Trends in User Preferences for Completing Practice Based Research Network Surveys:  A Report from PRIME Net

Trends in User Preferences for Completing Practice Based Research Network Surveys: A Report from PRIME Net

Philip J. Kroth
Elvan Daniels
Robert Leverence
Laurie McPherson
Wilson Pace
Robert Rhyne
Robert Williams

Abstract and poster as presented at the Integrated Advanced Information Management Systems Consortium Annual Meeting, Phoenix, Arizona. May 19th, 2006.

Description

A common activity of practice-based research networks (PBRNs) is survey research. Since the arrival of the World Wide Web, more and more surveys are becoming web-based, taking advantage of the potential for decreased costs and faster turn-around time over traditional postal/paper surveys. One of the greatest challenges in performing survey research has always been obtaining adequate response rates. Despite the increasing national access to the Internet, there is little evidence of the effectiveness of PBRN web-based surveys versus more traditional paper methods. We report here the response rates for a survey performed through PRIME Net, a collaboration of three different PBRN's, first using the web and then using a paper version mailed to web-non-responders. Despite multiple email solicitations, 24% of the survey respondents were completed and returned in paper format. Clearly, there is still a role for paper despite increasing internet access and web savvy.'