Category Archives: SurveyAnalytics

A Primer on the 4 Data Types You Can Collect in Your Market Research

Posted on January 12, 2012 by Ivana Taylor | 1 Comment

Making a business research questionnaire is no big deal, but making one that successfully derives the information that is actually required by the business to improve its practices is something not every person can do. One of the things that help make an online survey more effective is the understanding of the different types of data that is required out of survey respondents and of the different ways to measure the response. Different situations demand the use of different types of data. Remember, different scales have to be designed to derive these different types of data.

The feedback of survey respondents can be categorized into two basic forms of data – non-parametric and parametric.

Non-Parametric Data

The sort of data that does not have any direction and cannot be divided is called non-parametric data. Usually histograms are used to analyze non-parametric data. There are two basic types of non-parametric data.

Nominal Data

Nominal data refers to alphabetical or numeric data that is used to name people or objects for symbolic purposes and has no mathematical value.

For example, a questionnaire may ask the respondents to name the brand of shampoo they use. Numeric data too can also be included in the category of nominal data such as numbers written on the backs of sportsmen.

Ordinal Data

Ordinal data refers to numeric data that indicates only the relative ranking of different items, without representing the intensity of the mathematical value or the distance between the values. For example, respondents to an online survey may be asked to rank different brands of shampoo. Hence, the ranking of different shampoo brands will inform researchers the relative preference of survey respondents but will not inform them about the intensity of the difference of preference of one shampoo brand from another.

Parametric Data

Numeric data that has direction is called parametric data. It can be used to analyze the difference the different responses and can also be at times divided. There are two different types of parametric data.

Interval Data

The collection of internal data is done on a scale on which all points are equidistant from the ones next to them. Scales measuring interval data do not have zero because of the nature of thing being measured. For example, respondents can be asked to rate their happiness on a scale of 1 through 10. Interval data cannot be divided because of the non-absolute nature of the data.

Ratio Data

Ratio data is the most absolute form of numeric data collected from respondents. It can be divided and altered in different ways to derive more meaning. All absolute mathematical values can be called ratio data such as income, age, sales, market share, etc.

Although ratio data may seem the most usable form of data and researchers may feel tempted to ask their survey respondents to answer all the questions in ratio form, it is either not practically possible to do so or isn’t the best form of data because of the objective of the research being conducted. An effective online survey questionnaire contains questions that derive the sort of data that will come handy in getting better insight into the respondents’ minds.

The QuestionPro and Survey Analytics online survey platforms allow you to collect all of these forms of data. The trick is knowing which type to choose to get the best information that you can use in order to make a decision.

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Posted in QuestionPro, SurveyAnalytics

Tagged online survey data

SurveySwipe Offers KILLER Price for White Label Mobile Research App

Posted on November 18, 2011 by Ivana Taylor | Leave a comment

Attention Market Researchers and Survey Analytics Users: Our excess capacity is your opportunity

We have some excess capacity in our development team and would like to offer you a very discounted offer for our Survey Swipe Mobile Survey App — a white labeled version customized to your brand.

Normally our standard pricing is $30K for this white labeled version, but then we thought that this price might be holding you back from seeing what an incredibly powerful tool this was. And so we decided to do something ridiculous just so you can see it for yourself. So we’re offering this for $10K per instance for any orders received by December 15th.

How to use the SurveySwipe Custom-Branded Solution

If you have an existing panel: Invite them to download the branded App and take part in in mobile surveys from time to time. This is really an opportunity to have a conversation and to build relationships with that panel. The surveys often take less than 60 seconds (most take 10 seconds to 30 seconds). Because they are so short, the panel will respond quickly and your response rates will go WAY UP.

With this custom-branded app, your panelists would now be able to engage in surveys while out and about in the World interacting with brands and as normal in front of the computer.
What you’ll be able to do:

Push invitations to panelists any time based on their screening criteria, typical response is VERY high and VERY fast.
Offer always on surveys so panelists can go in and take them whenever they want
Trigger survey invitations via GPS, Hyper Local ™
Use built in bar code scanner to scan product bar codes to trigger drill down questions regarding those products.
Push picture and video out as part of the survey experience

This is an ideal use for retail and in-store shopper projects and consumption panels
What you’d get:

Branded online recruitment website where you would send panelists to, to answer a couple questions and be sent to appropriate smartphone marketplace, support and FAQs included.
An app branded to your organization.
Panel management functionality in your Survey Analytics account, see who’s downloaded and create subpanels, script surveys and issue new screening questions.
Data collection and reporting as part of your already existing Survey Analytics account.
Contact John Nelson at SurveySwipe to set up your white-labeled SurveySwipe mobile app and launch a survey today.

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Posted in customer research, Research Tools and Apps, SurveyAnalytics

Tagged mobile research

SurveyPocket Backs Up Your Survey Data With Every Synchronization!

Posted on July 18, 2011 by jessicaprz | Leave a comment

What a relief it is to know that my synchronized data is also being stored directly on my device! Yet another advantage in innovation SurveyPocket has created for itself. No more worrying that the data you synchronized disappeared into the ether!

How do I retrieve backed up data directly off of my iOS device?

The logging ability allows you to have a backup of survey data taken from SurveyPocket. AFTER SYNCHRONIZATION between SurveyPocket and your online Survey Analytics account, a data file is created and stored within your device. *By having access to this data, your customer representative is able to retrieve data that may not have appropriately synchronized.

For Macintosh users, in order to look inside of your device’s files, you will need to first acquire a third party application called “PhoneView” (this works for all iOS devices). You can download a demo version of this application here http://www.ecamm.com/mac/phoneview/.

For Windows users, according to the PhoneView website’s FAQ: “At this time, PhoneView is Mac-only. We recommend TouchCopy for Windows users.” We encourage you to explore this application, as it is very similar to PhoneView.

First off, download the appropriate third party application. We will be using PhoneView for this demo.

When you first open the PhoneView application, you will see this view:

Now, connect your iOS device to your computer. You will see that your device is connected:

Open PhoneView -> Preferences:

Inside of Preferences, click on “Show Entire Disk (Advanced Mode)

Once you’ve turned on the ability to “Show Entire Disk”, you’re now able to look inside of your device’s documents.

To see your logging file, go to Apps/SurveyPocket/Documents/SurveyLogs/

You will now see folders named with the customer ID associated with each device key used. The file is named with the customer ID, the date, and the time the synchronization occurred. Send this file to your customer service representative and that’s it!

*Please Note: Corrupt or unsupported question

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Posted in Feature Enhancements, SurveyAnalytics

SurveyPocket App Adds Rank Order Survey Question While Offline

Posted on June 23, 2011 by jessicaprz | Leave a comment

As SurveyPocket evolves, we’re seeing exciting offline question type support continue to increase. One of the latest offline capabilities added is Rank Order question functionality, which allows survey takers to rank items in order of preference by selecting a numeric value for each answer prompt.

Are you familiar with doing field research? Imagine conducting survey after survey, carrying and collecting all of that paper, just to have to later input the collected data into your online account . Now imagine carrying an iPad, with no worries of internet since SurveyPocket supports fully offline abilities. Later, once you have internet, just sync your iPad with your online Survey Analytics with a touch of a button.

Try it out. It’s free!

Rank Order Question on SurveyPocket

How to add a Rank Order Question and view in SurveyPocket?

Step 1: Under the Edit Survey page click on the Add New Question link:

Step 2: From the Standard Question types select the Rank Order question type.

Step 3: Now enter in the Question text and the Answer options and save the question.

Step 4: Create a device key to test on the SurveyPocket app.

Step 5: Pull up the SurveyPocket App on your iPad or iPhone and type in the device key.

Step 6: Pull up the survey in the iPad and view the Rank Order question.

Step 7: After filling out the survey, make sure to synchronize and to view data online.

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Posted in customer research, Feature Enhancements, New Feature, SurveyAnalytics, Uncategorized

QR Codes for your Surveys!

Posted on March 24, 2011 by Vivek Bhaskaran | 1 Comment

We are excited to announce a nifty enhancement to the QuestionPro and SurveyAnalytics systems – QR Codes. If you are not familiar with QR Codes – they are those new “barcode” like patterns that everyone is talking about. Print magazines are using them to give out more information about some article or even advertisers using QR Codes for “offers” etc.

PS : The QR Code you see above points to real live survey about the NFL Lockout that our mobile division – SurveySwipe is running along with ResearchAccess. Go ahead – take out your smartphone and take that survey!

Here is a quick FAQ on QR Codes:

What is a QR Code?

A QR code (short for Quick Response) is a specific matrix barcode (or two-dimensional code), readable by dedicated QR barcode readers and camera phones. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white background. The information encoded can be text, URL or other data.

How do I access my survey’s QR Code?

Survey Software Help Image

What are some uses of QR Codes?

QR Codes can be used very effectively for POS feedback system. Users are generally adopting to QR Codes slowly but steadily and in general, QR Codes promise to be the bridge between the offline and the online world.

Is any software/hardware required to read QR codes?

Yes. Respondents phones/devices should have QR code reader.

Google’s mobile Android operating system supports QR codes by natively including the barcode scanner (ZXing) on some models, and the browser supports URI redirection, which allows QR Codes to send metadata to existing applications on the device. In the Apple iOS, a QR code reader is not natively included, but over 50 free Apps are available with reader and metadata browser URI redirection capability. Nokia’s Symbian operating system is also provided with a barcode scanner, which is able to read QR codes,while mbarcode is a QR code reader for the Maemo operating system. HP/Palm’s webOS operating system also does not have a native QR code reader, but a reader app named QR deCODEr is available.

My personal bias on the iPhone is Neo Reader – Search for “neo reader” on the App Store.

Is this option available with all licenses?

Yes – We are slowly rolling this out to ALL our users. Over the next few weeks, this option will surface into your account when you login to the system.

Final Side Note : I want to extend a personal thank you note to Paul Becker from Pro Sports Club here in Seattle for taking the time to listen to my crazy ideas and help me distill it. Paul is the CIO of Pro Sports, which is one of the largest health and fitness clubs here in the Seattle area. Paul is also a client of QuestionPro/SurveyAnalytics and over the years become a friend. If you are a Microsoft employee, you know “Pro Club” — We’ve been thinking of doing something like this for over 2 years and we wanted to do it using Microsoft Tag. Microsoft, about two years ago, came out with the Tag from Microsoft Research. At the time, QR Codes were not readily recognizable and even the smartphone adoption rate was low. Today – the smartphone adoption, especially in places like the Pro-Club is very very high and is a non-issue.

Happy QR Coding!

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Posted in Feature Enhancements, SurveyAnalytics

Survey Analytics flexes its muscle to offer clients sampling services

Posted on November 3, 2010 by Rudly Raphael | Leave a comment

It appears that Survey Analytics is listening intently to its customers and with good reasons. The software firm, which currently offers an array of research tools for conducting market research, including survey design and hosting, reporting, advance analytics and panel management, recently announced the launch of its latest product – MicroPanel.

MicroPanel is designed to facilitate both Question pro and Survey Analytics customers access to online respondents for survey participation, using one dedicated platform. However, don’t let the prefix in the name fool you, as MicroPanel is described as a network that consists of multiple niche panels in various industries, giving their clients access to millions of respondents online. Panel members are rigorously recruited and profile information account for more than 400 data points on each member. This, ultimately, will provide their clients with a breadth of information and the ability to select richer samples.

Taking this baby for a test drive, I discovered a few things under the hood:

Interface – A unified, automated platform to facilitate access to research sample at the click of a button.
Specialty Panels – Access to respondents in various sectors: Health, IT, Financial, Mobile, Automobile and others.
Reach - MicroPanel currently offers representative sample from US, Europe, Asia, Latin American and the Middle East.
Friends – They’ve partnered with a few top shelf sample providers that specialize in certain market, to ensure full project feasibility to their clients at all times

Survey Analytics is certainly not new to the data collection arena and this is not their first rodeo. With an abundant list of high profile clients who are conducting thousands of interviews daily on their platform, the company has focused on developing custom research solutions for advance analytics and enterprise feedback management, as evident by Ideascale, Micropoll and a number of other products that fall under the Survey Analytics flagship. The addition of MicroPanel certainly follows that path.

With the rise of social media, combined with more consumers having access to the internet, sample providers are a dime and a dozen. This is good for competition, but can also create confusion for the sample buyer. Simply managing bids from different providers with different prices, using different platforms can be a daunting task and this does not even include sample quality. Survey Analytics bridges the gap by providing its clients with a much needed service, using a unified platform.

By taking a quick peek at the MicroPanel platform, the process of purchasing sample seems very intuitive and user friendly.

1) Customers must login to their Qpro or Survey Analytics account

2) Select “Send Survey” from the top horizontal menu

3) Select “Request A Quote” from the side menu

4) Complete the quote form, along with any project specification

5) Submit by clicking on “Request Quote”.

After submitting the quote, a summary of the customer’s project specifications is immediately displayed, pending review from Survey Analytics. The wait period did not seem excessive, as it only took a few hours to receive a quote for a general consumer study with standard requirements.

MicroPanel certainly appears to be the missing piece that completes the full circle for Survey Analytics and their customers. Judging from what we’ve seen thus far, they may have a few more tricks up their sleeves.

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Posted in Feature Enhancements, New Feature, QuestionPro, SurveyAnalytics

New Feature on SurveyAnalytics: Text Analytics

Posted on August 4, 2010 by Esther LaVielle | Leave a comment

We are pleased to announce the launch of our latest analytics module – Text Analysis/Tagging.

Text Analytics:

We’ve spent some time researching different options on analyzing open-ended text data within surveys. We’ve looked at integrating with other third-party vendors to do automatic “sentiment analysis” to a simple “tag cloud” – and after some user testing and research we’ve decided to a simple but effective tagging and categorization model. Here is how it works: