Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Aug 1, 2022
Date Accepted: Dec 19, 2022
Date Submitted to PubMed: Dec 19, 2022
The neglected methodology of web-based questionnaires: the current knowledge, attitudes, and practices among Chinese health workers
ABSTRACT
Background:
Web-based questionnaire (WBQ) surveys are popular, but few researchers have reflected on or received training on them, making the research quality uneven and unsatisfactory. Education and training on WBQ methodology is urgent, but the current knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) of its methodology remain unknown.
Objective:
We investigated the KAP of WBQ methodology among Chinese health workers for the first time, to provide a basis for better targeted training in the future.
Methods:
We developed a structured web-based questionnaire based on the recommendations and knowledge of WBQ methodology, and investigated 458 health workers from June 7 to July 6, 2022. A total of 381 valid questionnaires were analyzed after data processing. We described the data statistically, and defined 50% and 75% as "qualified" and "satisfactory" in knowledge and practice topics, respectively.
Results:
The participants were mainly female (90.6%) and aged 37 (IQR 11) years old. A total of 56.2% of participants had used WBQs, mostly more than 2 times (88.3%), but only 43.9% had ever received methodological training. A total of 62.1% of users believed that WBQs were practical, but 58.9% had doubts about the reliability of the results. In addition, 88.8% of users believed training was necessary. In the knowledge and practice topics, all topics on knowledge did not reach a satisfactory level, especially “detection of duplicate respondents” (39.7%), and “guidelines for results reporting” (48.6%) did not reach a qualified level. Furthermore, other topics on practice did not reach a qualified level, including “ethics committee review” (32.7%), “conduct pretests” (42.1%), “response inducement measures” (31.3%), and “disposal of cloud data after survey” (30.8%).
Conclusions:
We found that health workers seriously underestimated and neglected the importance of the WBQ methodology, which may be an important reason for the reduced research quality. Medical educators need to strengthen methodological training on WBQs and track the latest research to keep up with its progress.
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