In our project, we carried out two studies directly addressing (potential) users of monolingual German online dictionaries, such as elexiko. The first online survey was activated from January 04th until February 04th 2011. A total of 685 participants completed the survey. The data collection for the second online-survey began on March 04th and was finished on April 04th 2011. 420 persons participated. Drawing on the example of elexiko, the aim of those studies was:

• to investigate general questions regarding the function and reception of examples illustrating the use of a word
• to collect empirical data on possible extensions of the content of monolingual online dictionaries, e.g. the search function
• to evaluate how users comprehend the terminology of the user interface and 
• to find out which types of information are expected to be included in each specific lexicographic module.

Since the use of monolingual dictionaries presupposes a good command of the respective language, both studies have been carried out entirely in German. The results of both studies are described in detail in: Klosa, Annette/Koplenig, Alexander/Töpel, Antje: Benutzerwünsche und Meinungen zu einer optimierten Wörterbuchpräsentation – Ergebnisse einer Onlinebefragung zu elexiko. Mannheim: Institut für Deutsche Sprache, 2011. (OPAL 3/2011). Klosa, Annette/Koplenig, Alexander/Töpel, Antje: Zur Funktion und Rezeption von Belegen – Ergebnisse einer Benutzungsstudie zum Onlinewörterbuch elexiko. In:  Sprachwissenschaft 37.1. S. 93-123 (available upon request from koplenig(at)ids-mannheim.de). A short summary of the key results is provided on the German part of this website.