Selecting a Free Web-Hosted Survey Tool for Student Use.

Abstract This study provides marketing educators a review of free web-based survey services and guidance for student use. A mixed methods approach started with online searches and metrics identifying 13 free web-hosted survey services, described as demonstration or project tools, and ranked using popularity and importance webbased metrics. For each web-based survey tool, 187 undergraduate marketing students ranked each tool by completing a short survey project. A regression model's latent factor points to intuitiveness as a highly favorable feature of web-based survey products. Results identify Free Online Surveys as a superior demonstration tool, and Question Pro as the best project tool. The findings help users identify which of the popular free web-hosted online survey tools should best meet their needs. Key words: Online Survey Tools; Technology Acceptance Model; Online Survey Features; Popularity and Importance metrics. Introduction The Internet provides scholars and students a channel through which to solicit information using web-based surveys. Gone are the days when knowledge of web authoring software, Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) and scripting software acted as effective barriers against those interested in the use of online surveys. Today's online survey products present users with a remarkable array of features to help facilitate the design, implementation and analysis of survey data. The purpose of this study is to help marketing educators select a free web-hosted survey tool for student use by examining indirect (two website evaluation scales) and direct (web-hosted vendor ranking and student project completion times) measures. The benefits of this study are (a) offer students 24-7 access to manage their survey instrument(s) and respondent data from any computer and therefore engage in a higher order of online learning (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2005; Ronsisvalle & Watkins, 2005) and (b) offer instructors guidance for which web-hosted survey tool to use. Literature Review Studies addressing online populations make extensive use of online surveys offering scholars new challenges in terms of applying traditional survey research methods to the study of online behavior and Internet use (Andrews, Nonnecke, & Preece 2003). There are upwards of 125 online providers of online survey tools (Ajeebo 2009; VCL Components 2009) offering an online survey as part of their suite of services (Moodle), to PC survey software (Lime Survey) and web-hosted survey software (e.g.,Vovici, Snap Surveys). For a studies addressing the advantages and disadvantages of online surveys, see Evans and Mathur (2005), or Van Selm and Jankowski (2006). In a nutshell, obstacles facing online surveys center about sample frame specification with the likelihood of ending up with a non-probability sample (Kay & Johnson 1999; Wolter-Warmerdam et al 2003) and the difficultly of determining the response rate (Andrews et al 2003; Manfreda et al 2006) and the likelihood of lower responses rates (33% versus 56%) for online versus paper surveys (Nulty 2008). In contrast, the attraction of online (versus paper) surveys enhance a project's efficiency by eliminating data entry, administrative chores and offering a 'just-in-time' service (Watt et al, 2002) as well as avoiding the need to administer surveys in class (Dommeyer et al 2004) especially given the preponderance of web-based surveying for course and teaching evaluation (Seal & Przasnyski 2001). Online surveys offer access to Internet savvy samples (Aoki & Elasmar 2000), large samples at low cost (Weible & Wallace 1998) and rapid replies (Schmidt 1997, Taylor 2000). Access to large online samples offers a way to reduce sampling error (Babbie 1990; Sills & Song 2002) together with high statistical power and access to participants in geographically distant areas (Birnbaum 2004). As such, online research is likely to grow in popularity and use as investigators devise methods to overcome the shortcomings with online research. …