The dramatic rise of smartphones has profound implications for survey research. Namely, can smartphones become a viable and comparable device for self-administered surveys? The current study is based on approximately 1,500 online U.S. panelists who were smartphone users and who were randomly assigned to the mobile app or online computer mode of a survey. Within the survey, we embedded several experiments that had been previously tested in other modes (mail, PC web, mobile web). First, we test whether responses in the mobile app survey are sensitive to particular experimental manipulations as they are in other modes. Second, we test whether responses collected in the mobile app survey are similar to those collected in the online computer survey. Our mobile survey experiments show that mobile survey responses are sensitive to the presentation of frequency scales and the size of open-ended text boxes, as are responses in other survey modes. Examining responses across modes, we find very limited evidence for mode effects between mobile app and PC web survey administrations. This may open the possibility for multimode (mobile and online computer) surveys, assuming that certain survey design recommendations for mobile surveys are used consistently in both modes.

Tomato and its processed products are one of the most widely consumed fruits. Its domestication, however, has resulted in the loss of some 95% of the genetic and chemical diversity of wild relatives. In order to elucidate this diversity, exploit its potential for plant breeding, as well as understand its biological significance, analytical approaches have been developed, alongside the production of genetic crosses of wild relatives with commercial varieties. In this article, we describe a multi-platform metabolomic analysis, using NMR, mass spectrometry and HPLC, of introgression lines of Solanum pennellii with a domesticated line in order to analyse and quantify alleles (QTL) responsible for metabolic traits. We have identified QTL for health-related antioxidant carotenoids and tocopherols, as well as molecular signatures for some 2000 compounds. Correlation analyses have revealed intricate interactions in isoprenoid formation in the plastid that can be extrapolated to other crop plants.

These trends have serious implications for online surveys, especially for online surveys that are designed specifically for a computer screen and not modified, or optimized, for the smaller screen typical of a mobile device. In this paper, we present results from tablet, computer, and smartphone administrations of a survey. For each, we examine three measures of survey taking behavior. Our main focus is on surveys taken with tablets and whether tablet survey administration is comparable to computer survey administration. Our results are preliminary, but instructive, since there is currently very little research on tablet administration of online surveys. However, with tablet ownership on the rise, understanding the effects of this survey mode will become exceedingly more important. Just as tablets have served to fill the void between the often difficult-to-read smartphone screen and the difficult-to-transport computer, tablets can also fill the void for mobile survey takers. Previous Research Previous ResearchOnline surveys taken on mobile devices can present problems. Perhaps the most serious is survey breakoff. Previous research on mobile web surveys (typically those not optimized for mobile devices) has reported breakoff rates in the range of 25-70 percent (Callegaro 2010, Callegaro andMacer 2011).Similarly, Peterson (2012) reports that unintended mobile respondents breakoff twice as often and take 25-50 percent longer to complete online surveys relative to computer respondents. However, his research summary focuses on unintended mobile respondents taking surveys on smartphones, not tablets. 2 tablets were used.) Guidry found that iPad respondents had similar abandonment rates as computer respondents (and much lower rates than smartphone respondents), similar rates of item-missing data, and similar rates of response non-differentiation (and much lower rates than smartphone respondents).In this paper, we add to this nascent research by comparing tablet, computer, and smartphone administrations of a survey among a national sample of adults. Current Study Current StudyOne of the original objectives of this study was to test mobile phone surveys versus surveys done on a computer. For the mobile survey, we utilized a smartphone survey app-the Survey on Demand App (SODA), developed by Techneos (a Confirmit company). The survey app has been programmed for all major types of smartphone operating systems, with a separate optimized visual design for each. See Buskirk and Andrus (2012) for a discussion of this app-based smartphone survey approach.In this study, the same survey was administered to smartphone respondents and online respondents. The questionnaire contained 24 questions on consumer behavior, Internet usage, and TV viewing habits. The survey was designed primarily with mobile app respondents in mind. It featured short questions, short response lists, no grid items, minimal need for vertical scrolling, and was relatively short.The survey was fielded to a large, national sample of online panelists from Knowled...

Summary The origin of sweetpotato, a hexaploid species, is poorly understood, partly because the identity of its tetraploid progenitor remains unknown. In this study, we identify, describe and characterize a new species of Ipomoea that is sweetpotato’s closest tetraploid relative known to date and probably a direct descendant of its tetraploid progenitor. We integrate morphological, phylogenetic, and genomic analyses of herbarium and germplasm accessions of the hexaploid sweetpotato, its closest known diploid relative Ipomoea trifida, and various tetraploid plants closely related to them from across the American continent. We identify wild autotetraploid plants from Ecuador that are morphologically distinct from Ipomoea batatas and I. trifida, but monophyletic and sister to I. batatas in phylogenetic analysis of nuclear data. We describe this new species as Ipomoea aequatoriensis T. Wells & P. Muñoz sp. nov., distinguish it from hybrid tetraploid material collected in Mexico; and show that it likely played a direct role in the origin of sweetpotato’s hexaploid genome. This discovery transforms our understanding of sweetpotato’s origin.

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