of secure patient-physician e-mail within a two-month period was associated with a statistically significant improvement in effectiveness of care as measured by the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS). In addition, the use of e-mail was associated with an improvement of 2.0–6.5 percentage points in performance on other HEDIS measures such as glycemic (HbA1c), cholesterol, and blood pressure screening and control.

Improved Quality At Kaiser Permanente Through E-Mail Between Physicians And Patients

Computer and internet based questionnaires have become a standard tool in Human-Computer Interaction research and other related fields, such as psychology and sociology. Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (AMT) service is a new method of recruiting participants and conducting certain types of experiments. This study compares whether participants recruited through AMT give different responses than participants recruited through an online forum or recruited directly on a university campus. Moreover, we compare whether a study conducted within AMT results in different responses compared to a study for which participants are recruited through AMT but which is conducted using an external online questionnaire service. The results of this study show that there is a statistical difference between results obtained from participants recruited through AMT compared to the results from the participant recruited on campus or through online forums. We do, however, argue that this difference is so small that it has no practical consequence. There was no significant difference between running the study within AMT compared to running it with an online questionnaire service. There was no significant difference between results obtained directly from within AMT compared to results obtained in the campus and online forum condition. This may suggest that AMT is a viable and economical option for recruiting participants and for conducting studies as setting up and running a study with AMT generally requires less effort and time compared to other frequently used methods. We discuss our findings as well as limitations of using AMT for empirical studies.

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Comparing the similarity of responses received from studies in Amazon's Mechanical Turk to studies conducted online and with direct recruitment.

Chapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 Planning the Digital Survey Chapter 3 Sampling Chapter 4 Writing Survey Questions Chapter 5 Designing and Developing the Survey Instrument Chapter 6 Conducting the Survey Chapter 7 Processing and Analyzing the Survey Data Chapter 8 Reporting the Survey Results Chapter 9 Concluding Comments Appendix A: American Association for Public Opinion Research, Code of Ethics Appendix B: Commonly Used Survey Questions

Conducting Online Surveys

Although health care has lagged behind other industries in adopting online services, consumers will embrace online tools such as obtaining results of lab tests, scheduling appointments, and doctor-patient e-mail. Many challenges in using health care technology faced by small and midsize medical practices can be overcome by examining how Kaiser Permanente and other large integrated health systems handle the same problems. Collaboration among providers, combined with government support, will help advance widespread consumer adoption of online health care.

If You Build It, Will They Come? The Kaiser Permanente Model Of Online Health Care

Assessing patients’ experiences with communication across the cancer care continuum

OBJECTIVE This study compared response rates of paper and electronic versions of the Knee injury Osteoarthritis and Outcome Score questionnaire and examined the characteristics of patients who responded to each survey method. METHODS A total of 1486 patients registered by the Kaiser Permanente Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction Registry between 2005 and 2010 were included in this study. Response rates by survey modality for the overall cohort, by the specific time periods, and by age and sex at time of anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction were compared using χ(2) tests or the Fisher exact test when appropriate. Independent Student t tests were used to compare the Knee injury Osteoarthritis and Outcome Scores of survey respondents. RESULTS The overall survey response rate was 42%. The 36% response rate in the electronic-survey group was significantly higher than the 22% response rate in the paper-survey group (p < 0.001). The electronic response rate was also significantly higher than the paper response rate at all follow-up times (35% vs 25% at 1 year, p = 0.004, 38% vs 20% at 2 years, p < 0.001, and 35% vs 21% at 3 years; p < 0.001) and among all age groups 19 years and older. CONCLUSION Although the electronic survey produced higher response rates, it is not sufficient alone to replace the traditional paper version among this Kaiser Permanente population.

Valerie M. Sue

Papers

Conducting Online Surveys

If You Build It, Will They Come? The Kaiser Permanente Model Of Online Health Care

Assessing patients’ experiences with communication across the cancer care continuum

Comparison of paper and electronic surveys for measuring patient-reported outcomes after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.

Planning the Online Survey