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Efficiencies of Internet-Based Digital and Paper-Based Scientific Surveys and the Estimated Costs and Time for Different-Sized Cohorts
AIMS: To evaluate the relative efficiencies of five Internet-based digital and three paper-based scientific surveys and to estimate the costs for different-sized cohorts. METHODS: Invitations to participate in a survey were distributed via e-mail to employees of two university hospitals (E(1) and E(...
Autores principales: | , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Public Library of Science
2014
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4196760/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25313672 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0108441 |
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author | Uhlig, Constantin E. Seitz, Berthold Eter, Nicole Promesberger, Julia Busse, Holger |
author_facet | Uhlig, Constantin E. Seitz, Berthold Eter, Nicole Promesberger, Julia Busse, Holger |
author_sort | Uhlig, Constantin E. |
collection | PubMed |
description | AIMS: To evaluate the relative efficiencies of five Internet-based digital and three paper-based scientific surveys and to estimate the costs for different-sized cohorts. METHODS: Invitations to participate in a survey were distributed via e-mail to employees of two university hospitals (E(1) and E(2)) and to members of a medical association (E(3)), as a link placed in a special text on the municipal homepage regularly read by the administrative employees of two cities (H(1) and H(2)), and paper-based to workers at an automobile enterprise (P(1)) and college (P(2)) and senior (P(3)) students. The main parameters analyzed included the numbers of invited and actual participants, and the time and cost to complete the survey. Statistical analysis was descriptive, except for the Kruskal-Wallis-H-test, which was used to compare the three recruitment methods. Cost efficiencies were compared and extrapolated to different-sized cohorts. RESULTS: The ratios of completely answered questionnaires to distributed questionnaires were between 81.5% (E(1)) and 97.4% (P(2)). Between 6.4% (P(1)) and 57.0% (P(2)) of the invited participants completely answered the questionnaires. The costs per completely answered questionnaire were $0.57–$1.41 (E(1–3)), $1.70 and $0.80 for H(1) and H(2), respectively, and $3.36–$4.21 (P(1–3)). Based on our results, electronic surveys with 10, 20, 30, or 42 questions would be estimated to be most cost (and time) efficient if more than 101.6–225.9 (128.2–391.7), 139.8–229.2 (93.8–193.6), 165.8–230.6 (68.7–115.7), or 188.2–231.5 (44.4–72.7) participants were required, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The study efficiency depended on the technical modalities of the survey methods and engagement of the participants. Depending on our study design, our results suggest that in similar projects that will certainly have more than two to three hundred required participants, the most efficient way of conducting a questionnaire-based survey is likely via the Internet with a digital questionnaire, specifically via a centralized e-mail. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-4196760 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2014 |
publisher | Public Library of Science |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-41967602014-10-16 Efficiencies of Internet-Based Digital and Paper-Based Scientific Surveys and the Estimated Costs and Time for Different-Sized Cohorts Uhlig, Constantin E. Seitz, Berthold Eter, Nicole Promesberger, Julia Busse, Holger PLoS One Research Article AIMS: To evaluate the relative efficiencies of five Internet-based digital and three paper-based scientific surveys and to estimate the costs for different-sized cohorts. METHODS: Invitations to participate in a survey were distributed via e-mail to employees of two university hospitals (E(1) and E(2)) and to members of a medical association (E(3)), as a link placed in a special text on the municipal homepage regularly read by the administrative employees of two cities (H(1) and H(2)), and paper-based to workers at an automobile enterprise (P(1)) and college (P(2)) and senior (P(3)) students. The main parameters analyzed included the numbers of invited and actual participants, and the time and cost to complete the survey. Statistical analysis was descriptive, except for the Kruskal-Wallis-H-test, which was used to compare the three recruitment methods. Cost efficiencies were compared and extrapolated to different-sized cohorts. RESULTS: The ratios of completely answered questionnaires to distributed questionnaires were between 81.5% (E(1)) and 97.4% (P(2)). Between 6.4% (P(1)) and 57.0% (P(2)) of the invited participants completely answered the questionnaires. The costs per completely answered questionnaire were $0.57–$1.41 (E(1–3)), $1.70 and $0.80 for H(1) and H(2), respectively, and $3.36–$4.21 (P(1–3)). Based on our results, electronic surveys with 10, 20, 30, or 42 questions would be estimated to be most cost (and time) efficient if more than 101.6–225.9 (128.2–391.7), 139.8–229.2 (93.8–193.6), 165.8–230.6 (68.7–115.7), or 188.2–231.5 (44.4–72.7) participants were required, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The study efficiency depended on the technical modalities of the survey methods and engagement of the participants. Depending on our study design, our results suggest that in similar projects that will certainly have more than two to three hundred required participants, the most efficient way of conducting a questionnaire-based survey is likely via the Internet with a digital questionnaire, specifically via a centralized e-mail. Public Library of Science 2014-10-14 /pmc/articles/PMC4196760/ /pubmed/25313672 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0108441 Text en © 2014 Uhlig et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited. |
spellingShingle | Research Article Uhlig, Constantin E. Seitz, Berthold Eter, Nicole Promesberger, Julia Busse, Holger Efficiencies of Internet-Based Digital and Paper-Based Scientific Surveys and the Estimated Costs and Time for Different-Sized Cohorts |
title | Efficiencies of Internet-Based Digital and Paper-Based Scientific Surveys and the Estimated Costs and Time for Different-Sized Cohorts |
title_full | Efficiencies of Internet-Based Digital and Paper-Based Scientific Surveys and the Estimated Costs and Time for Different-Sized Cohorts |
title_fullStr | Efficiencies of Internet-Based Digital and Paper-Based Scientific Surveys and the Estimated Costs and Time for Different-Sized Cohorts |
title_full_unstemmed | Efficiencies of Internet-Based Digital and Paper-Based Scientific Surveys and the Estimated Costs and Time for Different-Sized Cohorts |
title_short | Efficiencies of Internet-Based Digital and Paper-Based Scientific Surveys and the Estimated Costs and Time for Different-Sized Cohorts |
title_sort | efficiencies of internet-based digital and paper-based scientific surveys and the estimated costs and time for different-sized cohorts |
topic | Research Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4196760/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25313672 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0108441 |
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