Difficulty level: Easy
This article provides some features and methods for building a survey.
An element can easily be added to a survey. There are two methods:
- Click on the element for it to be added to the end of the survey, or
- Drag the element to the desired position in your survey while holding down the left mouse button. Release this button once the element has reached the desired position in the survey.
The video shows both actions.
As you can see here, you can collapse the survey elements to hide the preview of the question. The list of elements then becomes much shorter; elements can easily be moved within the survey in this way.
Collapsing sections is useful, if you are using multiple sections in your survey. Using collapsed sections allows you to scroll more easily while creating your survey.
Sections can be collapsed and expanded completely independently of each other.
As shown here, it is easier to sort elements when they are collapsed and the preview is hidden. You can sort and move the survey elements using either the arrows or the left mouse button while holding it down when moving.
At all elements, you will find icons for duplicating and deleting an element (section/question).
- The Duplicate icon allows you to copy the selected element. A copied element is a full duplicate of the original element; it also includes all filters.
- The Delete icon allows you to delete the selected element. This element is only really deleted, after you have clicked the Yes button to confirm the procedure. If you have erroneously deleted an element, you can restore it using the Undo & Redo functionality.
If you click the red framed button, you will open the Export of survey screen which allows you to export the survey data including all questions and answer options to Word and PDF format.
If the survey has been conducted in several languages, you can first select the survey language in which the survey data must be exported. Afterwards you can select the preferred download format: Word or PDF.
- Word export
- PDF export
When selecting this file format, you will be offered the choice of downloading the questionnaire with or without a code plan. A code plan is a list of variables that includes the following elements per survey question: 1) the variable screen code, 2) the question element type, 3) the description of the question, and 4) the corresponding answer options of the question (values).
After you have clicked the Download button, a Word file is created of the corresponding survey. The first page indicates, amongst others, the title of the survey, the export date, the number of questions and content elements, the survey language, the admin link (in the URL of the browser), the anonymous link (under Survey links on the Distribute page) and the response rate. On the following pages you will find the table of contents and all questions and corresponding answer options included in the survey. The last page of this file contains any code plan that may have been downloaded.
This exported Word file is generated on the basis of a template. This is the SurveyExportTemplate.docx template which has been specified on the Layout page of your own workspace.
The survey data in this Word file can, for example, be included in a new survey from the same workspace. This can be convenient and save you a lot of time. For instance, you can copy all answer options of a question in the downloaded Word file at once using Ctrl+C, then position the mouse cursor in the first answer option of a question from the new survey and finally transfer the copied answer options to the new survey in one go using Ctrl+V.
All answer options from the Word file are then inserted directly below the Answer choices of the corresponding question. You do not have to enter all answer options individually.
When selecting this file format, you will be offered the choice of downloading the questionnaire with or without a code plan. A code plan is a list of variables that includes the following elements per survey question:
- the variable screen code
- the question element type
- the description of the question
- the corresponding answer options of the question (values)
After you have clicked the Download button, a PDF file is created of the corresponding survey. The first page indicates, amongst others, the title of the survey, the export date, the number of questions and content elements, the survey language, the admin link (in the URL of the browser), the anonymous link (under Survey links on the Distribute page) and the response rate. On the following pages you will find the table of contents and all questions and corresponding answer options included in the survey. The last page of this PDF contains any code plan that may have been downloaded.
This exported PDF file is generated on the basis of a template. This is the SurveyExportTemplate.docx template which can be specified on the Layout page of your own workspace.
Click the eye icon for a new tab to appear with a preview of the survey.
Note: No data will be saved using the preview. The preview starts with the first question on the first page and can be considered a live version of the survey.
Depending on the elements configured in the survey layout, the following data will be shown above the survey questions in the preview:
- the logo of the organisation
- the title description of the survey
- the language selector allowing the respondent to change the language of the survey in the preview
- the progress bar indicating the percentage of already filled-out questions (including filtered-out questions) on each page of the survey
In order to terminate the preview, you can click the cross on the opened tab.
When you start creating a survey, its status will be Off. The survey is then in the testing phase. You can now collect data to find out whether the corresponding survey complies with your requirements.
The following data can be retrieved from any such test survey after some test answers have been collected:
- When downloading the raw data, you will see that the Interview Mode column in the downloaded Excel file has the value Test and the Survey Version column has the value 1. For each survey question, you can view in a column the test answer to the question provided by a participant.
- When selecting the online report, you will see that no test data are available. No answers are displayed.
- When downloading a report (e.g. PowerPoint), a file containing tables and charts with questions incl. the answers and response rates provided by test participants is displayed.
When you have sufficiently tested a survey, you can activate it for the first time in order to invite participants to fill out the actual survey.
- Activate survey 1st time
- Edit survey
- Activate survey
- Close survey
The button in the upper right corner allows you to activate the corresponding survey. Once you have clicked on the blue Activate survey button, a window will be displayed directly below asking you to confirm your action. After clicking the green Yes button, you will be able to go live with your survey and invite participants.
Once you have activated the survey for the first time, its status will be set to On. The survey is then in the production phase. You are now able to collect data from participants with the aim of creating analyses, based on the answers provided.
After activating a survey, the answer counter is always set to 0. This means that all answers from the test phase have been removed. You will also no longer encounter them in the raw data and reports. The activation of a survey cannot be reversed using the Undo & Redo functionality either.
If the survey has been active for some time and answers have already been collected, you can retrieve the following data from this activated survey:
- When downloading the raw data, you will see that the Interview Mode column in the downloaded Excel file has the value Prod and the Survey Version column still has the value 1. For each survey question, you can view in a column the answer to the question provided by a participant.
- When selecting the online report, you will see the survey response statistics and an overview of questions in which you can study the chart for each question incorporating all responses gathered so far.
- When downloading a report (e.g. PowerPoint), a file containing tables and charts with questions incl. the answers and response rates provided by participants is displayed.
Once the survey is active and answers are being collected, it cannot be revised. Once you have received most of the answers from the participants and have analysed them, you can, if you wish, modify the survey. For this, the status of the survey must be changed from Active to Active (with unpublished changes). To do this, you need to click the Edit survey button. This button is located in exactly the same position as where previously the Activate survey button was shown.
Note: If a survey is active and participants are currently answering the survey, you can indeed make a minor adjustment to a translation or answer option. However, do not adjust underlying codes or variable question codes; this could lead to a corrupted data analysis. For a minor adjustment, click the Edit survey button, make the adjustment and then directly click the Activate survey button again. Participants who have received the invitation, will see the new survey version with the minor adjustment you implemented, when they click the survey link they received after the adjustment you made.
The button in the upper right corner allows you to edit the active survey. Once you have clicked the blue Edit survey button, a window will be displayed directly below asking you to confirm your action. After clicking the green Yes button, the survey will reopen and allow you to make your desired changes to the survey.
Note: If a survey is set to Edit, the old version of the survey will continue to function in the meantime; participants still have access to this version. All participants can only complete the survey version they initiated.
If the survey is assigned the Edit status, the description of the button changes into Activate survey. You will see an orange exclamation mark behind the description. When you move the mouse pointer over this exclamation mark, a notification appears indicating that there is a newer, not yet activated version. By the way, you can now edit your survey.
Once you have set the survey to Edit, its status remains On; the red info button behind it indicates that the survey contains unpublished changes. The survey remains in the production phase. You can still collect data from participants while customising your survey. These participants will still see the survey as it was at the time of initial activation.
After revising a survey, the answer counter is not reset to 0; it continues to run. Nor are any answers deleted; you will still be able to find them in among others the raw data and reports. In the downloaded Excel file, you will see the value Prod in the Interview Mode column and the value 1 in the Survey Version column.
Note: For a survey in Edit mode, you can test the survey by opening the preview. When you complete a survey via the preview, it will be assigned the Test value in the Interview Mode column. It is then considered a test survey.
When you have finished making your adjustments (this can only be done in Edit mode), you can activate the survey incl. new changes. Participants who are starting to fill out the survey after your changes have been activated, will be presented with the new version of the survey, i.e. the version incl. the most recent changes.
The button in the upper right corner allows you to reactivate the edited survey. Once you have clicked the blue Activate survey button, a window will be displayed directly below asking you to confirm your action. After clicking the green Yes button, the survey will be reactivated and you will again be able to invite participants.
Once you have activated the survey for the second time, its status will be set to On. Any changes made are also activated in this case. The survey is still in the production phase. You can now again simply collect data from participants for the purpose of creating analyses based on the answers provided.
After reactivating a survey, the answer counter is not reset to 0; it continues to run. No answers are deleted either; you will still be able to retrieve them in, amongst others, the raw data and reports. In the downloaded Excel file, you will notice the value Prod in the Interview Mode column and the value 1 in the Survey Version column. Surveys which have been completed in Edit mode via the preview feature, will be removed from the raw data and reports. Only these test surveys will be deducted from the answer counter.
When the survey has already been answered again by some participants, the raw data, online report and reports will show you the cumulative data, i.e. all answers from participants coming from survey version 1 (the answers collected, after the survey was activated for the first time) and from survey version 2 (the answers collected, after the survey was activated for the second time).
For as long as the survey is activated and its status is set to Active (with published changes), it cannot be edited. To do so, you must click the Edit survey button again, which enables the procedure described above to be repeated again.
If you no longer want to collect data for the survey, you can close it. To do this, you have to move the mouse pointer over the arrow next to the Edit survey button and select the then displayed Close survey option. Once a participant then clicks on a survey link, he/she will see the message This survey has been closed, as defined in the language settings of your survey. You can deduce from this that no participant will then be able to access the respective survey.
In order to re-open this survey, you have to click on the Edit survey button. Once the survey is active again, you will be able to collect additional data. No data will be lost upon closing and reactivating a survey.
On clicking the framed thank you text at the bottom of the survey page, you will open the editable text field for the thank you page. Here you can edit the text and open the Rich text editor.
In order to allow a survey participant to retrieve his/her answers at the end of the survey, a link for downloading a PDF can be created on this page.