Short and sweet? Length and informative content of open-ended responses using SMS as a research mode

Abstract

Short Message Service (SMS) is one of the most widely used data services worldwide. This paper examines the assumption that the 160 character limit would force brief and thus comparatively uninformative responses in psychological research compared to other data collection modes. In laboratory classes, 463 psychology undergraduate students were randomly assigned to complete a two-item questionnaire by SMS, email, online survey, or paper survey. Two weeks later, participants completed a multiple-choice self-report risk taking questionnaire on paper. While SMS response lengths were statistically significantly shorter than those yielded in other modes, they did not contain less information.