Web surveys often display some information to respondents about how much of the questionnaire they have completed. The rationale behind such "progress indicators," presumably, is that respondents are more likely to complete the entire questionnaire if they know how much remains given the amount of effort required so far. We discuss three web survey experiments that explore the effectiveness of progress indicators.
In the first, progress information backfired, leading to lower completion rates than when no such information was presented. Break-offs were most frequent during a series of difficult, open-ended questions.
In the second experiment, progress indicators had the intended effect when the difficult questions were replaced with easier ones.
The third experiment, currently underway, varies how "progress" is displayed: start fast, slow down later (log of number of completed questions); start slow, speed up later (inverse log of number of completed questions); neutral (linear function of number of completed questions); and no progress indicators. We expect break-offs to be greatest when progress appears to accrue slowly and smallest when progress appears to accrue rapidly.
We discuss the results in terms of motivation and the perception of time.
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