The Use of E-Questionnaires in Organizational Surveys

Abstract

In recent years, there has been an increase in academic studies that examine the advantages and disadvantages of using e-questionnaires in organizations, but these studies have tended to ignore the potential differences between human resource (HR) managers and HR consultants with regards to using this tool. This chapter examines the use of e-questionnaires from the point of view of both types of practitioners. The study includes a qualitative exploratory survey, as well as a quantitative survey. T-tests, cluster analysis, and principal component analysis are performed and results support the three propositions that are presented. Specifically, it was found that (a) HR consultants and HR managers differ in the ranking of factors they think are important when deciding whether to use e-questionnaires; (b) preference differences exist between HR managers and HR consultants - managers are more directed by organizational constraints than consultants; and (c) the groupings for e-questionnaire preferences, compared to paper-and-pencil questionnaires, are consistent with Caldwell’s (2003) four roles of HR managers. The chapter concludes with implications and suggestions for future research.