Survey Variables
- Dennis Mergemann (Unlicensed)
- Jennifer Huber (Unlicensed)
- Paul Kretek (Unlicensed)
The survey variables can be used to store the metadata of your survey project. This additional meta information improves data quality by providing useful context information about the respondents. A list of all survey variables used in the project and their complete characteristics can be obtained from the codebook (Documentation > Codebook), if you select Show survey variables in the Codebook.
Certain variables are only retrieved once for every participant. Thus, they will not be refreshed after a participant drops out of the survey and proceeds with it at another point. If, for example, the participant takes a survey on their desktop, then drops out and continues with it on their smartphone, the statistics will only show die participation via desktop and not via smartphone for this participant. This is true for the following variables: device_type, user_agent, participant_browser and participant_os.
Table Overview
The following table gives you an overview of the available survey variables.
Variable | Meaning |
|---|---|
lfdn | Unique participation ID |
external_lfdn | Unique participation ID of an external survey (External Survey Start) |
tester | Participant = tester (yes/no) |
status | Dispositioncode (status of the participation e.g., invited) |
lastpage | Page ID of the last page shown to the participant |
quality | quality of the results of a survey |
duration | Duration (time in seconds to finish the survey. If a respondent resumes the questionnaire after a break (disposition codes 23, 32), the duration is = “-1” because a meaningful calculation is not possible.) |
p_000n | URL parameter |
c_000n | User-defined variables |
v_000n | Project variables. The project variables are sequentially numbered for each project, beginning with v_1. |
md_000n | Master data variables (only in EFS Panel installations) |
ex_host | Host name based on the IP of the proxy (if available) via which the participant accesses the survey |
ip_addr | IP of the proxy (if available) via which the participant accesses the survey |
browser | Browser info (name, version etc.) of the participant |
referer | If available, the address of the page on which the participant clicked the link to the currently accessed page. This value is set by the participant's browser |
device_type | Type of the user’s devices (0 - desktop / 1 - mobile) If the option “Check whether the respondents have JavaScript activated, whether the Adobe Flash Player plugin is available and which device they are using?” of the project properties is not activated, 0 is the default value. |
quota | Quota ID of the participant (selected by “To which quota should the participant be allocated” |
quota_assignment | All quota ID’s of the participant |
page_history | List of page ID’s in the order of the pages called up by the participant |
hflip | Variable for the horizontal flip (horizontal mirroring of the answer options):
When a participant starts a survey for the first time, hflip is always written – regardless of whether flips are activated for the survey or not. However, the participant will only see those questions flipped for which the flipping function has been explicitly activated. Consequently, all questions, for which this function was not activated, will be displayed as set in the corresponding question regardless of the random hflip value. Information on whether the flipping function has been activated for a question cannot be found in the export of the result data. To get this information, you have to manually check in the respective question, if the flipping function has been activated. |
vflip | Variable for the vertical flip (vertical mirroring of the answer options):
When a participant starts a survey for the first time, vflip is always written – regardless of whether flips are activated for the survey or not. However, the participant will only see those questions flipped for which the flipping function has been explicitly activated. Consequently, all questions, for which this function was not activated, will be displayed as set in the corresponding question regardless of the random vflip value. Information on whether the flipping function has been activated for a question cannot be found in the export of the result data. To get this information, you have to manually check in the respective question, if the flipping function has been activated. |
output_mode | Which layout is used? HTML layout or mobile layout? |
javascript | Version of the browser’s javascript (if configured) |
flash | Version of the Flash Payer plugin (if configured) |
session_id | Session ID of the participation |
language | Participant’s language ID |
cleaned | Participation was modified by data cleaning |
ats | Time of survey start (absolute time stamp) |
datetime | Time of the survey start |
date_of_last_access | Time of the last access of the participant to the survey |
date_of_first_mail | Time of the first mail sent to participant |
RTS (+ page ID) | Relative time stamp for each page + page ID.
 Please note, that the order of the variables "RTS (+page ID)" in the export does not necessarily correspond to the order in which the respective participant has displayed the pages. |
sid | Only in panel and master data surveys : ID of the sample that the panelists belong in. For the SPSS export, the codes are labeled with the sample titles. |
dt_send_pag_000n | Time variables of standard pages and mixed-external pages. These indicate the time in seconds elapsed since the ats until sub- mission of the respective page. If the PGID (page ID = installation-specific ID of a questionnaire page or a dynamic element) is bigger than 99.999, the name of the variable is changed to ts_xxx, to prevent problems caused by the length of the variable name when exporting for SPSS. |
rnd_pg_PGID | Random selection. For each random selection block in the questionnaire, a variable rndPGID is created. PGID is the ID of the random selection element. In this variable, the PGIDs of the selected pages are stored, separated by commas. |
rnd_pg_PGID_x | Random order. For each random order block in the questionnaire, variables rnd_pg_PGID_NR are created. PGID is the ID of the random order element, NR is the number of randomized subpages. Each of these variables contains the PGID of that subpage which has been placed on the respective position in the current cycle. Example: The PGID of the random order element is 123, the subpages have PGID 124, 125 and 126. In the questionnaire, they are displayed to a participant in the following order: 126, 124, 125. Then, you will find the following data in the export file: r123_1 = 126, r123_2 = 124, r123_3 = 125 |
tic | tic variable used in external survey start. The tic variable is always 32 characters long. This cannot be configured. |
s_000n | Scoring variables |
Device Variables
The device variables store meta information about device manufacturer and device kind (Smartphone, Tablet, Desktop, Touchscreen-Desktop etc.), browser type and more.
Variable | Meaning |
|---|---|
participant_browser | browser name (e.g. „Internet Explorer“), see codebook in the project |
participant_browser_version | browser version (e.g. „9.0“), text value |
participant_os | operating system (e.g. „Windows“), see codebook in the project |
participant_device | device type
|
participant_brand | device brand (e.g. „Apple“), see codebook in the project |
participant_model | device model (e.g. „iPhone 6“), text value |
participant_isbot | bot -99: unknown 0: regular user 1 to 281: the detected bot name of the search engine crawler |
The new variables can be used in filters, triggers, exports, the detail view, Reporting+ and more.
The functionality “Detect participants' device type using the user-agent information” needs to be enabled in the project properties. The functionality is disabled by default.
No participant information is sent to 3rd parties, all data is stored and processed in our datacenters.
Location variables
The location variables store meta information about automatic geo-location based on the participant’s IP address (e.g. estimation of the participant’s continent, country and state)
Variables | Meaning |
|---|---|
participant_continent | Continent (e.g. „Europe“)
|
participant_country | Country (e.g. „United Kingdom“), see codebook in the project |
participant_region | Region (e.g. „ Lancashire”), text value |
participant_city | City (e.g. „Lancaster“), text value |
participant_latitude | Latitude |
participant_longitude | Longitude |
The new variables can be used in filters, triggers, exports, the detail view, Reporting+ and more.
The functionality “Detect participants' location using the IP address” needs to be enabled in the project properties. The functionality is disabled by default.
The geo-location information is 99.8% accurate on country and continent level. The GeoIP database of Maxmind is used: https://www.maxmind.com/en/geoip2-city-accuracy-comparison
In surveys created with EFS<10.6 this meta information is not available because the device type, brand data and geo location was not collected at that time.
No participant information is sent to 3rd parties, all data is stored and processed in our datacenters.
The localization is based on the IP of the participant and the information provided by the Internet provider. The localization accurate to the city cannot be guaranteed.
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