Web-based surveys and questionnaires are a crucial method of epidemiology that provides crucial information on the condition of health and disease in the public. They are a typical method of gathering data that is typically less expensive and time intensive than face-to-face interviews, mailed questionnaires or automated menus for phones systems. Questionnaires and Web experiments are not free of limitations, which must be addressed to obtain valid and reliable results.
A questionnaire can be influenced by response bias, the tendency of respondents to answer questions according to their opinions rather than the research objectives. Furthermore, the design of a questionnaire can influence responses in various ways: for example the wording of questions can influence the way respondents interpret and understand the question in the same manner (reliable), measure what you’re interested in (valid), or are able to answer in a timely manner (credible).
Respondents might also experience survey fatigue or lack of engagement internet-based.org/ with the questions which reduces the chances of them providing honest answers. Lack of incentives or compensation may also deter respondents from filling out the questionnaire.
Online questionnaires can be challenging for certain experiment designs, like studies of reaction time or positioning. The wide range of settings for browsers as well as screen sizes and operating systems makes it challenging to control and measure the same variables across different participants.
In the end, web-based surveys can only be accessed by those who are keyboard and Internet literate. This excludes a significant part of the population. It is also difficult to Web researchers to update participants after the experiment window has ended.