Online versus paper evaluations: differences in both quantitative and qualitative data

This study sought to determine if differences exist in the quantitative and qualitative data collected with paper and online versions of a medical school clerkship evaluation form. Data from six-and-a-half years of clerkship evaluations were used, some collected before and some after the conversion...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of computing in higher education Vol. 24; no. 1; pp. 58 - 69
Main Authors Burton, William B., Civitano, Adele, Steiner-Grossman, Penny
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Boston Springer US 01.04.2012
Springer
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects
College Students
Comparative Analysis
Computation
Computer Uses in Education
Conversion
Course Evaluation
Data analysis
Data Collection
Education
Educational Resources
Educational Technology
Evaluation Methods
Evaluators
Evidence
Factor Analysis
Feedback (Response)
Higher Education
Internet
Interrater Reliability
Learning and Instruction
Literature Reviews
Medical
Medical Education
Medical Schools
Medical Students
On-line systems
Online
Online Surveys
Online Systems
Printed Materials
Program Evaluation
Psychometrics
Qualitative Research
Questionnaires
Response Rates (Questionnaires)
Statistical Analysis
Students
Validity
Student feedback
Course evaluation questionnaires
Inter-rater reliability
Factor analysis
Qualitative data
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Summary:This study sought to determine if differences exist in the quantitative and qualitative data collected with paper and online versions of a medical school clerkship evaluation form. Data from six-and-a-half years of clerkship evaluations were used, some collected before and some after the conversion from a paper to an online evaluation system. The quantitative data consisted of a composite score based on the average of several Likert-type items; the qualitative data consisted of open-ended comments about the clerkships. Clerkship ratings were more positive in the online version. Students made significantly longer comments about both strengths and weaknesses on the online form than on the paper form. In addition, comments made on the online form were judged to be more informative and showed less evidence of “negativity” than those made on the paper form. The findings suggest that both quantitative and qualitative data obtained with online evaluation forms can differ in important ways from data collected with paper forms.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
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ISSN:1042-1726
1867-1233
DOI:10.1007/s12528-012-9053-3