Do rating scales and web administration of surveys impact survey results?

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The use of Web-based surveys in dental research is gaining popularity. However, no research establishing its equivalence to the more traditional paper-and-pencil surveys is available in the dental literature. Also, no studies are available to assess the effect of changing rating scales in dental patients satisfaction surveys on satisfaction scores. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to identify methodological differences between paper-and-pencil and Web-based administration methods of dental patient satisfaction surveys. This is to assess whether dental patient satisfaction scores differ based on the method of administering the satisfaction surveys through paper-and-pencil or W eh-based methods, and to investigate whether patients who respond to Web-based satisfaction surveys are different from those-who respond to paper-and-pencil satisfaction surveys. In addition, we investigated the impact of modifying the rating scale used in items measuring patient satisfaction from an unbalanced scale to a balanced one on the satisfaction scores. [TRUNCATED]