Comparison of Characteristics and Practices amongst Spreadsheet Users with Different Levels of Experience

We developed an internet-based questionnaire on spreadsheet use that we administered to a large number of users in several companies and organizations to document how spreadsheets are currently being developed and used in business. In this paper, we discuss the results drawn from of a comparison of responses from individuals with the most experience and expertise with those from individuals with the least. These results describe two views of spreadsheet design and use in organizations, and reflect gaps between these two groups and between these groups and the entire population of nearly 1600 respondents. Moreover, our results indicate that these gaps have multiple dimensions: they reflect not only the context, skill, and practices of individual users but also the policies of large organizations.