Introduction

Online surveys are fast becoming a popular method of collecting data. A questionnaire on the World Wide Web is easy and convenient for many people to access. A large amount of data can be accumulated in a short amount of time. The data can then be analyzed, summarized, and written about. It's relatively fast, relatively easy and very inexpensive. But because it's fast and easy, does that make it good?

There are important aspects of online surveys that deserve serious consideration before you begin this process. These include:

• defining your research goals,
• designing the questionnaire with relevant and appropriate questions,
• establishing a sampling frame and recruiting the proper subjects, and
• providing confidentiality and data security information to your respondents.

This document provides the technical information needed to create an online questionnaire, gather data and analyze it. It also provides "food for thought" - serious issues to consider. Incorporating this information into the process should result in higher respondent rate and improved data quality resulting in a better study.

NOTE: Texas law now requires that if you collect information from people, you must give them notice that they have the right to ask to review it and to ask that any incorrect information be corrected. In short, this means you must include a link to The University's Privacy Statement.