How to do a Self-Administered On-line Survey or Experiment

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How to do a Self-Administered On-line Survey or Experiment

Self-administered on-line surveys
These are basically questionnaires that you compose on ProtoGenie in the usual way and then ask for volunteers (usually on-line) from a target population to complete the questionnaire at their own computer stations and submit it on-line to the ProtoGenie Database. Care must be taken in selecting and reaching the population you wish to survey and in screening that population to fit your study. Since there is no direct supervision, clear and complete instructions are very important.

Self-administered on-line experiments
These are experiments that you compose on ProtoGenie then ask for volunteers (usually on-line) from a target population to execute the protocol at their own computer stations and respond on-line. Care must be taken in selecting and reaching the population you wish to survey and in screening that population to fit your study. Since there is no direct supervision, clear and complete instructions are very important. The great advantage of this new form of experiments is access to virtually unlimited pools of subjects. The most severe problem is control. Consequently, creative designs that provide controls or compensate for the lack of control are critical.

Using Direct Access URLs
To conduct an on-line survey or experiment, you will generally create a "Direct Access URL" on ProtoGenie that remotely located respondents and subject can open on their own systems.