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FAQs about E-Listen (our new online survey and data collection system)

  1. Can you create your own survey or do you have to use a template?
    We build our own surveys and that gives us the opportunity to craft very specific questions and scales. We can branch (move a respondent to another section of the survey based on a response), use piping (linking two related questions), create drop-down boxes, radio buttons, defined text boxes, and many other kinds of formats.
  2. What is to stop me from taking the survey as many times as I wish and skew the results?
    Duplication control is not a problem for us. The program generates randomized authentication codes that a respondent must type in to access the online questionnaire. Once the code is used, the first questionnaire completed and submitted will be counted. The program will discard any additional submissions made using that specific code and they will not be counted.
  3. Well, if you’re assigning codes, is this process really anonymous?
    Absolutely. While the code allows access to the survey questionnaire, the program does not download the code with the submitted data. Nor does the online data collection system collect IP addresses. Alas, when we want to remind people to participate in the survey, we have to send reminder emails to everyone since we have no idea who has or has not submitted their questionnaire. Also, the data files are “locked” and password protected.
  4. So this can be deployed through email?
    Yes, we send an email to each individual selected for the survey and insert the authentication code and survey link directly into the email. They click on the link and then type in the code (no pasting). It’s very easy. They can participate from their office or home computer.
  5. Other online systems just give counts and percentages when analyzing the data. What if I want cross-tabulations, means, standard deviations and customized tables and graphs?
    While E-Listen can generate standard tables and charts, it supports the automatic transfer of data into SPSS. We use SPSS exclusively, giving us the opportunity to do a more thorough analysis. And we can customize our own tables and graphs, export everything into Word, and send the file out electronically.
  6. This sounds great. So can I use it to do my research on Roscoe’s notion that nuclear technology and stone-age brains can be a lethal combination? I’d like to do an online survey.
    We cannot support individual research. We’ve looked at the possibility of sharing the online system, unfortunately, the system does not support a networking environment. It requires a server that can support a high-performance autopump system. Our server cannot be partitioned off, a requirement if we are to maintain strict access to survey files.
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