Using Internet Surveys for Research

Barbara J. Myers

Department of Psychology

Why do we use Internet surveys?

Rare populations Hard-to-find populations Populations that cannot come to you

Why do we use Internet surveys?

Convenient for participants Low-cost—No paper, no postage Data entry is automatic

Other researchers could target participants . . .

When you have their e-mails—send the announcement straight to them

Participants who do not show up for appointments to take surveys

Participants who are on the internet in the middle of the night

Our 3 studies using internet surveys

1. Parents of children with autism (N = 520)

2. Parents of children with either autism (n = 212) or Down syndrome (n = 68)

3. Parents from India, now living outside India, with children with autism (n = 27)

Recruitment of our samples

E-mail contact with organizations that these parents use– Autism Society of America– Every state, county, city chapter– Asked them to place a notice in their newsletters

or link on their webpage– Over 220 organizations contacted

Creating the questionnaires

Inquisite program Get the CD and install it on your computer Inquisite walks you through formatting of

survey

Our questions

Button-type answers Short-answer fill-in (e.g., other medications

not already listed?) Some questions branched Open-ended questions had room for essay-

length qualitative answers We asked TONS of questions

Explaining purpose of study to participants

Entry page stated purpose of the survey Told them who we were, our contact info That this was research Estimated time to take survey That they were free to not take part That submitting their answers constituted

granting CONSENT to be in study

Protecting confidentiality

We collected no identifying information No names, addresses, birthdates, emails No information on where they saw notice

about study We don’t know who they are and will never

contact them again

Accessing our data

First stored in Inquisite file, with password protection

Inquisite transforms data to SPSS or ACCESS

Stored these datasets on office computers (Inquisite writes little reports that are useless)

Do we get publishable research?

Data from 1st study—7 papers published or in press

– Goin-Kochel, R.P., Mackintosh, V.H., & Myers, B.J. (in press—accepted 11-24-2008). Parental reports on the efficacy of treatments and therapies for their children with autism spectrum disorders. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders.

– Myers, B.J., Mackintosh, V.H., & Goin-Kochel, R.P. (in press—accepted 09-09-2008). “My greatest joy and my greatest heart ache:” Parents’ own words on how having a child in the autism spectrum has affected their lives and their families’ lives. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders.

– Goin-Kochel, R. P., Mackintosh, V.H., & Myers, B.J. (2007). Parental reports on the use of treatments and therapies for children with autism spectrum disorders. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 1, 195-209.

– Mackintosh, V.H., & Goin-Kochel, R.P., & Myers, B.J. (2006). Sources of Information and Support Used by Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Journal on Developmental Disabilities, 12 (1), 41-51.

– Goin-Kochel, R.P., Mackintosh, V.H., & Myers, B.J. (2006). How Many Doctors Does It Take to Make an Autism-Spectrum Diagnosis? Autism, 10 (5), 439-451.

– Goin-Kochel, R.P. & Myers, B.J. (2005). The congenital vs. regressive onset of autism and parents’ beliefs about causes. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 20 (3), 169-179.

– Goin-Kochel, R.P. & Myers, B.J. (2005). Parental report of early autistic symptoms: Differences in ages of detection and frequencies of characteristics among three autism-spectrum disorders. Journal on Developmental Disabilities, 11(2), 21-39.

Other two studies—manuscripts in progress

Budget for these 3 studies?

ZeroZeroZero

Drawbacks

Sample is limited to people who own computers and use internet– Fewer participants of low income– Fewer minority families– Fewer participants with low education

Potential for junk responses

Advantages of internet surveys

Ability to locate rare populations Ease of data collection—automatic Convenient for participants Ability to collect an abundance of data Scientific journals publish the work Low budget, no budget, sustainable research