Origin of ACNE

Hi! My name is Steve Krawczuk and I am a graduate of Montclair State University. The ACNE web-site is an offshoot of my undergrad work at MSU. During my senior year, I worked on two research projects investigating the social perception of facial acne. Collecting data for these projects was an extremely tedious task. I had to carry around a cumbersome photo display along with a stack of questionnaires. I kept thinking, "There MUST be an easier way to administer these surveys."

Unfortunately, it wasn’t until after I graduated that I began to work on a web-based survey. The ACNE web-site was created because I was still interested in facial acne, but lacked the time and energy to administer surveys "manually." I did not want to lug around the photo display and the stack of questionnaires. By using the computer as a research tool, the bulky paperwork and the unwieldy photo display have been eliminated. The ACNE website has enabled me to efficiently administer a follow-up study on the social perception of facial acne and thus continue my research.

ACNE was developed for the fun of the challenge. I wanted to see if I was capable of creating a web-based survey that actually worked. I thought it was novel to use the computer and the Internet as research tools. From its inception, ACNE was intended to be a serious sociological project. I believe ACNE’s web-based survey is an innovative and creative way to conduct sociological research.

 Flaws with the ACNE SURVEY

Since ACNE is intended to be a serious sociological study, it is important to mention the flaws of web-based surveys. Web-based surveys such as ACNE are problematic in regard to sampling method. Sampling is used to select respondents. Therefore, it is vital to ask "Who are the respondents to this survey?" and "Who do these respondents represent?"

ACNE relies on a convenience sample. A convenience sample is merely an available sample of people who are willing to answer questions without too much hassle. For example, the only people who can take the ACNE SURVEY are those who: 1) have access to the Internet, 2) have the time to find (stumble upon) the ACNE web-page, and 3) have the interest to complete the survey. This sample is problematic because the results of the survey are only representative of people who have access to the Internet.

Convenience sampling may skew the results of a survey because certain groups from a population were under-represented in the sample. For example, assume that a significant majority of Internet-users are white, middle-class males, 15-30 years of age. In this scenario, the results of a web-based survey are more likely to represent the attitudes of this white, male majority. The attitudes of women, minorities, and lower income populations would essentially be overlooked because of their under-representation in the sample.

Another key flaw with the ACNE SURVEY is that it assumes that all respondents are heterosexual. This survey is inflexible and does not adequately compensate for all forms of human sexuality. This problem could be eliminated if respondents were asked to specify their sexuality. However, sexuality is an extremely sensitive topic that many respondents would not be comfortable answering.

Future of Acne