Open Access

On-screen Self-completion

The NRS method of collecting data by interviewing respondents in their homes has served the Survey well for 50 years, but it is becoming an increasingly difficult and costly task because members of the public have less time and inclination to participate in market research interviews these days, and this is a growing problem for NRS and all such surveys. Therefore, a long-term solution needs to be found, and NRS is investigating the possibilities of the Internet as a flexible and effective method of collecting readership data.

The first task is to develop an on-screen self-completion questionnaire (OSCQ). The existing DS-CAPI questionnaire is already on-screen, but it is administered by the interviewer and was therefore not designed for the purpose of self-completion by the respondent. Developing an OSCQ is a major research project in its own right, initially involving qualitative evaluation of different design possibilities, which it is hoped to complete by the first quarter of 2008. Once an OSCQ has been successfully developed, some form of large-scale quantitative test will be required, but this would not take place before the latter part of 2008.