In this page, we describe the process of migrating your surveys and their already collected raw data (interviews) to Survalyzer.
Survalyzer Know How Prerequisites
If you want to migrate your interview data (raw-data) to Survalyzer, you need to have a good understanding of some basic concepts of Survalyzer.
C: How to use the analyse a survey
D: Getting started with raw data
Before you start the migration project, please ensure that you have read, understood and completed the content of the links above (A, B, C and D).
4-step migration process
the survey migration process always follows the same 4 step process.
Step A: Prepare the migration
Make a list of all surveys that should be migrated.
For each survey collect the following information
| Column Title | Column Description |
| A) Prio | In case you have a lot of surveys to migrate priorise them in at least 2 groups |
| B) Testlink (url): | Hyperlink of survey so you are able to check the online version multiple times |
| C) Number of questions | a plain number counting all questions |
| D) Number of variables | indicates how many single or multi variable questions there are to migrate |
| E) Number of interviews | Count of all interviews that should be migrated. |
| F) PDF Export of survey: | PDF or other generic export format that shows all questiontexts, answer options and filter conditions form the other application |
| G) Raw data files | ideally in different formats (csv, excel, with labels and values) |
| H) Result reports | PDF or Spreadsheet file indicating counts and % Values of each question from old tool, split into monthly, |
| I) Special things | special question types (e.g. research methods, file upload, other) |
Interview Migration Template
All columns are already included in the following MS Excel template file. Please download this document.
https://files.survalyzer.com/dl/XVDrGcBxXmkF/Interview_Migration_Template.xlsx_
Step B: Create the survey
i. Build the Survey in Survalyzer
To create the survey in Survalyzer use the same question type as in the current tool. Make sure that the question type used in the old tool has the same datastructure in the new tool.
Note about migrating NPS question type: NPS values ranges from 0 to 10. In some cases NPS values ranges from 1 to 10. If you want to keep the 1 to 10 values of your NPS question Use questiontype matrix or semantic differential to migrate this question type.
ii. Compare Survalyzer test link with Testlink of your old survey software
Compare page wise if the questionnaire in your old tool and in survalyzer looks identical. From a data perspective, filtering and visual design are not particularly important. However, from a project perspective, this is very relevant, so this step should ensure that the visual representations, filtering and validation are correct.
Step C: Prepare and import the raw data file
i. Test Variable Name match between old survey tool and Survalyzer
Goal of step C.i: It must be ensured for each variable that the variable name from your old tool and survalyzer match. This step is very important and careful checking is essential.
In this step, you will need the raw data file of your current application (see column G in the table above). You will also need the raw data export from the Survalyzer survey (raw data export).
Copy the variable names from the raw data file of your current application and the variable names from the raw data export of the corresponding Survalyzer survey into the tab: Step_C_ii_Variable_Name_Match of the file Interview Migration Template.
After copying, it should look like this
The following illustration shows how variable names of your old survey tool and Survalyzer side by side.
Hint regarding Error
In the event of a mismatch, Excel displays an error and you can investigate the source of the error. If the old variable name cannot be mapped 1:1 in Survalyzer, this error can be accepted. To do this, write Accept in column C.
ii. Test Variable Value match between old survey tool and Survalyzer
The objective of this step is to ensure that every value behind a choice matches in your old tool and in Survalyzer.
Please familiarise yourself with the concept of variable values (see section 2.1 Variable names and variable values) under:
Getting started with survey raw data
First, you must export all variable values from Survalyzer. The survey export (see https://education.survalyzer.com/knowledge-base/download-survey/) with the option Download survey including code plan is very helpful to get a complete list of all variables and variable values (code plan section at the end).
Copy all variable values of all questions from the old and new tools side by side into the tab Step_C_ii_Variable_Values of Interview Migration Template. The following figure illustrates the implementation of this step.
iii import raw data file
Once you have checked the variable names (step i), the variable values (step ii) and completion date of the interviews, you are ready to import the data. Further information on raw data import can be found here. Upload excel raw data
For large data sets, you should not import everything at once, but rather proceed in stages. This way, if you find an error in the next step, you will not have to re-import the entire data set.
Not completed interviews
If you also want to import interviews that have been started, you must add a column Interview Status to your raw data file and assign the value InProgress to the interviews that have been started. In this case, please also add the column Interview Start Date with the timestamp of the start of the interview.
Step D: Test
In the final step, you can use the basic report (or the segmented excel report) and Result reports (H) of the old software to compare the counts and percentage values between the old software and Survalyzer.
As mentioned in the last step C.iii, it is important to proceed step by step and only perform data tests on a subset. Only when the data test on the subset is successful should you import further data. Steps C and D should therefore be performed alternately.
Use a segmentation variable, e.g. time, to create the batches. For large data sets, Survalyzer recommends the following import batch sizes:
- Batch 1: ~ 100 interviews (rows)
- Batch 2: ~ 1.000 interviews (rows)
- Batch 3: ~ 5.000 interviews or bigger