Web-based surveys and questionnaires are essential to the study of epidemiology that provide crucial information on the condition of public health and disease. They are the most commonly used methods of collecting data, which are usually less expensive and time-consuming than face-to-face interviews, mailed questionnaires, or automated phone menu systems. Questionnaires and Web experiments are not free of limitations, which must be addressed to achieve reliable and valid results.
A questionnaire may be influenced by response bias, the tendency of respondents to answer questions according to their opinions rather than the research objectives. The design of a questionnaire may influence responses in many ways. For instance the language of the question could influence whether the respondents comprehend the question and interpret it in the same manner (reliable) or whether the question reflects what you’re interested in (valid) and whether they are able to accurately answer (credible).
Respondents may also experience fatigue or a lack of interest in the questions being asked, which reduces the likelihood of them providing honest responses. In addition, a lack of incentives or compensation can discourage respondents from taking the time to fill out survey forms.
Online questionnaires also pose a challenge for certain experimental designs, for example, positioning or reaction time studies. The varying settings of browsers as well as screen sizes and operating systems makes it challenging to measure and control the same variables across participants.
Finally, Web-based surveys are only accessible to people who are keyboard and Internet proficient, which currently isn’t a large portion of the population. Furthermore, it’s often hard for Web researchers internet-based.org/ to provide feedback to participants when the window for an experiment has closed.