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DIFFERENT TYPES OF WEB-BASED SURVEYS

ABSTRACT

Web-based Surveys: Changing the Survey Process by Holly Gunn Web based surveys are

having a profound influence on the survey process. Unlike other types of surveys, Web page

design skills and computer programming expertise play a significant role in the design of Web-

based surveys. Survey respondents face new and different challenges in completing a Web-based

survey. Web-based surveys are having a profound influence on survey methodology. "The Internet

has truly democratized the survey-taking process". Survey professionals and large organizations

are no longer the only people conducting surveys on the Web. Software, capable of producing

survey forms, is available to the public at an affordable cost, enabling anyone with a Web site to

conduct a survey without a lot of difficulty. For that reason, the range and the quality of Web-

based surveys vary considerably. Web-based surveys are everywhere on the Internet. Couper

(2000) stated that there is speculation Web surveys will replace traditional methods of data

collection. Data that had once been collected by other survey modes is now being collected with

Web surveys (Dillman and Bowker, 2001). An informal search for Web-based surveys on Yahoo!

by Solomon (2001) revealed over 2,000 Web-based surveys in 59 different categories. Not all of

these were serious surveys. Surveys on the Web run the gamut from entertainment questionnaires

to those with a probability-based design

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CHAPTER 1INTRODUCTION

Design in Web surveys is of greater importance than in other modes of surveying because

of the visual emphasis of the Web and the way the survey appears in different browsers and on

different computer screens and the audience and the purpose of the survey should affect the design,

and that the design of a Web-based survey for teenagers and one for seniors might be designed

quite differently. "The notion of a one-size-fits-all approach to Web survey design is premature "

Pretest questions before they go online;

o Write an introduction for the survey which will bring cooperation from participants;

o Use filtering questions and have questionnaires appropriate for filtered groups;

o Divide long surveys into sections;

o Use open-ended questions sparingly; and,

o Use incentives to get people to respond.

The textual language of surveys includes the wording of the questions and the instructions

in the responses included font size, font type, color, layout, symbols, images, animation, and other

graphics as components of visual language. Although C language is intended to add meaning and

supplement the written language, observed that it could actually draw attention away from text and

alter the meaning of words.There are three different types of visual languages:

o Graphic language,

o Symbolic language,

o Numeric language.

These languages are the auxiliary languages of questionnaires. Graphic language,

consisting of fonts, font sizes and variations (bold, italics,) borders, and tables, helps respondents

move their eyes across the page and comprehend the questionnaire. Symbolic language is

sometimes used in questionnaires when arrows or other symbols are employed to help guide the

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respondent through the survey questions. Numeric language is used in questionnaires in numbering

questions, and sometimes in numbering response items.

1.1 OVERVIEW OF THE PROJECT

This paper examines the different types of Web-based surveys, the advantages and

challenges of using Web-based surveys, the design of Web-based surveys, and the issues of

validity, error, and non-response in this type of survey. The author also discusses the importance of

auxiliary languages (graphic, symbolic and numeric languages) in Web surveys, and concludes

with the unique aspects of Web-based surveys.

The skills required to produce a Web-based survey are different from those required to

construct other types of surveys. Web survey design focuses more on programming ability and

Web page design rather than traditional survey methodology. Because of the technology involved

in developing Web surveys, leadership has come from people with a background in technology,

not the survey methodology professionals.” In fact, the use of Web surveys seems to have caught

the survey methodology community somewhat by surprise".

1.2 PROBLEM DEFINITION AND DESCRIPTION

Problems associated with Web page design computer programming can play a significant

role in Web-based surveys, and the computer code of the questionnaire can be a source of error

with Web-based surveys explained how inaccuracies in computer programming which produced

text boxes of different sizes affected survey results in a University of Michigan survey.

Various effects in surveys are questionnaires with frames; answer columns side by side;

different versions of the questionnaire for various respondents; randomizing question order; error

checking; removing character codes from text responses; and process tracing and timing.

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CHAPTER 2

REQUIREMENT ANALYSIS

2.1. HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS

o Processor: Pentium IV

o Mother board: Intel 915E

o Cache memory: 256K

o Floppy disk drive:1.44MB

o RAM:256MB

o Hard disk Capacity:35 KB

2.2. SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS

o Front end: C++

o Back end:MS-Access

o Compiler:VC++

o Operating System:Windows 98

2.3. FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS

The user requirements for a system should describe the functional and non-functional

requirements so that they are understandable by system user without detailed technical knowledge.

They should only specify the external behaviour of the system and should avoid as for as possible,

system design characteristics.

However, various problems can arise when requirements are return in natural language

sentences in a text document:

i) Lack of clarity: It is sometimes difficult to use language in a precise and unambiguous way

without making the document wordy and difficult to read.

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ii) Requirements Confusion: Functional requirements, non-functional requirements, system goals

and design information may not be clearly distinguished.

iii) Requirement Amalgamation: Several different requirements may be expressed together as a

single requirement.

This requirement includes both conceptual and detailed information. It expresses the

concept that there should be an accounting system as an inherent part of LIBSYS.

However, it also includes the detail that the accounting system should support discounts for regular

LIBSYS user. The detail would have been better left to the system requirements specification.

The three kinds of requirements are:

i) A conceptual, functional requirements states that the editing system should provide a grid. It

presents the rationale for this.

ii) A non-functional requirement giving detailed information about the grid units (centimeters or

inches).

iii) A non-functional user interface requirement that defines how the grid is switched on and off by

the user.

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CHAPTER 3DESIGN CONCEPT

In this design stage, we are designing our project according to customer

satisfaction or user satisfaction. In this design phase, the user must

understand the whole project by seeing the design of the project. After the

completion of the analysis stage, the user must design the project according

to the collected requirements in the analysis stage. After the completion of the

analysis stage, the user must continue with the design stage. In this

project, the user must create the database to store the details of the total

population in India, based upon collection of table requirements collected in

the design stage.

After creation of tables, the user must design the project that is it can

also represent the design in the form of Data Flow Diagrams. it contains the

details about what we are going to survey. here we are surveying about the

population in India. it consists of states, union territories, languages and

religions.

The user must understand the project what are all the operations in the

project that was going to do or carrying out by seeing the DFD Diagrams. In

that format, the user must draw the DFD diagram. The DFD diagram that must

contain all the details of the project. The user must design or draw the DFD

diagrams based upon the project what it will do, what are the operations that

was carrying in the project it will represent the DFD diagrams in the one by

one operation that was carrying in the project.

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POPULATIONOF INDIA

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3.1 OVERALL ARCHITECTURE

FIG: 3.1 OVERALL ARCHITECTURE

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STATES(MODULE 1)

UNION

TERRITORIES(MODULE 2)

LANGUAGES(MODULE 3)

RELIGIONS(MODULE 4)

LIST OF ENTITIES

FORSTATES

LIST OF ENTITIES

FORTERRITORIES

LIST OFENTITIES

FORLANGUAGES

LIST OFENTITIES FORRELIGIONS

TOTALPOPULATION

MALEPOPULATION

FEMALEPOPULATION

SEX RATIO

TOTALLITERACY RATE

MALELITERACY RATE

FEMALELITERACY RATE

POPULATION IN INDIA

POPULATION IN OTHER

COUNTRIES

TOTAL POPULATION

SEX RATIO

CHILD SEX RATIO

TOTAL LITERACY RATE

15. MAHARASTRA

1. ANDHRAPRADESH

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3.1.1 ARCHITECTURE FOR STATES MODULE

FIG:3.1.1 ARCHITECTURE FOR STATES MODULE

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STATESDATA BASE

2. ARUNACHALPRADESH

3. ASSAM

4. BIHAR

5. CHATISGAR

7. GUJARAT

6. GOA

8. HARYANA

9. HIMACHALPRADESH

10. JAMMU &KASHMIR

11. JARKHAND

12. KARNATAKA

13. KERALA14. MADHYAPRADESH

16. MANIPUR

17. MEGALAYA

18. MIZORAM

19. NAGALAND

20. ORISSA

21. PUNJAB

22. RAJASTHAN

23. SIKKIM

24. TAMIL NADU

25. TRIPURA

26. UTTARPRADESH

27. UTTRANCHAL

28. WEST BENGAL

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3.1.2. ARCHITECTURE FOR UT MODULE

FIG: 3.1.2. ARCHITECTURE FOR UT MODULE

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UNION TERRITORIES

DATABASE

1. ANDAMAN &

NICOBAR

2. CHANDIGARH

3. DADRA &NAGARHAVELI

4. DAMAN&

DIU

5. DELHI

6. LAKSHADWEEP

7. PONDICHERRY

CHRISTIANS BUDDHISTSSIKHS

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3.1.3. ARCHITECTURE FOR RELIGIONS MODULE

FIG: 3.1.3. ARCHITECTURE FOR RELIGIONS MODULE

3.1.4ARCHITECTURE FOR LANGUAGES MODULE

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OTHERS HINDUS

MUSLIMS JAINSRELIGIONS

DATA STORE

LANGUAGESDATA STORE

ASSAMESE

AWADI

BAGRI

BENGALI

BHILI

BHOJPURI

CHATISGAR

DECCAN

DOGRI-KANGRI

GARHWALI

GUJARATI

HARYANA

HINDI

HO

KANAUJI

KANNADA

URDU

TELUGU

TAMIL

SINDHI

SANTHALI

SADRI

PUNJABI

ORIYA

NEPALI

MUNDARI

MEITHEI

MARWARI

MARATHI

MALAYALAM

MAITHILI

KURUX

KASHMIRI GOANESE

TULU

KHANDESI KONKANI

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FIG: 3.1.4 ARCHITECTURE FOR LANGUAGES MODULE

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3.2. OVERALL DATA FLOW DIAGRAM

DATA BASE

GIVES THE DETAILS OFUSERS COMMAND & STATES DATA GIVES

DETAILS OFU.TER

ON

OS SELECTING CHOICE 1

ONSELECTINGCHOICE 2

AFTER DISPLAY OF CHOICE ON

SELECTINGCHOICE 3

ON SELECTING

CHOICE 4

DETAILS OF RELIGION LANGUAGE

DATABASE

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USERREQUES

T

SYSTEMINTERACTS WITH THE USER

SELECTIONOF

CHOICE

STATES

UNION TERRITORIES

LANGUAGE

RELIGIONS

DISPLAYOF

MESSAGESTATUS

TOTAL POPULATION

MALE POPULATION

FEMALE POPULATION

SEX RATIO

TOTALLITERACYRATEMALELIT. RATEFEMALELIT. RATE

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FIG: 3.2.OVERALL DATA FLOW DIAGRAM

3.2.1. DATA FLOW DIAGRAM OF STATES MODULE

GIVES THE DETAILSOF STATES

DATABASE

USER& DATA AND COMMAND

ON SELECTING A CHOICE

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USERREQUEST

SYSTEM INTERACTS WITH THE USER

STATES OF INDIA

BIHARCHATTIS- GHAR

GOAGUJARATHARYANA

HIMACHALPRADESHJAMMU &KASHMIR

JARKHANDKERALA

KARNA-TAKA

MADHYA PRADESHMANIPURMIZORAM

MAHA-RASHTRA

MEGA-LAYA

MIZORAMNAGALAND

ORRISAPUNJABRAJAS-THAN

SIKKIMTRIPURA

TAMILNADU

UPUTTRAN-CHAL

W. BENGAL

ARUNA-CHAL

PRADESHANDHRA PRADESH

ASSAM

TOTALPOPULATION

MALEPOPULATION

FEMALEPOPULATION

SEX RATIO

DISPLAYMESSAGESTATUS

TOTALLITERACY

RATEMALE

LIT. RATEFEMALE LIT.

RATE

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FIG:3.2.1. DATA FLOW DIAGRAM OF STATES MODULE

3.2.2. DATA FLOW DIAGRAM FOR UT MODULE

DATABASE

GIVES THE DETAILS

OF UT

USERS DATA AND COMMAND

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USER

REQUEST

SYSTEM

INTERACTSWITHUSER

UNIONTERRITORIES

ANDAMAN&

NICOBARISLANDS

CHANDI-GHAR.

DADRA & NAGAR HAVELI

DAMAN

&DIU

DELHI

LASHED-WEEP

PONDI-CHERRY

DISPLAY

THEMESSAGES

TOTALPOPULATION

MALEPOPULATION

FEMALEPOPULATION

SEX RATIO

TOTALLITERACY

RATEMALE

LIT. RATEFEMALE

LIT. RATE

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FIG: 3.2.2. DATA FLOW DIAGRAM FOR UT MODULE3.2.3. DATA FLOW DIAGRAM FOR RELIGION MODULE

DATABASE

GIVES THE DETAILS

OF RELIGION

USERS DATA AND COMMAND

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USER

REQUEST

SYSTEM

INTERACTSWITHUSER

RELIGIONS

HINDUCHRISTIANS

MUSLIMS

JAINS

SIKHS

BUDDHISTS

OTHERS

DISPLAY

THEMESSAGES

TOTALPOPULATION

SEX RATIO

CHILD SEX RATIO

TOTALLITERACY

RATE

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FIG: 3.2.3. DATA FLOW DIAGRAM FOR RELIGION MODULE3.2.4. DATAFLOW DIAGRAM OF LANGUAGES MODULE

GIVES THE DETAILS OF LANGUAGES

DATABASE

USER& DATA AND COMMAND

ON SELECTING A CHOICE

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USERREQUEST

SYSTEMINTERACTSWITH THE

USER

LANGUAGES OF INDIA

BHOJPURICHATISGAR

DECCANDOGRI-KONGRI

GARHWALI

GUJARATIHARYANA

HINDIHO

KANAUJIKANNADA

KASHMIRIKHANDESIKONKANIGOANESE

KURUXMAITHILI

MARWARIMARATHIMEITHEI

MALAYALAMMUNDARI

NEPALI

ORIYAPUNJABI

SADRISANTHALI

SINDHI

TAMILTELUGU

URDUTULU

AVADI ASSAMESE

BAGRIBENGALI

BHILI

POPULATIONIN OTHER

COUNTRIES

DISPLAYMESSAGESTATUS

TOTAL POPULATION

IN INDIA

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FIG: 3.2.4.DATAFLOW DIAGRAM OF LANGUAGES MODULE

3.3 CONTROL FLOW DIAGRAM

DATA BASE

EXITENTER

SELECT / REJECT

WAIT / DONE

DATA BASE

(FOR MODULES STATES AND UNION

TERRITORIES)

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USER REQUEST

SYSTEMINTERACTSWITH THE USER

SELECTIONOF CHOICE

STATES

UNIONTERRITORIES

LANGUAGES

RELIGIONS

DISPLAY THE MESSAGE STATUS

TOTALPOPULATIONMALEPOPULATIONFEMALEPOPULATION

TOTALLITERACYRATEMALELIT. RATEFEMALELIT. RATE

POPULATION

IN INDIA

POPULATIONIN OTHERCOUNTRIES

TOTAL POPULATION

SEX RATIO

CHILD S. RATIOTOTAL

LITERATURE

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(FOR MODULE (FOR MODULE LANGUAGES) RELIGION)

FIG: 3.3 CONTROL FLOW DIAGRAMCHAPTER 4

FUNCTION POINT ANALYSIS

Function points are derived using an empirical relationship between countable

measurement of software information domain and assessments of software complexity.

NUMBER OF USER INPUT

Each user input that provides distinct application oriented information to the use. Input

should be distinguishable from enquires, which are counted separately.

NUMBER OF USER OUTPUT

Each user output that provides distinct application oriented information to the user is

counted. In this content output refers to reports, screens, error message etc.

NUMBER OF USER IN INQUIRES

An inquires, is defined as online input that results in the generation of some immediate

software response in the form of an online output. Each distinct inquires is counted.

NUMBER OF FILES

Each logical master file (i.e.) a logical grouping of data that may be one part of a large

database or a separate file is counted.

NUMBER OF EXTERNAL INTERFACE

All machine-readable interfaces that are used to transmit information to another system are

counted. Once these data have been collected, a complexity value is associated with each count.

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organization that use function point method develop criteria for determining whether a particular

entry is simple, average, or complex, non theses, the determination of complexity some what

objective.

To compute function point, the following execution is used.

FP= count total x[0.65+0.01*I(Fi)]

CHAPTER 5IMPLEMENTATION PHASE

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CHAPTER 6

6. SOFTWARE TESTING AND REQUIREMENT ANALYSIS

6.1 TESTING APPROACH

Implementation ends with format sets. The test data are very crucial to this process. They must be realistic, extreme, and as well. Ideally, alternative path through the program should be exercised atleast beyond the testing data.

6.1.1 BLACK BOX TESTING

Black box testing also called as ‘behavioral testing’, focuses on the Functional

requirements of the software. It enables the software engineer to drive sets of input conditions that

will fully exercise all functional requirements for a program. Black Box testing deals with the

correctness of the entire program by checking whether the input is properly accepted, the output is

produced correctly and to check the integrity of the external inquiries.

Black box testing attempts to find errors in the following categories:

o Incorrect or missing functions

o Interface errors

o Errors in data structures or external database access

o Behavior or performance errors

o Initialization and termination errors.

Black box testing involves the following methods:

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o Graph-based testing methods

o Equivalence partitioning

o Boundary value analysis

o Orthogonal array testing

6.1.2 UNIT TESTING

Unit testing focuses verification effort on the smallest unit of software design-the software

component or module. Unit testing involves the following:

o Interfaces

o Local data structure

o Boundary conditions

o Error handling paths

o Independent paths

The most common errors that occur are – (1) misunderstood or incorrect arithmetic

precedence, (2) mixed mode operation, (3) incorrect initialization, (4) precision inaccuracy, and (5)

incorrect symbolic representation of the project.

6.1.3 INTEGRATION TESTING

Integration testing is the systematic testing methodology for constructing the software

architecture while at the same time conducting test to check the interfaces as well. The objective is

to design a program structure with the unit-tested components that has been detected earlier. It

involves two type of approach namely – Top-down approach and Bottom-up approach.

6.1.4 VALIDATION TESTING

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The final series of software testing is validation testing. Validation can be defined in many

terms, but a simple definition is that validation succeeds when software functions in a manner that

can be reasonably expected by the customer.

6.1.5 SYSTEM TESTING

Software is incorporated with other system elements (e.g. hardware, people, and

information) and a series of system integration and validation tests are conducted. System testing is

actually a series of different tests whose primary purpose is to fully exercise the computer-based

system. There are many tests conducted to assure that it meets all its requirements.

6.2. ERROR CONDITIONS

1. “File exits or not”, involves in checking the presence of file.

2. “File extension not supported”, involves in the correctness of input assembly file.

3. “Type failure”, if it involves any data type other than the subset.

4. “Optimization fails”, if no instruction analyzed are optimized.

5. “Code Fails”, if the content of assembly file is empty.

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6.3 RESULT ANALYSIS

6.3.1 MAIN MENU

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fig: 6.3.1 MAIN MENU

6.3.2

STATES OF INDIA

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fig 6.3.2: STATES OF INDIA

6.3.2.1 DETAILS ABOUT STATES

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fig: 6.3.2.1 DETAILS ABOUT STATES

6.3.3 UNION TERRITORIES

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fig: 6.3.3 UNION TERRITORIES

6.3.4 RELIGIONS IN INDIA

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FIG: 6.3.4 RELIGIONS IN INDIA

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CHAPTER 7

7. CONCLUSION

Web-based surveys have had a profound influence on the survey process in a number of

ways. The survey taking process has become more democratized because of Web surveys. Since

the ability to gather data through Web surveys is quite widely available, ordinary citizens, as well

as government organizations, university researchers, and big businesses, are now conducting

surveys on the Web. Leadership in Web-based survey design is coming from people with a strong

technology background, not just the experts in survey methodology.

The visual aspect of surveys is even more important in Web-based surveys than with other

surveys. What was visible in a paper survey can be made invisible in a Web and vice versa. Web

surveys have reduced the cost of data collection and made data analysis more efficient. Although

there are concerns about Web-based surveys and many aspects of conducting surveys on the Web

have yet to studied, a number of researchers have produced a body of literature that is improving

the design and effectiveness of the Web-based survey process.

7.1 FUTURE ENHANCEMENTS

The purpose of this project is to provide a survey system that can run from one location and

allow for multiple users each with multiple surveys. To make this system a true web based survey

tool will require several enhancements on the current version. Currently the system lacks web

based administrative functions. This covers several areas such as online survey creation, online

password additions and online review of results by the survey owners. First lets make some

distinctions on the types of users.

There are three types of users on this system. The 'survey takers' are the users who take the

survey using an assigned survey code. The 'survey owners' are the users who create surveys, set

passwords for the survey takers and review the results of their surveys.

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The survey administrator(s) is the person who administers the survey system software and

handles any problems that might arise. The survey administrator(s) should be able to add and

remove survey owner user ids from a web application. The survey owner user id's and password's

would be put into a password file that is parsed similar to the existing survey taker password file

along with two additional attributes (the persons full name and e-mail.) The user id is the key for

this record. There will need to be a check to make sure the user id is unique when a new id is

added.

The administrator will have to log on to a web-page with a password and user id to add the

survey owner user id's and password's however since there is probably only one survey

administrator it could be hard coded into the script rather then read in from another file.

One problem with this approach is that the password file for the survey owners is world

readable (just like the survey takers password file) and has to be world readable to work with a

web- based program. However, these user ids and password are more sensitive than the survey

takers password file and this could be a security issue. A more secure method might be needed.

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