title: Using client-side event logging and path tracing to assess and improve the quality of web-based surveys.
abstract: Web-based data collection has considerable appeal. However, the quality of data collected using such instruments is often questionable. There can be systematic problems with the wording of the surveys, and/or the means with which they are deployed. In unsupervised data collection, there are also concerns about whether subjects understand the questions, and wehther they are answering honestly. This paper presents a schema for using client-side timestamps and traces of subjects' paths through instruments to detect problems with the definition of instruments and their deployment. We discuss two large, anonymous, web-based, medical surveys as examples of the utility of this approach.
authors.affiliation: Bureau of Evidence-Based Medicine, NYS Office of Mental Health, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: White
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Hauan
mesh_terms: D003219:Confidentiality; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D003661:Decision Support Techniques; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D011786:Quality Control; D016574:Seasonal Affective Disorder