WEB-BASED SURVEY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (W-SMS): USEFULNESS AND

EASE OF USE

Suleiman Yafao Elhejaj, Ariffin Abdul Mutalib, *Mohd Helmy Abd Wahab.
Universiti Utara Malaysia
06010 Sintok, Kedah
suliman_alhegag@yahoo.com

* Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM)

86400 Batu Pahat, Johor

Abstract

This paper discusses an ongoing project. The aim of the project is to develop an in-house
web-based survey management system. From a preliminary study, lecturers reported that in-
house survey-management system may help them in administering their research work more
efficiently. The idea of this proposal is based on a number of related studies. In the review
of literature part, it is also discussed about the process of survey management and tips to
motivate response. At the end, this paper describes about the methodologies to be used in
achieving the objectives.

Key words: Web-based, survey management system, usefulness, eases of use

1.0 Introduction

Surveys provide a means of measuring a population‘s characteristics, self-reported and

observed behaviors, awareness of programs, attitudes or opinions, and needs (Sekaran, 1992).
(Hair et al., 2006) adds that it is an ideal mechanism to gather and analyze large amounts of
direct feedback about someone‘s members, prospects, and employees. In supports of
gathering big amount of data, computer technology may be a good option. In fact, it is
commonly experienced that surveys are distributed through emailing services. Also, there are
Web-based systems developed for administering survey practices.

A web-based survey is the collection of data through a self-administered electronic set of

questions on the Web (Thomas, 2003). Web-based surveys are able to conduct large-scale
data collection. Web-based survey management system encompasses how the organizations
organize, run and manage various types of surveys through the internet networks. It lets the
user not only to build questionnaires but also to publish questionnaires to the respondents.
This technology provides an inexpensive mechanism for conducting surveys online instead of
through traditional survey methods. Also, it speeds up the distribution and response cycles.
Web-based surveys are expected to be popularly used.

However, it is observable that most people or organizations manage their survey using
traditional method by distributing their survey through the mail or by telephoning, and some
may afford to self-distribute by hand (Ariffin & Norshuhada, 2008; Zulikha & Ariffin, 2005;
Tronstad, Phillips, Garcia, & Harlow, 2009). In current age, where digital is the theme, this is
not a timely solution for gathering information because it does not have fast circular returning
and responding from the respondents. Other issues such as cost, time and effectiveness are
also within considerations.

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Therefore, a conceptual model of web based survey management system is required to be the
solution for these issues. This initiative is proposed to solve problems as described in the
next section.

1.1 Problem Statement

There are many types of surveys carried out by researchers which are by distributing the
questionnaires to potential respondents manually through mail. This method requires cost,
time, and efforts (Sekaran, 1992; Hair et al., 2006). A preliminary study involving 12
lecturers found that they agree to implement any tool that can assist them in administering
survey practice. There are many commercial web-based survey management systems, but
users have to pay for use besides having to register such as SurveyGizmo 1, SurveyMonkey2,
and QuestionPro3. When these were asked to the lecturers, they prefer not to use the
commercial web-based survey management system because they do not have trust on the
system. This shows that the lecturers want to use any tool that help them in administering
their survey practice, but the system is more preferably be in-house. Based on the described
problem, a web-based system will be developed. In developing and make sure the developed
web-based survey management system, two research questions were formulated:

(1) How to design the system so that it is perceived useful?

(2) How to design the interaction style so that the system is perceived easy to use?

The system will be designed to cater the needs of traditional survey practice; including
functions to disseminate questionnaire, gather feedback and store data, specify the period,
and analyze the data (Sekaran, 1992; Barnum, 2002; Hair et al., 2006). Accordingly, this
study is proposed to achieve objectives as outlined in the next section.

1.2 Project Objective

The main aim of the study is to develop a web-based system that administers survey practice
which is called Web-based Survey Management System (W-SMS). To achieve the main aim
three objectives were formulated:
 To determine functional components of W-SMS
 To develop a prototype of W-SMS.
 To evaluate the prototype of W-SMS in terms of usefulness and ease-of-use.

1.3 Scope of study

This research will be carried out for use by researchers and lecturers in UUM involving
researchers of three main colleges i.e. CAS, COB, and COLGIS.

1.4 Significance of study

1
http://www.surveygizmo.com/
2
http://www.surveymonkey.com/
3
http://www.questionpro.com/

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This study is expected to contribute significantly to different parties, including to the body of
knowledge and to the researchers.
 To the body of knowledge:
Results gathered from the evaluations will be used to propose whether W-SMS is
useful and easy to use by researchers. This is important because researchers that are
going to be asked include all levels of computer background.
 To the researchers:
By implementing W-SMS, researchers can reduce the cost, time, and efforts in
administering their survey.

Previous studies have shown that web-based survey management systems have been used for
many reasons. There are benefits out of it, and there are also disadvantages. Reviews on
previous works similar to this study are discussed in the next section.

2.0 REVIEWS ON USABILITY AND WEB-BASED SURVEY MANAGEMENT

SYSTEM

This section elaborates about related topics to this study including web-based survey; types of
web-based system, advantages and disadvantages of web Surveys, web-based survey
administration process, and mechanisms to improve the Response of web-based Survey.

2.1 Definition of Terms

Today the word survey is used most often to describe a method of gathering information from
a sample of individuals. Surveys can be classified by their method of data collection (Leedy
& Ormrod, 2001). Mail, telephone interview, and in-person interview surveys are the most
common types (Scheuren, 2004). Besides, surveys are also distributed and collected through
the means of electronic application over the Internet (Leedy & Ormrod, 2001; Catherine,
Dimitrion, & Mike., 2001)

There are two methods of using the Internet as survey mechanisms: (1) electronic mail
(email) and (2) the World Wide Web (the Web). With e-mail, researchers can send surveys to
e-mail addresses as text messages, in which the recipient can then read, save, respond to, or
throw away, much like a paper survey (Carey, Mao, Smith, & Vredenburg, 2002). Surveys
can also be posted on the Web and may include text, pictures, and forms to be filled in by the
respondent (Catherine, Dimitrion, & Mike., 2001). According to (Galin, 1998), the primary
difference between these two response modes is that e-mail is a ―push‖ technology while the
Web is a ―pull‖ technology. That is, with e-mail, the sent messages are automatically
received in the potential respondent‘s mailbox, whereas respondents must be attracted in
some way to a Web page. Because of this difference, one might expect a higher response rate
to an e-mail survey than to a web-based survey (Catherine, Dimitrion, & Mike., 2001).

In short, a web-based survey is a survey conducted by a researcher or the public through the
internet. They can create their online questionnaire and distribute it through the Internet. On
the other hand, a web-based survey management system is a system which can manage the
survey through internet. In this study, a database will be integrated with the W-SMS to store
data. When respondents answer the survey at anytime, data will be stored in the database. At
the end of data collection period, researchers can retrieve the responses to analyze.

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2.2 Types of Web-based Surveys

Nowadays, Web-based surveys are everywhere on the Internet. There are various categories
of Web-based surveys. According to (Couper, 2000), there are two major categories of Web-
based surveys: probability-based or non probability-based surveys. (Couper, 2000) included
the following in the non-probability-based category:
 Entertainment surveys
 Self-selected Web-surveys
 Surveys made up of volunteer panel of Internet users

Entertainment surveys consist of questionnaires that request a vote on particular questions

and other instant polls. Usually, people need to spend a lot of time to complete an
entertainment survey. These surveys do not lead to generalizations of viewpoints across
populations, and are not intended for that reason. Other non probability-based surveys
include dedicated survey sites maintained by owners of Web sites. Such surveys could allow
multiple submissions, and make no attempt to be representative of the whole Internet
population. On the other hand, there are several types of probability-based Web-based
surveys as listed below (Couper, 2000):

Intercept surveys which are frequently used to survey on customer satisfaction (Couper,
2000):
 Surveys that obtain respondents from an e-mail request.
 Mixed-mode surveys where one of the options is a Web survey.
 Pre-recruited panel of a particular population as a probability sample

In addition, the Intercept survey polls every n th visitor to a Website and prevents multiple
submissions from the same computer by using cookies. This is important to make sure that
every response is sent by different respondent. In the survey that obtains respondents from an
e-mail request, the survey will be sent to respondents who agree to complete a survey in
response to an e-mail invitation to participate. Non-response is a big concern with this type of
Web survey. The mixed-mode survey let the participants complete the survey on the Web or
by paper. With a pre-recruited panel as a probability sample, respondents are provided with
passwords or personal identification numbers. In some cases, the participation of probability-
based samples of the full population is obtained by providing equipment in exchange for
participation in the survey.

From these, it could be concluded that the type of the web-based survey is determined by the
objectives of the survey and also the type of questions that are asked by the researchers.

2.3 Advantages and Disadvantages of Web-based Surveys

Referring to (Rena et al., 2004) Web-based surveys are important today, in the digital age,
and most organizations are moving towards digitizing products and process. Also (Rena et
al., 2004) mention that technologies are always available to serve the needs. In fact, these
technologies are anticipated as one of the factors to gain advantage in the competitive
business square (Dillman and Bowker, 2001). When deploying a web-based survey
management system, the organization is able to gain advantages, as well as facing some
disadvantages as discussed by (Rena et al., 2004).

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2.3.1 Advantages
The advantages can be gained obviously in terms of fast processing job, expenditure, and
survey management (Dillman and Bowker, 2001; Rena et al., 2004; Couper, 2000; Leedy &
Ormrod, 2001).
 Savings in printing, postage, data entry.
 No data entry errors from hand-entry.
 Shortened timeframe to administer surveys (3 weeks with web-based survey Vs. 6
weeks or more with paper surveys).
 Easier and cleaner in providing skip patterns or survey sections customized to
different respondent populations.
 Almost immediate access to data for analysis.
 Can easily link to background data, if appropriate (e.g., gender, grades, rank).

2.3.2 Disadvantages
Surveys are meant for human to answer. So, the surveys should be designed in a way it helps
respondents understand well. Platform compatibility is another aspect to consider. In this
case, the system should be able to run on multiple platforms such as Windows and Mac.
Below is a list of possible disadvantages of deploying web-based survey management system
(Wyatt, 2000; Fricker & Schonlau, 2002; Information Technology Services, 2008).
 Generality and validity of the results.
 Needs programming and IT expertise.
 Certain populations are not comfortable using computers.
 Must have accurate email lists.
 Web-based surveys are not recommended for email software that does not support
web access. Must be able to click on a URL provided in an email and to have it bring
respondents to the system.
 There may be problems finding software that is appropriate for both PCs and Macs, or
developing surveys that run on both platforms.
 Data provided via a web-based survey are not anonymous, although the survey
administrators may choose to keep the results confidential.
It should now be quite clear about the benefits and limitations of using web-based survey. So,
choosing a web-based survey or other survey method depends on the purpose of the
organization.

2.4 Web-based survey administration process

According to (Rena et al., 2004), there are four stages when doing web-based survey projects.
Stage One: Survey Background
• Building a survey team.
• Defining survey content.
• Choosing web surveys.
• Selection of the survey population.
Stage Two: Designing the Web-based survey.
• Questionnaire design.
• Choosing HTML software and format.
• Turning a survey questionnaire into the web-based survey: technical issues.
Stage Three: Administering a Web-based survey
• Administering a web survey: technical issues.

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 • Pre-testing.
• Privacy issues.
• Survey incentives.
• Technical support for duration of survey.
• Output of survey data.
Stage Four: Reporting

In this study, a clear picture about the web-based survey and the administration process are
needed in order to come out with the W-SMS. All stages must be done one by one.

2.5 Mechanisms to Improve the Response of Web-based Survey

Low response rate of online survey is one of the major concerns in many organizations which
are involved in online survey management. Since online survey is one of the ways which can
help organization gauge expectations, understand participants‘ reaction and meet the
organization‘s target markets, it is very important to increase the response rate of online
survey. In response to that, (Jennifer, 2006) suggests several ways to increase response rates
of online survey:
 Target the audience.
 Personalize email invitations.
 Keep the invitation email short and simple.
 Make simple instruction at the first page of the survey.
 Be clear about privacy protections.
 Send reminder emails.
 Consider offering incentives - gifts, prizes, etc.
 Use graphics and Internet features strategically.
 Publish your results online for survey participants.

2.6 The Perceived Usefulness and Ease of Use

Davis (1989) has shown that Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) can explain the usage of
information technology. He applied (Fishbein &Ajzen‘s) theory of reasoned action to show
that beliefs influence attitudes which lead to intentions, and therefore generate behaviors.
Davis thus conceived that TAM‘s belief- attitude-intention-behavior relationship predicts
user acceptance of IT. Davis asserted that perceived usefulness and ease of use represent the
beliefs that lead to such acceptance. Perceived usefulness is the degree to which a person
believes that a particular system would enhance his or her job performance (i.e., by reducing
the time to accomplish a task or providing timely information). Perceived ease of use is
the degree to which a person believes that using a particular system would be free of effort.
Two other constructs in TAM are attitude towards use and behavioral intention to use.
Attitude towards use is the user‘s evaluation of the desirability of employing a particular
information systems application. Behavior intention to use is a measure of the likelihood a
person will employ the application.
TAM‘s dependent variable is actual usage. It has typically been a self-reported measure of
time or frequency of employing the application (see Figure 1). The arrows represent the
relationships of interest in the current study. Some authors have considered additional
relationships. Some have ignored intention to use and instead studied the effect of attitude on
usage. The current research took that approach. Such theories and models as self-efficacy
theory, cost- benefit research, expectancy theory, innovation research, and channel
disposition have supported TAM.

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 Figure 1: The Technology Acceptance Model

3.0 Research Methodology

Research methodology is more than just collections of methods to perform a research; it is a
systematic way to solve the research problem. This study will adapt a methodology from
(Hofer et al, 2004) and is shown in Figure 2.

3.1 Selection, Planning and Analysis

Planning is the most important step. The failure of doing a good plan is a hazard to the whole
process of implementing the project. For the beginning, a comprehensive study has to be in
order to get the clear idea of what will be achieved at the end of the project. Document
review including articles in proceedings and journals, magazines, newspapers, and books will
be done to get the idea of problem solving techniques, and issues.
In the analysis, a few activities will be carried out such as document review, comparative
study of current web-based survey management system to identify functional components,
interviews with users regarding common process in survey management, and understanding
users‘ background. The aim of this phase is to gain an in-depth understanding of W-SMS. By
the end of this phase, the requirement of W-SMS could be figured out such as best practices,
common procedures and features of web-based survey management.

3.2 Development Methodology

After obtaining user requirement in the analysis phase through comparative study and user
interviews, it is appropriate to justify on how it meets the identified requirements. In this
stage, the interfaces for the prototype will be designed. Besides, the database will also be
designed and developed.
The prototyping process comprises of three steps which are adapted from Prototyping Process
(Laudon, 1995), as shown in Figure 3. Prototyping provides end users with artifacts that
allow them to gain insight into the behavior of the system before the final delivery.

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 PHASES ACTIVITY

Selection, Understand the background of the problem.

Planning Analysis back ground of the problem.
and Determine project objective and scope.
Analysis Need analysis for the proposed system.

Identify application requirements.

Development Design of prototype.
Development of prototype.

Evaluation Usability study - Usefulness and ease of use.

Figure 2: Methodology Design

Developing initial prototype

Using Prototype

Revising & Enhancing

Prototype
Figure 3: Prototyping Process

3.3 Evaluation
Finally, the W-SMS will be evaluated. 60 lecturers of UUM will involve in the evaluation;
20 of each college, CAS, COB, and COLGIS. First, the lecturers will be demonstrated with
the W-SMS, and then they will try the system on their own. A week will be allocated for the
lecturers to try the W-SMS. Then, their responses on the usefulness and ease of use of the
W-SMS will be gathered through an instrument.
This study has decided to utilize an existing instrument. The instrument by (Davis, 1989)
that measures Perceived Usefulness and Ease of Use (PUEU) has been widely used in
various fields of study such as banking , education, and marketing.

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