Computer-assisted versus paper-and-pencil administration of questionnaires
- PDF / 1,245,653 Bytes
- 10 Pages / 558 x 756 pts Page_size
- 107 Downloads / 167 Views
Computer-assisted versus paper-and-pencil administration of questionnaires JANE WEBSTER
University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
and DEBORAH COMPEAU
Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
In a field experiment using 95 employees, the results of computer-assisted versus paper-and-pencil administration of questionnaires during computer training were compared. Unlike past research, the computer mode of administration was made as similar as possible, in format, to the paper mode. No differences in means or reliabilities were found between any variables across the two conditions. However, when the correlations were examined, different patterns of relationships were found across the two conditions. Specifically, subjective or affective measures (software efficacy, playfulness, and training reaction) were more highly related when the measures were gathered by computer as opposed to paper-and-pencil. The relationships between subjective measures and more objective or factual measures (experience, performance, training transfer) were not affected. Thus, it appears that, while differences in mode of administration may not be reflected in differences in means, there are differences in nomological validity.
Organizations of various kinds have traditionally collected questionnaire data through paper-and-pencil administration, and most validation studies of these questionnaire instruments have been conducted using paper and pencil. However, computer-assisted testing of job applicants and employees is becoming increasingly popular in organizations and in research (Booth-Kewley, Edwards, & Rosenfeld, 1992). Computer-assisted testing has several advantages over paper-based testing: reduced costs and increased availability of tests (Newsted, 1988), automatic tabulation and analysis of data (Martin & Nagao, 1989), higher test security and lower ambiguity of responses (Federico, 1992), easier generation of customized questionnaires (Greenwood, Higgins, & Dimnik, 1987) and assessment of certain individual abilities that cannot be measured through more traditional paper-and-pencil tests (Drasgow, Olson, Keenan, Moberg, & Mead, 1993; Jones, Dunlap, & Bilodeau, 1986; Schmitt, Gilliland, Landis, & Devine, 1993). Translation of paper-based questionnaires to computerbased formats represents a significant change in measurement, and the equivalence of the measure collected by this new method must be assessed. Research comparFinancial support was provided by research funds from The Pennsylvania State University's Smeal College of Business Administration. Thanks are extended to Julie Moul, for her assistance in conducting the study. and to Bob Bostrom and Linda Trevino, for their constructive comments on the paper. Correspondence should be directed to 1. Webster, who is now in the Department of Management Sciences. 4344 Carl Pollock Hall, University of Waterloo. 200 University Ave. West, Waterloo, ON, Canada N2L 3G I (e-mail: jwebster@ manscil.uwaterloo.ca).
ing questionnaire results collected through computers (alternativel
Data Loading...
