COMPUTERIZED VS PENCIL AND PAPER COLLECTION OF NETWORK DATA

Computerized data collection is gaining favor among social scientists because it facilitates easy data management. Computerization is especially attractive to network researchers because of the large amount of data their studies require. This study sought to validate a computerized data collection technique by comparing it with a traditional pencil and paper survey. Results showed that the two produce comparable data, and that the computerized data shows somewhat higher criterion validity and test-retest reliability. © 1990.