Feasibility of Administering an Electronic Version of the National Youth Tobacco Survey in a Classroom Setting
ORIGINAL RESEARCH — Volume 17 — March 5, 2020
PEER REVIEWED
In version 1, section 1 of the survey asked participants whether or not they ever smoked cigarettes. After a yes or no response, participants saw questions related to ever smoking cigarettes. Participants then saw a question on whether or not they were currently smoking cigarettes. After a yes or no response, participants were asked questions related to current cigarette smoking before starting section 2. In version 2 of the survey, after the initial question on whether or not they ever smoked cigarettes, participants who answered no skipped all questions until section 2. Participants who answered yes saw questions related to ever smoking cigarettes and a question on whether or not they were currently smoking cigarettes. Those who answered yes to current cigarette smoking were asked questions related to current cigarette smoking before starting section 2. Those who answered no to current cigarette smoking skipped the questions related to current cigarette smoking and started section 2. Sections 2 through 6 were asked for all participants and followed the same procedures as above in both versions of the survey: section 2, ever and current use of cigar; section 3, ever and current use of smokeless tobacco; section 4, ever and current use of e-cigarettes; section 5, ever and current use of hookah; and section 6, ever and current use of roll-your-own cigarettes pipe, snus, dissolvable tobacco products, and bidis. The rest of the question items followed for both versions of the surveys.
Figure 1.
Participants response, routes by survey version in an electronic pilot, National Youth Tobacco Survey, 2018.
Figure 2.
Participant attitudes toward an electronic survey, electronic pilot, National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS), 2018.
| Category/response | % |
|---|---|
| Preferred to take this survey via | |
| Electronic device | 74.7 |
| Paper and pencil | 9.3 |
| Unknown | 16.0 |
| Frequency of using an electronic device at school, home, or work | |
| Multiple times per day | 77.9 |
| Once or less per day | 18.5 |
| Don’t use electronic devices | 2.3 |
| Unknown | 1.3 |
| Ever used an electronic device to take a survey or test | |
| Yes | 76.8 |
| No | 14.1 |
| Unknown | 9.1 |
| Using an electronic device to take this survey made me feel nervous | |
| Strongly agree or agree | 12.4 |
| Neither agree nor disagree | 21.8 |
| Strongly disagree or disagree | 64.5 |
| Unknown | 1.3 |
| Using an electronic device to take this survey kept it from being private | |
| Strongly agree or agree | 26.2 |
| Neither agree nor disagree | 38.8 |
| Strongly disagree or disagree | 33.3 |
| Unknown | 1.7 |
The opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors’ affiliated institutions.