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organisational climate survey Structural Equation Modelling web-based surveys paper-based surveys measurement model equivalence
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Measurement model equivalence in web- and paper-based surveys
Abstract
The aim of this research is to investigate whether web-based
and paper-based organisational climate surveys can be regarded
as equivalent techniques of data collection. Due to the complex
geographical placement of various units of the participating
organisation and limited internet access, both paper-based and
web-based questionnaires were used. Overall, 1295 employees
participated in the survey; of these, 899 used paper questionnaires
and 396 used the web-based questionnaire.
9Confi rmatory factor analysis (CFA) in a Structural Equation Modelling
(SEM) framework was used to test the tenability of a series of
increasingly restrictive models, using goodness-of-fi t tests.
10The SurveyTracker software survey package was used for the web
survey, and SPSS with LISREL was used for the statistical analysis.
Several measurement models were tested; four models showed very
good fi ts for both the web-based and paper-based surveys for fi t
measures such as RMSEA, NFI, NNFI, PNFI CFI, IFI, RFI and BIC. The
four path diagrams also allowed the researcher to investigate the two
groups of participants’ responses and fi t measures across diff erent
aspects of the organisation, such as strategic issues (4 dimensions),
human resource issues (4 dimensions), operational issues and job
satisfaction (5 dimensions), and leadership and transformational
issues (7 dimensions).
11The results indicate that hypotheses H1 to H3 are all tenable. It
can therefore be concluded that the web-based and paper-based
surveys can be considered equal with respect to similar factor structure, with equal factor loadings and equal variances of the
factors and equal covariances between the factors. The results may
therefore be combined in a single analysis without compromising
measurement validity.
and paper-based organisational climate surveys can be regarded
as equivalent techniques of data collection. Due to the complex
geographical placement of various units of the participating
organisation and limited internet access, both paper-based and
web-based questionnaires were used. Overall, 1295 employees
participated in the survey; of these, 899 used paper questionnaires
and 396 used the web-based questionnaire.
9Confi rmatory factor analysis (CFA) in a Structural Equation Modelling
(SEM) framework was used to test the tenability of a series of
increasingly restrictive models, using goodness-of-fi t tests.
10The SurveyTracker software survey package was used for the web
survey, and SPSS with LISREL was used for the statistical analysis.
Several measurement models were tested; four models showed very
good fi ts for both the web-based and paper-based surveys for fi t
measures such as RMSEA, NFI, NNFI, PNFI CFI, IFI, RFI and BIC. The
four path diagrams also allowed the researcher to investigate the two
groups of participants’ responses and fi t measures across diff erent
aspects of the organisation, such as strategic issues (4 dimensions),
human resource issues (4 dimensions), operational issues and job
satisfaction (5 dimensions), and leadership and transformational
issues (7 dimensions).
11The results indicate that hypotheses H1 to H3 are all tenable. It
can therefore be concluded that the web-based and paper-based
surveys can be considered equal with respect to similar factor structure, with equal factor loadings and equal variances of the
factors and equal covariances between the factors. The results may
therefore be combined in a single analysis without compromising
measurement validity.
