Visual Communication

Visual communication involves the transmission of information through the visual sensory system, or the eyes and sense of sight. In surveys, visual communication relies heavily on verbal communication (i.e. written text) but can also include nonverbal communication (i.e. through images conveying body language, gestures, or facial expressions) and paralinguistic communication (i.e. through graphical language). Visual communication can be used to transmit information independently or in combination with aural communication. When conducting surveys, the mode of data collection determines whether information can be transmitted visually, aurally, or both. Whether survey information is transmitted visually or aurally influences how respondents first perceive and then cognitively process information to provide their responses.

Visual communication can consist of not only verbal communication but also nonverbal and paralinguistic forms of communication, which convey additional information that reinforces or modifies the meaning of written text. Nonverbal communication (i.e. information transferred through body language, gestures, eye contact, and facial expressions) is most common in face-to-face surveys but can also be conveyed with graphic images in paper and Web surveys. Paralinguistic communication is traditionally thought of as information transmitted aurally through the speaker's voice (e.g., quality, tone, pitch, inflection). However, recent literature suggests that graphical features, such as layout, spacing, font size, typeface, color, and symbols, that accompany written verbal communication can serve the same functions as aural paralinguistic communication. That is, these graphical features and images, if perceived and cognitively processed, can enhance or modify the meaning of written text in paper and Web surveys.

The process of perceiving visual information can be divided into two broad and overlapping stages: pre-attentive and attentive processing. In pre-attentive processing, the eyes quickly and somewhat effortlessly scan the entire visual field and process abstract visual features such as form, color, motion, and spatial position. The eyes are then drawn to certain basic visual elements that the viewer distinguishes as objects from other competing elements in the visual field that come to be perceived as background. Once [Page 950]the figure/ground composition is determined, the viewer can start discerning basic patterns among the objects. To distinguish such patterns, the viewer uses the graphical elements of proximity, similarity, continuity and connectedness, symmetry, and closure—as described by Gestalt psychology. During pre-attentive processing, the viewer uses a bottom-up model of processing where only stimuli from the visual field itself influence how objects and images are perceived. It is at this pre-attentive stage that graphical elements, strategically provided by survey designers, can help respondents perceive the basic navigational flow of the survey, including start of the survey, question order, and question groupings.

As respondents begin to recognize visual elements and patterns, attentive processing begins where they focus on the task of answering each question. Attentive processing is task oriented and involves the narrowing of one's vision to a limited visual field of attention known as the foveal view, which is 8 to 10 characters in width. During this stage, information is processed more slowly and often in a sequential order. It is also usually processed more deeply and committed to long-term memory rather than just reaching working memory as in pre-attentive processing. During attentive processing the viewer uses a top-down model of processing where his or her prior knowledge, experiences, and expectations about the particular situation influences how objects and images are perceived. It is at this stage that additional instructions or visual elements put in place to help facilitate the task of attending to, and answering, each individual question become useful to respondents. To be most effective, these elements should be located in the foveal view of attention near where they will be used.

...