Questionnaires and web experiments are an essential method of epidemiology that provides crucial information on the condition of public health and disease. They are a typical method of collecting data, which is often less costly and time-consuming than face-toface interviews, mailed paper questionnaires or automated menus for telephone systems. However, questionnaires and Web experiments have a number of limitations that need to be addressed in order to ensure reliable and valid results.
A questionnaire may be influenced by response bias, the tendency of respondents to answer questions based on their personal opinions rather than according to research objectives. The structure of a questionnaire can affect responses in a variety of ways. For example, the wording of the question can affect how respondents respond to the question and interpret internet-based.org/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-questionnaires it in the same way (reliable) and whether the question is a good indicator of the subject you are interested in (valid) and whether they can accurately answer (credible).
A lack of enthusiasm or engagement with the questionnaire can cause respondents to be less likely to provide honest answers. A lack of incentives or compensation could hinder respondents from filling out survey forms.
Online questionnaires can also pose a challenge for some experimental designs such as reaction-time or positioning studies. It is challenging to measure and control variables across participants because of the different settings for browsers operating systems, settings, and the size of screens.
Additionally, surveys conducted on the Web are only accessible to people who are keyboard and Internet knowledgeable, which currently excludes a significant percentage of the population. It is also difficult for Web researchers to provide participants with a report after the window for their experiment has ended.