How-to: Survey Status

If you wish to allow your staff and customers to view survey results without giving them direct access to internal project settings, the use of EFS Survey Status is recommendable. This separate area provides a quick overview of all key information and results, as early as during the field phase. EFS Survey Status is separate from the internal EFS Survey installation project area, does not permit any alterations and thus prevents unintentional influencing of data. Users neither require introduction to the EFS Survey software, nor are they given direct access to internal settings.

Setting Up EFS Survey Status Access

If you wish to grant your staff or customers access to EFS Survey Status, you need a team with appropriate access rights and staff accounts for the desired candidates.

Creating a Team

Create a new team (System → Users → Teams). In the field “Access rights to the following areas”, activate the area “EFS Survey Status”: This corresponds to read rights to the area_www ACL right. Make sure that no other area is activated.

Open

Granting Access to a Project

In order for the team to be able to view the data of a project, it must first be granted read rights to the desired project. To do so, locate the project in the project list and assign read rights.

Open

Now the team members are able to view the project in the project list in EFS Survey Status and to open the drop-out statistics.

Assigning Access Rights to the Desired Data

Next you have to decide which data the members of the new team should have access to. Then, assign the respective ACL rights. 

You can combine the following rights:

• “read” right to report_view_fieldrep: Field report

• “read” right to report_onlinestat: Online statistics

• “read” right to report_onlinerep: Open-ended answers

• “read” right to ct42partadm: Respondent export

• “read” right to reportlist in combination with read right to the respective report or the respective export macro: reports created with EFS Reporting + and raw data exports.

Also check whether the team has access rights to the Detail view menu:. Normally the Detail view in EFS Survey Status should be completely disabled, as it permits direct access to the data records of the participants.

Creating Customer or Staff Accounts

Create accounts for your staff or customers. In the field “To which teams should the new staff member be added?”, select the newly created team. This team must also be the primary team for the new staff member.

Navigating in EFS Survey Status

This Chapter introduces EFS Survey Status from the user’s perspective. The basic functions, as e.g. login and change of language, have been designed parallel to EFS Survey, therefore they will already be familiar for you.

Logging in

The login to EFS Survey Status is performed via the URL of the respective EFS Survey installation, with the addition of /report/

Orienting Yourself

After successfull authentication you enter EFS Survey Status.

Navigation bar

The navigation bar offers access to various menus and features:

• Logout: Click this link to log out.

• Change password: Click on this link to change your password.

• English/German/French: By clicking this link, you can change the language of the user interface. If you update the current page or open another page, the language will change.

On the right side of the navigation bar the date and the name of the logged-in user are displayed.

Content area

In the content area you can find

• a clickable breadcrumb path.

• the current menu. The figure above shows the list of projects.

Task bar

The bottom task bar provides two more functions:

• Documentation (PDF): Provides a PDF version of the EFS Survey Status documentation.

• Print: Opens the print dialog of your PC and allows you to print the currently displayed page.

The Project List

In the project list, you can find all survey projects of the EFS Survey installation for which you have reading authorization, except archived projects. If a project appears in black and the links and icons cannot be clicked on, the respective project will not yet contain any data.

Accessing the Reporting Functions of a Project

Starting from the project list, there are two possible ways to enter the reporting functions of a specific project:

• Via the icons in the right-hand column, you can directly access the reporting functions.

• By clicking on the title of the appropriate project, you can open the overview menu. It offers access to the various reporting functions.

The Reporting and Statistics Features

For each project, the following reporting features are offered:

• the Field report with additional features

• the Drop-out statistics show how often and on which questionnaire pages participants dropped out.

• As early as during the field phase, the Online statistics show you the survey data which have been collected so far.

• In the Open-ended answers menu you can find the answers to open-ended questi- ons given by the survey participants in a table.

Optionally, you can use the following additional functions, which will be introduced in detail in the following Chapters:

• The Respondent export menu contains the so called respondents, i.e. all those participants who actually participated in a survey.

• In the List of the reports menu you can download automatically-generated export data records.

• Furthermore, you can make result reports available in the List of the reports menu.

Field Report

The Field report provides information on the essential characteristic data of a study. It contains

• statistical information, broken down by gross and net sample.

• access statistics listing, for example, the time of days with the most accesses and

  the average number of participants per day and week.

• drop-out statistics which show you on which questionnaire page most participants dropped out. If the drop-out rate is too high, you can react by changing the ques- tionnaire dramaturgy. Errors, for example in filter setting, can also be detected by analyzing the drop-out statistics.

• quota statistics.

Below you can find:

• information on the diagram

• an explanation of the key statistics

• an overview of the EFS disposition codes

Several additional features help you to analyse and process the data:

• Button Configuration: If necessary, you can restrict the field report to disposition codes or to a specific characteristics of a selected variable.

• Tab Excel export: You can export the field report as an MS Excel file to pass the field report data on to customers or to create diagrams from the data, e.g. using MS Excel.

• Tab Split: You can split the field report.

• Tab Target value: On this tab, you can define a target value for the project, which will be shown in the diagram and thus allows you to visually monitor your success.

Diagram

The diagram belonging to the field report gives you a quick overview of the progress made in the field phase.

The Field Report in Detail

The following table illustrates the data used in the field report. See the following chap- ter for a breakdown of the disposition codes.

Disposition Codes

Every participant in a field has a so-called disposition code which describes their status in the field. This records, for example, whether participants have already been invited and whether they have already begun the survey or completed it. The field statistics, which builds on these statuses, gives you extensive information on the status of your field, i.e. your survey, at any time.

The disposition codes have two digits. The areas are defined as follows:

• 10s: before the survey

• 20s: during the survey

• 30s: after the survey

The disposition codes are mutually exclusive: Any person can have only one disposition code at any given time. Therefore, the status variable can only assume one of the above characteristics at a time. The majority of disposition codes is assigned automatically and changed depending on the progress of the survey.

The following table lists the EFS disposition codes.

Allocating Code 20 to either Gross or Net

For anonymous surveys, disposition code 20 will be set when the first page is invoked. Depending on the type of survey, it may make sense in an evaluation to allocate participants with this disposition code either into gross or net:

• In the case of pop-up surveys using n-viz procedures, it makes sense to classify participants with this disposition code into gross, because the survey is shown to them automatically.

• In the case of banner surveys, participants with disposition code 20 would be allocated into net because the respondents actively invoke the survey.

You can decide for yourself how participants with disposition code 20 will be allocated in a field report. To do so, switch to the Project properties → Survey options → Features for internal organization menu in the admin area, and select the desired option from the field labeled “This setting allows you to control how disposition code 20 is to be allocated in the field report”.

Restricting the Field Report

The field report can be limited to specific disposition codes or variable characteristics. The following options are available:

• all disposition codes.

• project variables and URL parameters. Exception: Variables of text question types (141, 142, 143, 144, 363), user-defined question variables(question type 911) and user-defined variables cannot be used for restriction purposes.

Proceed as follows:

• Click the Configuration button.

• In the upper section disable, if necessary, the disposition codes not to be used to restrict the basis.

• If you wish to make restrictions using a project variable, select the latter and confirm with Continue.

• In the next step select the desired variable characteristic.

• Confirm again. The restricted field report is issued.

In order to undo the field report restriction, switch back to the Configuration dialog, select “Delete current restriction” and confirm with Continue.

Splitting the Field Report

You can split the field report by means of a specific variable.

• The following variables are available for all project types: project variables (v_000n), URL parameters (c_000n), user-defined variables (p_000n), quota IDs (quota), language ID (language) and outmode (outmode).

• Open-ended answers can be used as split variables. But if you do so, please mind that due to the high number of differing entries, it may not be possible to display the split data properly.

• Personalized surveys: “Select box” and “radio button” participant variables may be used, provided that answer categories have been defined.

• Employee surveys: To protect the privacy of participants, participant variables can- not be used for splitting. The Org Processor variables in Employee surveys (org_allocation_x, org_code_x, org_function_x) are not available for splitting eit- her: The Org Processor provides a comfortable overview on the return data of indi- vidual units.

• Multi-source feedbacks: To protect the privacy of participants, participant variables cannot be used for splitting. Various MSF-specific variables are available, including role and feedback phase).

Proceed as follows: Switch to the Split tab, and select the desired split variable from the drop-down list. After that, confirm by clicking on Save. The data in the field report will now be split based on the variable you chose. You can export the data as an MS Excel file and process them externally (e.g. create diagrams using MS Excel).

Exporting the Field Report

You can download the field report in MS Excel file format, e. g. in order to pass the data on to your customers or to plot charts or graphs. This is particularly useful if you need the data of a field report that is restricted by configuration or has been split using the split function (see previous chapters): The field report will be exported in its current configuration.

In order to initiate the export, click on the Excel export tab and save the excel file to your computer. The excel file has an appealing layout, i.e. if necessary, you can directly pass on or present your data, if necessary.

Drop-out Statistics

The drop-out statistics shows how often and on which questionnaire pages participants dropped out. Knowing how many participants dropped out and on which page helps to identify problems. E.g. if the questionnaire is too long, more participants then normal will drop out. Many drop-outs on a specific page may be an effect of too restrictive filter conditions.

Online Statistics

As early as during the field phase, the online statistics give you an overview of the survey data gathered up to that point.

In a first step, you must specify which project data the statistics are supposed to cover:

• By ticking the checkboxes for a specific question or ticking the “Tick all checkboxes” checkbox, you can specify whether you want to view all survey results, only a selection or the results for a specific question.

• If you tick the “Show variable names and types” checkbox, the online statistics will additionally display the names of variables, question types and labels.

The online statistics will display the following information for the selected questions:

• the number of persons who have chosen a characteristic.

• the percentage of respondents is represented in numbers and as a bar diagram.

• the total number of persons who have given a valid answer to a question.

Restricting the Online Statistics

The online statistics can be limited to specific disposition codes or variable characteri- stics. This feature works analogous to restricting the field report.

Splitting the Online Statistics

The representation of the frequency counts in online statistics can be split using a variable, i.e. you can create cross tables. This feature works analogous to splitting the field report

Open-ended Answers

In this menu, you can view the answers to open-ended questions.

Restricting the Open-Ended Answers

The open answers can be limited to specific disposition codes or variable characteristics. This feature works analogous to restricting the field report.

Providing Respondent Data

You can make the respondent export available to your staff and customers in EFS Survey Status. This export contains the so called respondents, i.e. all those participants,

• who have called up the survey

• who have at least answered the first page, or

• who have completed the survey

Such a data record is useful, for example, if you want to inform an address provider which of his respondents actually participated: You can give your address provider an account for EFS Survey Status to log in and export lists of the respondents.

The functional scope in brief:

• The respondent export is available in personalized projects and employee surveys.

• The exported XLS file contains the address data and various survey-specific data of those participants who actually participated. The access code and disposition code of the participants can optionally be included.

• Which teams are to be granted access to the data record and exactly which data are to be included in this record can be controlled via ACL rights.

Setting up Access to the Respondent Data in EFS Survey Status

Which teams are to be granted access to the data record and exactly which data are to be included in this record can be controlled via ACL rights.

• Access to the respondent export in EFS Survey Status is granted to teams possessing “read” to ct42partadm.

• For teams that have the export_code right, the access code is included in the export, otherwise this is not the case.

• You can control whether the export file should contain the disposition code by assigning read rights to show_dispcode.

Downloading Respondent Data via Project List

You can find the icon for downloading the respondent export in the project list.

Content of the Export File

The respondent export contains the following variables:

Providing Automatically-Generated Export Data Records

Export data records (the so-called raw data exports) can be created and automatically made available in EFS Survey Status at predefined intervals with the help of export macros. This can be useful, for example, when data have to be exported at regular intervals in a long-term study: You only need to configure the macro once, the exports are performed automatically.

The functional scope in brief:

• The macros can be executed on a daily or weekly basis. Alternatively, you can also trigger the export manually.

• The export format is MS Excel.

• Only data collected after the most recent execution will be exported. If there are no

  data, the macro will not be executed.

• In personalized projects and employee surveys you can formulate a condition based on the participants data, that has to be fulfilled in order for the macro to be executed.

• If you have sufficient access rights, then all the data in the static export template “Participants and result data” are available for export in project types with participant administration. You can limit the extent to particular disposition codes or variables.

• The export files are made available in EFS Survey Status. They cannot be accessed in EFS Survey.

• The export data will be deleted automatically after 30 days. This is to prevent the accumulation, in the EFS installation, of old data which is no longer required.

Managing Export Macros

In the Projects → {Selected project} → Export → Export macros menu, you can view and edit the existing macros.All export macros that you may access are listed in the overview table along with their respective ID, title, start and end date, frequency, and (if appropriate) condition. The following actions are available:

• Export file to EFS Survey Status: Option for triggering the export manually.

• Edit macro: Opens the edit dialog.

• Change rights for macro: Opens the dialog for assigning access rights for the export macro.

• Delete macro: After a warning message is displayed, the export macro as well as the data records generated with this macro are deleted.

Creating an Export Macro

In the  Projects → {Selected project} → Export → Export macros menu, click on the Create export macro button. Configure the settings for the new macro:

• Title and description

• Frequency: You can choose between daily or weekly execution.

• Start and end date: The period in which the exports are executed automatically.

• Disposition codes: Disposition codes for which the data are to be included in the export.

Optionally, the EFS condition editor allows you to formulate a condition for the execution of the macro. Select the variables whose values are to be exported. Confirm by clicking on Save.

Settings in Detail

Access Restrictions Related to Export Macro Configuration

For access to the Export macros menu you need

• Read rights for show_export

• Read rights for export_with_lfdn. I.e. the right to combined access to participants and result data.

In order to create an export limited to particular disposition codes and/or containing disposition codes you need additional read rights for show_dispcode. The results of protected questions are excluded from raw data exports in principle. Only by deactivating the question protection and explicitly re-activating the respective variables in the export macro afterwards, can you include these data in the export.

Setting up Access to the Raw Data Exports in EFS Survey Status

All data records of your project generated via the export macros will be listed in the {Selected project} → List of reports menu in EFS Survey Status. In order to access this list your customers need, in addition to the rights that are gene- rally required for EFS Survey Status, the following rights:

• Read rights for the export macro

• Read rights for reportlist

Providing Reports

EFS Reporting + allows you to create complete result reports with evaluation tables and charts. Optionally, you can make these reports available for the users of EFS Survey Status. The date of the report generation or of the last report update is displayed. This is handy if reports are updated automatically.