Photo by Michael Barera (CC BY-SA 4.0) Soundrocket conducted an interview with University of Michigan professor Bill Axinn. Bill is a valued client and collaborator, and this post outlines Dr. Axinn's research, how he first came to find Scott Crawford, eventually...
From the LaunchPad
Welcome to The Launchpad, SoundRocket’s blog, where we share our insights and musings on the science of doing science (well), #soundscience.
Satisficing: Why Survey Participants Give Quick, Inaccurate Answers
In a previous post we discussed how to minimize survey breakoff. Surveys are a great way to collect data but when designing a survey it’s important to consider how much is too much. Today we are going to discuss satisficing, how to keep respondents engaged, and in...
Good Surveys Come With Subtraction, Not Addition: How Questionnaire Length Leads to Breakoffs
We often hear—so how long can our questionnaire be? While we love surveys, the reality is most respondents don’t share our enthusiasm, which means long questionnaires can be bad for data quality. Today we are going to look at how long surveys can lead to breakoff, and...
Introducing Error Through Use of Web Survey Progress Indicators
In 1998, fascinated with the potential for the web to serve as a data collection platform, I wondered what sources of error may crop up with this new technology. Not surprisingly, we noticed early on that if participants did not finish a web-based survey in one...
Surveying College Students with SMS: Is it Feasible?
Text messages (also known as Short Message Service, or SMS) have become the go-to medium when contacting others. This is especially the case for today’s college students, who seem to conduct their social and even business lives completely via messaging service.
SoundRocket examined the data surrounding the efficacy of using SMS when surveying college students, resulting in presentation at a past American Association of Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) Conference.
SoundRocket Founder to Speak at FEDCASIC Workshop
If you would like to spot some serious survey nerds while enjoying the Cherry Blossoms in Washington, D.C. this year, step on down to the Bureau of Labor Statistics where SoundRocket founder Scott D. Crawford will be presenting at the The Federal Computer Assisted Survey Information Collection (FEDCASIC) Workshop. Scott will be presenting “Best Practices in Consent to Capture Geolocation Data in Self-Administered Web Surveys” in the Wednesday afternoon session on Advances in the Use of Location Data.
The Science of Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing – SoundRocket Partners With Academics and Industry to Understand How Genetic Information is Used
And if you could take a genetic test to determine if you have the gene mutations that could show you have an increased risk of having Alzheimers Disease, would you? As the U.S. FDA has started regulating and approving these tests, SoundRocket asks: are there any potential harms and limitations?
ICYMI: Seven tips for effective web-based survey testing
Testing a web-based survey is one of the most detested activities to many in the survey research business. From a 2016 post, here are seven tips to better web-based survey testing practices for your next study. You’re welcome 🙂
Evaluating Nonresponse Bias in a Longitudinal Study of Healthy Adults Receiving Genome Sequencing
We know your survey is exciting and will divulge important findings; you know your survey is exciting and will divulge important findings. But darn those who don’t know this and so don’t participate. Or worse – those who do know this, but choose not to participate for some other reason. Their nonresponse can create uncertainty in how accurate our survey results actually are. If only we could survey robots or well-trained dogs who followed our instructions instead of people!