title: Web-based administration of a personality questionnaire: comparison with traditional methods.
abstract: The World-Wide Web holds great promise as a mechanism for questionnaire-based research. But are data from Web-based questionnaires comparable to data from standard paper-and-pencil questionnaires? This study assessed the equivalence of the Ruminative Responses Scale in a Web-based format and in a paper-and-pencil format among introductory psychology, upper-level psychology, and non-psychology students. Internal consistency coefficients were comparable across the groups. The participants in the Web sample reported higher levels of self-focused rumination than did the other groups. Women in the Web sample reported more self-focused rumination than did women in the other groups. In the Web sample, results did not covary with access location. These results suggest that findings from Web-based questionnaire research are comparable with results obtained using standard procedures. The computerized Web interface may also facilitate self-disclosure among research participants.
authors.affiliation: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA. robnd@uh.edu
authors.forename: R N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Davis
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015986:Confounding Factors, Epidemiologic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D009862:Online Systems / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000592:standards*; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012494:Sampling Studies; D015983:Selection Bias; D012737:Sex Factors; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014495:Universities