Impact of different response formats via smartphone on psychological scale responses

This study aimed to investigate differences in responses between groups by comparing online responses via smartphones using various response formats on Google Forms with responses from paper questionnaires among university students. Participants were randomly assigned to either an online group where they responded using one of grid, radio button, or linear scale formats, or a paper-based group. In each group, respondents answered multiple psychological scales and rated the visibility of the survey form. Additionally, response times and the ratio of careless responses were recorded. A total of 1,108 valid responses were analyzed. Results indicated that in the grid group, certain mean values of scale scores and some correlation coefficients differed from those in the paper-based group. Furthermore, there were more careless responses, longer response times, and lower ratings for form visibility in the grid group. Differences in mean values for some scales compared to the paper-based group were also observed in the linear scale group. The radio button group showed the least difference in responses compared to the paper-based group.