Expanding Survey Response Options: Combining Dictation and/or Voice Recording With Text to Answer Narrative Open-Ended Survey Questions

Abstract

While the advantages of voice input for answering open questions in web surveys seem clear, the challenge remains of maximizing voice inputs use while still giving respondents alternatives. This study experimentally explores three options for encouraging voice input in web surveys: a) PushDictation: respondents are asked to answer using dictation. If they try to skip the question, they are proposed to type in a textbox; b) PushRecording: respondents are asked to answer using voice recording. If they try to skip the question, they are proposed to type in a textbox; and c) Choice: respondents are offered three options to answer (dictation, voice recording or type in a textbox). These three options are compared to a Control group in which participants can only answer by typing in a textbox. Using data from two open questions in a survey about nursing homes implemented in February/March 2023 (N = 1,001) in an opt-in online panel in Spain (Netquest), we answer three research questions: (RQ1) What are the overall rates of response to the two open questions? (RQ2) What are the rates of use of voice input to these same questions? (RQ3) What is the overall quality of the data across the different conditions? Overall, response to the open questions was significantly lower when voice inputs were proposed, especially in the PushRecording group (RQ1). Furthermore, significant differences emerged in voice input usage between the experimental groups (RQ2). Regarding data quality (RQ3), the Control group exhibited the lowest proportion of valid answers, while the average numbers of themes and characters were in general higher in the push groups. Our results contribute to the growing but still limited literature about the use of voice input in web surveys, by adding new empirical evidence for several designs encouraging voice input to answer open questions.