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Background: School-based risk behavior surveys traditionally have been administered via paper-and-pencil. This study assessed the feasibility of conducting in-class online surveys in US high schools. Methods: A paper-and-pencil questionnaire assessing computer availability and perceptions of online surveys was mailed to a nationally representative sample of public and private high school principals in fall 2008. Completed surveys were returned by principals from 580 of 704 selected schools. Prevalence and 95% confidence intervals were computed. Results: Most high schools have at least 1 computer lab, most computers in computer labs are connected to the Internet, and just under half of schools with a stationary computer lab had a sufficient number of computers to accommodate an in-class online survey administration. The 2 most common problems associated with online surveys were logistics of providing enough computers for an entire class and rotating classes into computer labs. Nearly two thirds of principals preferred online to paper-and-pencil surveys when administered to 4 randomly selected classes that met at different times during the school day, but less than half reported this preference when administered to 4 randomly selected classes that met at the same time during the school day. Conclusion: Many schools do not have sufficient computer capacity to participate in a voluntary in-class online survey. An online survey could impose significant perceived and actual burden on schools and therefore could result in unacceptably low school participation rates. Online administration for in-class surveys of students in US high schools are not recommended. (Contains 4 tables.)

The authors examined whether paper-and-pencil and Web surveys administered in the school setting yield equivalent risk behavior prevalence estimates. Data were from a methods study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in spring 2008. Intact classes of 9th- or 10th-grade students were assigned randomly to complete a survey via paper-and-pencil or Web. Data from 5,227 students were analyzed using logistic regression to identify associations of mode with reporting of 74 risk behaviors. Mode was associated with reporting of only 7 of the 74 risk behaviors. Results indicate prevalence estimates from paper-and-pencil and Web school-based surveys are generally equivalent. (Contains 1 note and 2 tables.)

Abstract: This study examined whether the prevalence of self-reported health risk behaviors among high school students varied by survey setting (school versus home) and mode of administration (paper and pencil versus computer). Students in grades 9 and 11 were assigned randomly to one of four conditions--school paper-and-pencil instrument (PAPI), school computer-assisted self-interview (CASI), home PAPI, and home CASI. During the spring of 2004, 4,506 students completed identically worded questionnaires based on the Youth Risk Behavior Survey questionnaire. Logistic regression analyses controlling for sex, grade, and race/ethnicity revealed that setting was associated significantly with the reporting of 30 of the 55 risk behaviors examined, and mode was associated significantly with the reporting of 7 of the 55 behaviors. For all behaviors with a significant setting main effect, the odds of reporting the behavior were greater among students who completed questionnaires at school than among students who completed questionnaires at home. For all behaviors with a significant mode main effect, PAPI mode students had lower odds of reporting the behavior than CASI mode students. Because social measurement research assumes that higher prevalence estimates are more valid than lower estimates, methodological factors shown to increase estimates, such as setting and mode, should be considered when planning surveys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]