Guide to the design and application of online questionnaire surveys.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Regmi PR
PROVIDER: S-EPMC5506389 | biostudies-other | 2016 Dec
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other
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Project description:No consistent relationship exists between pre-treatment expectations and therapeutic benefit from various complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies in clinical trials. However, many different expectancy measures have been used in those studies, with no validated questionnaires clearly focused on CAM and pain. We undertook cognitive interviews as part of a process to develop and validate such a questionnaire.We reviewed questions about expectations of benefits of acupuncture, chiropractic, massage, or yoga for pain. Components of the questions - verbs, nouns, response options, terms and phrases describing back pain - were identified. Using seven different cognitive interview scripts, we conducted 39 interviews to evaluate how individuals with chronic low back pain understood these individual components in the context of expectancy questions for a therapy they had not yet received. Chosen items were those with the greatest agreement and least confusion among participants, and were closest to the meanings intended by the investigators.The questionnaire drafted for psychometric evaluation had 18 items covering various domains of expectancy. "Back pain" was the most consistently interpreted descriptor for this condition. The most understandable response options were 0-10 scales, a structure used throughout the questionnaire, with 0 always indicating no change, and 10 anchored with an absolute descriptor such as "complete relief". The use of words to describe midpoints was found to be confusing. The word "expect" held different and shifting meanings for participants. Thus paired items comparing "hope" and "realistically expect" were chosen to evaluate 5 different aspects of treatment expectations (back pain; back dysfunction and global effects; impact of back pain on specific areas of life; sleep, mood, and energy; coping). "Impact of back pain" on various areas of life was found to be a consistently meaningful concept, and more global than "interference".Cognitive interviews identified wordings with considerable agreement among both participants and investigators. Some items widely used in clinical studies had different meanings to participants than investigators, or were confusing to participants. The final 18-item questionnaire is undergoing psychometric evaluation with goals of streamlining as well as identifying best items for use when questionnaire length is constrained.
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Project description:The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is affecting the environment and conservation research in fundamental ways. Many conservation social scientists are now administering survey questionnaires online, but they must do so while ensuring rigor in data collection. Further, they must address a suite of unique challenges, such as the increasing use of mobile devices by participants and avoiding bots or other survey fraud. We reviewed recent literature on online survey methods to examine the state of the field related to online data collection and dissemination. We illustrate the review with examples of key methodological decisions made during a recent national study of people who feed wild birds, in which survey respondents were recruited through an online panel and a sample generated via a project participant list. Conducting surveys online affords new opportunities for participant recruitment, design, and pilot testing. For instance, online survey panels can provide quick access to large and diverse samples of people. Based on the literature review and our own experiences, we suggest that to ensure high-quality online surveys one should account for potential sampling and nonresponse error, design survey instruments for use on multiple devices, test the instrument, and use multiple protocols to identify data quality problems. We also suggest that research funders, journal editors, and policy makers can all play a role in ensuring high-quality survey data are used to inform effective conservation programs and policies.
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Project description:Gambling disorder is of great clinical and social relevance since it seriously affects people who suffer from it. More recently, the Internet has exacerbated the problem with online casinos, poker, and sports betting. However, there is little evidence of this problem, and we know of no diagnostic questionnaire. The main objectives of this study were to develop the Online Gambling Disorder Questionnaire (OGD-Q) for adolescents, evaluate its main psychometric properties, and establish diagnostic criteria to differentiate pathological from non-pathological online gamblers. We conducted a study in 16 schools across seven regions of Spain, sampling 2691 adolescents, 883 of whom had reported some online gambling experience. Of those, 602 were boys (68.2%) and 281 were girls (31.8%) Sampling was non-probabilistic and incidental. Mean age and standard deviation were 14.25 ± 1.55 (11-19 years). Confirmatory factor analysis yielded a one-dimensional model with a good fit. The reliability indicators were satisfactory (>0.94). The scores on the OGD-Q were related to other constructs, such as Internet gaming disorder, problematic Internet use, and nomophobia. Participants classified as having problems or being at risk of online gambling disorder presented significantly more stress, anxiety, and depression. Participants categorized as having online gambling disorder comprised 0.89% (n = 24) of the total sample and 2.71% of those who have gambled at some time. We discuss these findings and their practical implications in this article and propose future lines of research.
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Project description:Deceit often occurs in questionnaire surveys, which leads to the misreporting of data and poor reliability. The purpose of this study is to explore whether eye-tracking could contribute to the detection of deception in questionnaire surveys, and whether the eye behaviors that appeared in instructed lying still exist in spontaneous lying. Two studies were conducted to explore eye movement behaviors in instructed and spontaneous lying conditions. The results showed that pupil size and fixation behaviors are both reliable indicators to detect lies in questionnaire surveys. Blink and saccade behaviors do not seem to predict deception. Deception resulted in increased pupil size, fixation count and duration. Meanwhile, respondents focused on different areas of the questionnaire when lying versus telling the truth. Furthermore, in the actual deception situation, the linear support vector machine (SVM) deception classifier achieved an accuracy of 74.09%. In sum, this study indicates the eye-tracking signatures of lying are not restricted to instructed deception, demonstrates the potential of using eye-tracking to detect deception in questionnaire surveys, and contributes to the questionnaire surveys of sensitive issues.
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Project description:Type VI CRISPR enzymes are RNA-targeting proteins with nuclease activity that enable specific and robust target gene knockdown without altering the genome. To define rules for the design of Cas13d guide RNAs, we conducted massively parallel screens targeting messenger RNAs of a green fluorescent protein transgene, and CD46, CD55 and CD71 cell-surface proteins in human cells. In total, we measured the activity of 24,460 gRNAs with and without mismatches relative to the target sequences. Knockdown efficacy is driven by gRNA-specific features and target site context. Single mismatches generally reduce knockdown to a modest degree, but spacer nucleotides 15–21 are largely intolerant of target site mismatches. We developed a computational model to identify optimal gRNAs and confirm their generalizability testing 3,979 guides targeting mRNAs of 48 endogenous genes. We show that Cas13 can be used in forward transcriptomic pooled screens and, using our model, predict optimized Cas13 gRNAs for all protein-coding transcripts in the human genome.
2020-01-30 | GSE142675 | GEO
Project description:BackgroundClinical workplace learning takes place in a dynamic and complex learning environment that is designated as a site for patient care and education. Challenges in clinical training can be overcome by implementing blended learning, as it offers flexible learning programs suitable for student-centered learning, web-based collaboration, and peer learning.ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to evaluate the Small Private Online Course (SPOC) by interns' first impressions and satisfaction measures (N=20) on using the SPOC. This study describes the design process of a SPOC from a theoretical and practical perspective and how it has been integrated into a clinical internship in internal medicine.MethodsThe design of the SPOC was based on general theoretical principles that learning should be constructive, contextual, collaborative, and self-regulated, and the self-determination theory to stimulate intrinsic motivation. Interns' impressions and level of satisfaction were evaluated with a web-based questionnaire and group interview.ResultsInterns thought the web-based learning environment to be a useful and accessible alternative to improve knowledge and skills. Peer learning and web-based collaboration through peer interaction was perceived as less effective, as student feedback was felt inferior to teacher feedback. The interns would prefer more flexibility within the course, which could improve self-regulated learning and autonomy.ConclusionsThe evaluation shows that the SPOC is a useful and accessible addition to the clinical learning environment, providing an alternative opportunity to improve knowledge and skills. Further research is needed to improve web-based collaboration and interaction in our course.
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Project description:BackgroundThe rapid expansion of the CRISPR toolbox through tagging effector domains to either enzymatically inactive Cas9 (dCas9) or Cas9 nickase (nCas9) has led to several promising new gene editing strategies. Recent additions include CRISPR cytosine or adenine base editors (CBEs and ABEs) and the CRISPR prime editors (PEs), in which a deaminase or reverse transcriptase are fused to nCas9, respectively. These tools hold great promise to model and correct disease-causing mutations in animal and plant models. But so far, no widely-available tools exist to automate the design of both BE and PE reagents.ResultsWe developed PnB Designer, a web-based application for the design of pegRNAs for PEs and guide RNAs for BEs. PnB Designer makes it easy to design targeting guide RNAs for single or multiple targets on a variant or reference genome from organisms spanning multiple kingdoms. With PnB Designer, we designed pegRNAs to model all known disease causing mutations available in ClinVar. Additionally, PnB Designer can be used to design guide RNAs to install or revert a SNV, scanning the genome with one CBE and seven different ABE PAM variants and returning the best BE to use. PnB Designer is publicly accessible at http://fgcz-shiny.uzh.ch/PnBDesigner/ CONCLUSION: With PnB Designer we created a user-friendly design tool for CRISPR PE and BE reagents, which should simplify choosing editing strategy and avoiding design complications.
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Project description:IntroductionSingapore lacks robust data on the sizes of the key populations that are most at risk for HIV. Using the network scale-up method for hidden or hard-to-reach populations, we estimate the sizes of five key populations-male clients of female sex workers (MCFSW), men who have sex with men (MSM), female sex workers (FSW), people who inject drugs (PWID) and transgender people-and profile the ages and ethnicities of respondents with the high-risk contacts they report knowing.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional online survey between March and May 2019 (n = 2802) using a network scale-up instrument previously developed for Singapore. Participants were recruited using an existing panel and online advertising, and the sample reweighted by age, sex, ethnicity and education attained to represent the general adult population. We built a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate the sizes of the five key populations for HIV in Singapore.ResultsAfter adjustment, the sizes of the at-risk populations are estimated to be: 76,800 (95% credible interval [CI]: 64,200-91,800) MCFSW; 139,000 (95% CI: 120,000-160,000) MSM; 8030 (95% CI: 3980-16,200) FSW; 3470 (95% CI: 1540-7830) PWID and 18,000 (95% CI: 14,000-23,200) transgender people. Generally, men reported knowing more people in all the high-risk groups; older people reported knowing more MCFSW, FSW and transgender people; and younger people reported knowing more MSM. There was a bimodal effect of age on those who reported knowing more PWIDs: people in their 20s and 60s reported more contacts.ConclusionsThis study demonstrates that a size estimation study of hidden populations is quickly and efficiently scalable through using online surveys in a socially conservative society, like Singapore, where key populations are stigmatized or criminalized. The approach may be suitable in other countries where stigma is prevalent and where barriers to surveillance and data collection are numerous.
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Project description:BackgroundThe Rapid Office Strain Assessment (ROSA) is a tool employed online to screen office workstations, which may require modification to decrease musculoskeletal discomfort of workers. This study aimed to examine if the ROSA is able to evaluate pain severity in the lower back, shoulder and neck of office workers accurately.MethodsOverall, 142 participants (height: 1.80 ± 0.15 m, BMI: 26.08± 6.70, age: 35±15 yr) with at least a year of working experience completed both questionnaires, the online ROSA and the Cornell musculoskeletal discomfort, in 2016 in Malaysia.ResultsRelationship between the total scores of both questionnaires for lower back, shoulder and neck pain were significant but exhibited a weak to moderate relationship (range of r values from 0.012 (CI 95%, -0.153-0.176) to 0.503 (CI 95%, 0.369-0.616).ConclusionThe online ROSA does not appear to be a reasonable tool for evaluating the severity of lower back, shoulder and neck pain among office workers as the correlations were low. We suggest continued use of the musculoskeletal discomfort questionnaire. Additional studies are required to further examine the ROSA for other anatomical regions.
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