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Seeking references for self-reporting bias in surveys?
Subject:Seeking references for self-reporting bias in surveys? From:"Hart, Geoff" <Geoff-H -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 20 Nov 2003 13:03:20 -0500
Eric Ray wonders: <<I've been reviewing a number of surveys and
questionnaires about documentation, and was looking for solid information
about survey bias and self-reporting issues WRT technology and/or
documentation... Basically, I'd like an objective source to point to about
survey bias, rather than trying to coherently recount my dimly remembered
information from psych classes many years ago.>>
Any good textbook on usability testing (particularly sections on "think
aloud" protocols) or on survey design should provide a concrete reference,
but here are a few possibilities I have in my personal collection:
de Jong, M.; Schellens, P.J. 2000. Toward a document evaluation methodology:
what does research tell us about the validity and reliability of evaluation
methods? IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. 43(3):242-260.
de Jong, M.; Schellens, P.J. 2001. Readers' background characteristics and
their feedback on documents: the influence of gnder and educational level on
evaluation results. J. Tech. Writing and Comm. 31(3):267-281.
Plumb, C.; Spyridakis, J.H. 1992. Survey research in technical
communication: designing and administering questionnaires. Tech. Comm. 4Q:
625-638.
Rojek, J.; Kanerva, A.. 1994. A data-collection strategy for usability
tests. IEEE Trans. Prof. Comm. 37(3):149-156. (specifically the sections on
triangulation and data crosswalks)
Hope that helps!
--Geoff Hart, ghart -at- [delete]videotron -dot- ca
Forest Engineering Research Institute of Canada
580 boul. St-Jean
Pointe-Claire, Que., H9R 3J9 Canada
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