A comparison of computer-assisted personal interviewing and paper-and-pencil interviewing on responses to open-ended questions

The personal computer offers several advantages to research organizations relative to other data collection procedures. If computerized data collection procedures ultimately replace paper-and-pencil methods, then systematic investigations of data quality using new methods are warranted. This thesis compares responses to open-ended questions for computer-assisted and paper-and-pencil personal interviewing. A total of 1,972 respondents participated in three split ballot tests. Participants were assigned to either the computer or paper-and-pencil interviewing condition. The total number of thought units given in response to two open-ended questions were compared using T-tests and three-way Analysis of Variance to determine if the total number of thought units varied by mode. Although a significant main effect was found for mode for one test, the effect size was small, suggesting the difference was due to the large sample size. Results indicate the total number of thought units was not dependent upon condition.