You can point and click your way to fully functional online surveys with automatic data collection; use whichever response format you like for each question; create/author surveys and tests on Mac and Windows PC; serve your internet questionnaires from Macintosh, Windows, and/or Linux; serve your surveys with SSL security; use username and password security for each web questionnaire; and export the data you collect to analysis programmes like SPSS. Did we mention that you can also export a tidy, detailed version of your survey instrument to Microsoft® Word?
Below, in check list format, you’ll find a list of many of the features of The Surveyor. The Surveyor provides many data entry formats for quantitative data analysis, as well as many others for qualitative data.
Feature
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The Surveyor
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Competitor
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Platform
With our internet survey program, The Surveyor, you can both design and serve your online questionnaires on a single desktop Macintosh or Windows. For corporate systems where there is a need for robust performance and greater security, you can serve your on-line questionnaire using enterprise-level web servers and database servers on Macintosh, Linux, and Windows.
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Survey authors/creators need
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Any Macintosh (OS X.3.9 and higher) or Windows PC (Windows 98 and higher (older editions have some limitations, Windows 2000 and XP recommended)).
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Web server
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WebSTAR and Apache on Macintosh (OS X), MySQL on Macintosh (OS X) and Windows (older editions have some limitations, Windows 2000 and XP recommended), IIS on Windows, Apache on Linux (Redhat).
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Respondents need
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Any web browser with JavaScript (Java not required). (Modern browsers have this functionality on by default.)
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Authoring/survey creation
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Export all web survey pages with one click of mouse
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Export individual web survey site pages with one click of mouse (very useful after you've made a small change)
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Try out questions as they are created?
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Entering editing questions
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Point and click
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Database support for authoring/survey creation
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Built-in. Single click to create data collection database in MySQL. Supports many other export formats, including to Microsoft® Word
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Divide questions into different topics
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Automated skipping from one page to another, determined by responses (also known as branching or jumping)
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Automatic parent/child records for each respondent/questionnaire. For example a respondent may have an unknown number of children, be taking a unknown number of medications, etc. and you need data on each. The Surveyor is the only web survey software to provide this function built-in. It also exports the child data to separate files for you, so that you can analyse child record data as easily as the main parent record data.
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Group questions by objective
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Automatic sequential question numbering
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Question number font, size, colour, etc. can be different from main question text style
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Automatic subquestion numbering in abc, ABC, xii, XII formats, as desired by the researcher.
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Subquestion numbering can automatically insert a bar to create a visual barrier between full questions
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Sub-question number font, size, colour, etc. can be different from main question text style and from question number style
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Automatic note when question requires an answer (may be turned on or off, according to preference)
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Horizontal or vertical presentation of question and response, selected by survey author
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Progress bar on all pages, as desired by the researcher.
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Administration portal to manage responses, including survey parent and child record deletion. Also e-mails data and exports files of respondents data (the latter can also be automatcally e-mailed immediately after creation).
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Create two parts for your net questionnaire: one for respondent, one for researcher/administrator
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Administration portal presents question in an identical manner to questionnaire, with identical imput validation
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Administrator can jump to any of you web based questionnaires and to any page of that survey
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Administrator able to search respondent questionnaires using researcher-defined fields and sort by other researcher-defined fields, if desired
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Researcher can specify which fields are listed in result of administrator search for response records
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Pop up frequency results windows available to respondent, administrator, or both (according to researcher's preference)
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E-mail response to respondent, researcher, or both
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Format and content of e-mail report is tailorable
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Individual questions can be omitted from the e-mailed report, if the researcher wants this
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Researcher can provide default responses for any and all question
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Researcher can provide pop-up help for any and all questions
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Automatic 'gatekeeper' function to prevent non-JavaScript enabled browsers from taking questionnaire (Javascript is required for data validation. More than 95% browsers currently on web support JavaScript)
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Spell checker
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Add own words to spell checker
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Import questions and other information from test (ASCII) files, including user ID, password, and e-mail, if required
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Formats supported: Tab-delimited and comma-delimited
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Export questions and other information
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Formats supported: Tab-delimited and comma-delimited. Also export to formatted Microsoft® Word
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Print questions and other information
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Directly from The Surveyor or as a formatted Microsoft® Word document
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Library of standard questions and responses, such as Yes/No, State or Province, Dates, numbers, etc.
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Number of respondents per survey
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No limit
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Security
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Require ID and password before a questionnaire is started? (Password requirement is optional, though recommended.)
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Require other information before a questionnaire is started?
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Allow respondent to choose own password
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Number of characters for respondent name
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Up to 64,000
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Run survey under SSL security for both questions and responses
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User ID and password used on every page of survey, to prevent tampering
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Automatic data validation both before data are sent to the server and in the server before addition to database
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Sensitive data encrypted to prevent fraud or other attacks
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Log off function to help maximise security
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Database Support
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Authoring/survey creation database
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The Surveyor is an application for Macintosh OS X, and Windows desktop computers.
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Testing and production database
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Usually MySQL or internal LassoSQLite, or an ODBC/JDBC compatible database. (See Lasso documentation for more details.)
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Documentation
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User manual
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Available as Adobe® Acrobat® pdf file from Web site
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Survey authoring/creation guide/tutuorial
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Part of user manual
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Deployment guide
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Part of user manual
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Question Types
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All Question Types
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Categorise questions by topic
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Permit different scores by choice or combination of choices
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Provide different feedback, based upon choice, or choices, selected
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Easily enhance question and header text with bolding, underlining, italics, superscripting, subscripting, etc.
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Include graphics in questions
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Include sound in questions
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Include video in questions
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Include graphics in headings
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Include sound in headings
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Include video in headings
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Set size of graphic, independently of its own size
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Allow any set of scores for responses
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Set upper and lower limits for numerical responses
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Set upper and lower limits for alphanumerical responses
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Allow respondent to comment on a question they have answered (to understand why a respondent chose a particular response)
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Ability to require respondent answer a question before they can continue
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Ability to require respondent to comment on a question they have answered
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Add pop-up help dialogue to any question
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Show results for any question in a pop-up window (useful for polls)
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Compare any response on a survey page with any other response on the page before page is sent to server
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Append text notes to questions for reminders to authors/survey creators at later date
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Continuous Interval Response (Slider Question)
(Videlicet is the only web survey company to provide this.)
Quantitative scale.
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Respondent selects a point along a scale by clicking that point
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Wizard to assist authoring/question creation and editing
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Unnecessary
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How are choices presented
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Graphic slider scale on respondent’ browser, using proprietary JavaScript routine
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Number of presentation formats
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Determined by end points chosen by author/survey creator
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Special graphical end points to scale to make selection of end point easier for respondent
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Define your own ends points and, thereby, the number of intervals
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Assign different feedback to different answers
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Look for values in answer
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Test contents of answer (equals, is not equal to, is greater than, is less than, is greater than or equal to, is less than or equals to) before allowing respondent to move to next page
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Test contents of answer (equals, is not equal to, is greater than, is less than, is greater than or equal to, is less than or equals to) to determine page jump/skip pattern
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Explanation/Header
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Respondent is provided information needed to answer subsequent question(s)
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Wizard to assist explanation/header creation and editing
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Unnecessary, just type in your text
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Explanation/header text length limit
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Total text may be up to 64k, but can make links to further information
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Separate text style for font, size, colour, and background colour
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Essay
Qualitative data entry.
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Respondent asked to type in prose as reply
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Wizard to assist authoring/question creation and editing
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Unnecessary
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Author-defined width and height of text answer area, including both horizontal and vertical scroll bars
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Assign different feedback to different answers
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Look for keywords in answer
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Test contents of answer (equals, is not equal to, is greater than, is less than, is greater than or equal to, is less than or equals to, contains) before allowing respondent to move to next page
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Test contents of answer (equals, is not equal to, is greater than, is less than, is greater than or equal to, is less than or equals to) to determine page jump/skip pattern
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Likert Scale
Quantitative scale data entry.
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Respondent requested to agree or disagree to a statement and choose along a scale of any number of responses
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Six different formats of response presentation in the browser
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Wizard to assist authoring/question creation and editing
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Unnecessary
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How are choices presented
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Radio buttons
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Number of presentation formats
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Two
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Include standard text for Likert scale
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Limit on choices
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No limit
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Allow for not applicable
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Define your own weights
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Insert graphics, font manipulation, etc. into questions
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Assign different feedback to different answers
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Look for keywords in answer
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Test contents of answer (equals, is not equal to, is greater than, is less than, is greater than or equal to, is less than or equals to, contains) before allowing respondent to move to next page
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Test contents of answer (equals, is not equal to, is greater than, is less than, is greater than or equal to, is less than or equals to) to determine page jump/skip pattern
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True/False
Quantitative data entry.
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Respondent requested state whether a statement is true or false
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Wizard to assist authoring/question creation and editing
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Unnecessary
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How are choices presented
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Radio buttons or pull-down menu
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Number of presentation formats
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Two
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Allow for not applicable
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Define your own weights
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Insert graphics, font manipulation, etc. into questions
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Assign different feedback to different answers
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Look for keywords in answer
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Test contents of answer (equals, is not equal to) before allowing respondent to move to next page
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Test contents of answer (equals, is not equal to, is greater than, is less than, is greater than or equal to, is less than or equals to) to determine page jump/skip pattern
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Yes/No
Quantitative data entry.
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Respondent requested to agree or disagree with a statement
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Wizard to assist authoring/question creation and editing
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Unnecessary
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How are choices presented
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Radio buttons or pull-down menu
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Number of presentation formats
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Two
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Allow for not applicable
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Define your own weights
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Insert graphics, font manipulation, etc. into questions
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Assign different feedback to different answers
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Look for keywords in answer
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Test contents of answer (equals, is not equal to) before allowing respondent to move to next page
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Test contents of answer (equals, is not equal to, is greater than, is less than, is greater than or equal to, is less than or equals to) to determine page jump/skip pattern
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Multiple Choice
Quantitative data entry.
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Respondent to select one of several choices
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Wizard to assist authoring/question creation and editing
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Unnecessary
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How are choices presented
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Radio buttons or pull-down menu
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Number of presentation formats
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Two
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Allow for ‘Not Applicable’
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Allow for requiring explanation of ‘Not Applicable’
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Allow for ‘Other, please explain’
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Allow for requiring explanation of ‘Other, please explain’
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Included standard multiple choice, True/False, Yes/No, and Likert format
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Maximum number of choices
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No reasonable limit (limited only by the HTML standard (see www.w3.org)
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Define your own weights
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Insert graphics, font manipulation, etc. into questions
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Assign different feedback to different answers
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Look for keywords in answer
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Test contents of answer (equals, is not equal to, is greater than, is less than, is greater than or equal to, is less than or equals to, contains) before allowing respondent to move to next page
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Test contents of answer (equals, is not equal to, is greater than, is less than, is greater than or equal to, is less than or equals to) to determine page jump/skip pattern
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Multiple Response
Quantitative data entry.
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Respondent may select several or all of many choices
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Wizard to assist authoring/question creation and editing
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Unnecessary
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How are choices presented
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Check boxes or list box
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Number of presentation formats
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Two
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Allow for ‘Not Applicable’
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Allow for requiring explanation of ‘Not Applicable’
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Allow for ‘Other, please explain’
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Allow for requiring explanation of ‘Other, please explain’
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Maximum number of choices
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No reasonable limit (limited only by the HTML standard (see www.w3.org)
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Define your own weights
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Insert graphics, font manipulation, etc. into questions
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Assign different feedback to different answers
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Look for keywords in answer
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Test contents of answer (equals, is not equal to, is greater than, is less than, is greater than or equal to, is less than or equals to, contains) before allowing respondent to move to next page
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Test contents of answer (equals, is not equal to, is greater than, is less than, is greater than or equal to, is less than or equals to) to determine page jump/skip pattern
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Pull-down list (menu)
Quantitative data entry.
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Respondent to select one of several choices
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Wizard to assist authoring/question creation and editing
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Unnecessary
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How are choices presented
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Pull-down menues
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Allow for ‘Not Applicable’
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Allow for requiring explanation of ‘Not Applicable’
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Allow for ‘Other, please explain’
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Allow for requiring explanation of ‘Other, please explain’
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Included standard multiple choice, True/False, Yes/No, and Likert format
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Maximum number of choices
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No reasonable limit (limited only by the HTML standard (see www.w3.org)
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Define your own weights
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Insert graphics, font manipulation, etc. into questions
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Assign different feedback to different answers
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Look for keywords in answer
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Test contents of answer (equals, is not equal to, is greater than, is less than, is greater than or equal to, is less than or equals to, contains) before allowing respondent to move to next page
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Test contents of answer (equals, is not equal to, is greater than, is less than, is greater than or equal to, is less than or equals to) to determine page jump/skip pattern
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Matrix
Quantitative data entry.
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Respondent presented with several multiple-choice question, from each of which to select one of several choices
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Wizard to assist authoring/question creation and editing
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Unnecessary
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How are choices presented
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Radio buttons
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Number of presentation formats
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Six
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Equal column widths to minimise psychometric bias.
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Allow for ‘Not Applicable’
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Allow for requiring explanation of ‘Not Applicable’
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Allow for ‘Other, please explain’
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Allow for requiring explanation of ‘Other, please explain’
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Included standard multiple choice, True/False, Yes/No, and Likert format
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Maximum number of choices
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No reasonable limit (limited only by the HTML standard (see www.w3.org)
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Define your own weights
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Insert graphics, font manipulation, etc. into questions
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Assign different feedback to different answers
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Look for keywords in answer
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Test contents of answer (equals, is not equal to, is greater than, is less than, is greater than or equal to, is less than or equals to, contains) before allowing respondent to move to next page
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Test contents of answer (equals, is not equal to, is greater than, is less than, is greater than or equal to, is less than or equals to) to determine page jump/skip pattern
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Numeric Response
Quantitative data entry.
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Respondent replies with a number
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Wizard to assist authoring/question creation and editing
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Unnecessary
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How are choices presented
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Radio buttons, pull-down menues, text entry field, or, if required, check boxes
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Number of presentation formats
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Four
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Prevent text entry
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Entry of whole and real number
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Allow entry of scientific notation (exponents)
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Allow multiple numeric entry areas
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Sum Total Response
Quantitative data entry.
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Researcher can specify that several field on page of questionnaire add up to a total. The running total is shown to the respondent as the fields have values entered. Data are checked that they are numeric and that they are within any ranges ressearcher specifys (allows negative values, if researcher desires this possibility).
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Text Response
Qualitative data entry.
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Respondent replies with simple text on a single line
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Wizard to assist authoring/question creation and editing
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Unnecessary
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How are choices presented
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Single-line text field
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Number of presentation formats
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Determined by the number of characters the author/survey creator wants
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Allow multiple text entry areas
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E-Mail Response
Qualitative data entry.
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Respondent enters text that, if not empty, is checked for valid e-mail address format before allowing respondent to continue
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Display Field
Both qualitative and quantitative data display.
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Shows previously entered text (or results of calculation) in a non-modifiable form
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Picture/Graphics Questions
Quantitative data entry.
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Respondent to select one of several choices
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Wizard to assist authoring/question creation and editing
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Unnecessary
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How are choices presented
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Radio buttons next to graphic
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Allow for ‘Not Applicable’
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Allow for requiring explanation of ‘Not Applicable’
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Allow for ‘Other, please explain’
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Allow for requiring explanation of ‘Other, please explain’
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Included standard multiple choice, True/False, Yes/No, and Likert scale
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Maximum number of choices
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No reasonable limit (limited only by the HTML standard (see www.w3.org)
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Define your own weights
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Assign different feedback to different answers
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Look for particular response in answer
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Test contents of answer (equals, is not equal to) before allowing respondent to move to next page
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Test contents of answer (equals, is not equal to, is greater than, is less than, is greater than or equal to, is less than or equals to) to determine page jump/skip pattern
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Random Questions
Both quantitative and qualitiative questions. For random responses, see below.
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Randomise a group of questions (not their possible responses), each time the onlie questionnaire page is displayed. Note that this will not, necessarily, randomise the possible choices for any given question within the group (see below for information about Random Responses).
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Random Responses
Quantitative data entry.
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Randomize the set of possible responses to a particular web survey question, each time the web page is displayed.
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Rank Questions
Quantitative data entry.
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Set a group of questions which must be ranked from 1 to n, where n is the number of questions in the group. This can be done for any number of groups on a particular web survey page.
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Presentation Features
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How questions are presented to the respondent
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Present each question on its own web page
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Possible, though not necessarily recommended. Depends on questionnaire
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Present question above or to left of response. Survey default setting can be overridden for any question
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Divide web questionnaire into sections
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Ability to make mandatory answers to all questions in section
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Ability to permit free movement around online questionnaire/survey
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Ability to permit respondent to leave web questionnaire at any point and return immediately to that point upon return
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Ability to change question layout easily
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E-mail of responses may be sent automatically to the respondent, upon a request from the respondent. Copy of each e-mail can be sent automatically to survey administrator, as specified by survey author
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Survey progress bar at the top of survey pages beyond page one (with switch to turn this off, if desired)
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Switch to present required fields as such to survey respondents, if desired
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Switch to present question numbers to survey respondents, if desired
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All text presented to respondents can be changed without programming
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Ability to use special characters (such as accented French letters) in question text
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Jumping and Skip Patterns (also known as 'branching')
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Jump/skip based upon reply to individual question
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Jump/skip based upon multiple forms of tests (equals, is not equal to, is greater than, is less than, is greater than or equal to, is less than or equals to, contains)
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Administration portal/interface
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Administration portal to manage responses, including survey parent and child record deletion. Also e-mails data and exports files of respondents data (the latter can also be automatcally e-mailed immediately after creation).
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Import records with User ID and password, or User ID, password, and e-mail address. Add more at any later time. This feature is particularly useful for longitudinal studies
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E-mail respondent data to user entered address
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From web interface, send e-mail to all respondents with e-mail address. For example, you could send one to tell respondents that the survey is ready for their replies, or one iwht a note that the prize draw for your respondents has been made
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Exports files of respondents data in format for analysis software
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Administration portal presents question in an identical manner to questionnaire, with identical imput validation
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Administrator can jump to any on-line questionnaire and to any page of that survey
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Administrator able to search respondent questionnaires using researcher-defined fields and sort by other researcher-defined fields, if desired
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Researcher can specify which fields are listed in result of administrator search for response records
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Pop up frequency results windows available to respondent, administrator, or both (according to researcher's preference)
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E-mail response to respondent, researcher, or both
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Exporting
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Export data to tab-delimited or quote-delimited file for use by analysis programme, such as SPSS
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E-mail response data file, if required
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Export SPSS .sps file to create variable type formats
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Export SPSS .sps file to create field labels for SPSS tables and graphs
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Export SPSS .sps file to perform basic frequency checking to help identify ‘bad’ data
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Export detailed, formatted survey questionnaire to Microsoft® Word
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Support
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Latest, fully functional application downloadable from web site
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Free telephone and e-mail support for ninety days from purchase
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Extension support contracts available
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Classroom training available
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Support resources available from web site
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