1. How can I get an account for using WebSurveyor?
To facilitate academic research, Dr. Li provides complimentary accounts for faculty in the College of Communication Arts and Science at MSU.
2. Can doctoral students get an account?
Yes. Doctoral students who need an account should ask their faculty advisors to forward a request to Dr. Li.
3. How do I start to use WebSurveyor?
After you obtain the user id and password for your new account, go to http://research.adv.msu.edu/ss to log in your account. Then, you can create a new survey by clicking on "Creating a Survey" from the menu in the browser.
4. How can I change the password?
Log in at http://research.adv.msu.edu/ss and then, change the password.
5. What else should I know about WebSurveyor account?
This free account provides no warranty for data lose due to server failure. Although that has never happened before, the risk is always there. So you should back up your surveys and data files on a regular basis.
6. What happens after my account expires?
If you still need to use WebSurveyor, ask Dr. Li for an extension before your account expires. Twelve (12) months after your account expired, your account will be deleted automatically unless you request an extension in advance.
7. Can I remove the "Previous Page" button from a survey page?
Yes. In Build / Edit mode, click on Presentation and then Customize your display template. In the text area, find and remove
<!--WSBPREVIOUSBUTTON-->
from the template and click on Apply to save the template.
8. How can a survey jump to a Web site immediately upon submission?
In Build / Edit mode, click on Details and type the URL of your destination in the box "Send Users to the following web page when they have completed the survey" and click on Apply. Then, click on Advanced on the right panel, type
SKIPSUBMITTEMPLATE=1
and then click on Apply.
9. I got an error message like this one: "Secure Connection Failed. https://research.adv.msu.edu/ uses an invalid security certificate." How to fix it?
When you publish a survey, you should uncheck the box for "Ensure survey is accessible through SSL." As such, the URL of your survey should start with http://research.adv.msu.edu/ss/, instead of https://research.adv.msu.edu/ss/. The extra "s" causes the problem.
10. Is there any course I could take to learn more about using WebSurveyor for online experiments?
Dr. Li teaches a course on online research design each summer. The course is completely online and open to graduate students. It covers the basics of using WebSurveyor to design online surveys and experiments, as well as advanced topics such as embedding dynamic content in online experiments.
11. How can I randomize surveys?
There are two ways. One is to save surveys with different file names and then, randomize file names on a piece of paper and give a set of respondents with a randomized survey file name. This is easy to do but it is not elegant as a design.
Another way is to use a randomizer script. Link it from the consent form to a survey. When a respondent completes and submits the consent form, the consent form will activate this randomizer script, which will generate a random number and use it to serve a random survey to the respondent. This design requires some knowledge about servers and script languages.
Here is an example of a randomizer script I created for an experiment, in which a 2X2X3 factorial design was used. It has 12 conditions. The script links the respondent to one of the 12 treatment conditions and using hidden fields, passes on the variable values from the consent form to the treatment page and then, to the survey and finally into the database. When you output the survey data for analysis, the values will be in the data file. This script is written in ASP (active server pages) and can run only on Microsoft servers. You may search and find similar scripts in other languages (JavaScript, php, etc) and modify for use on your own server.
12. Can I require the respondents to fill out their email address?
Yes. In the Dashboard, go to Detail / Security, under "Respondent Limits", check on "Allow only one response for each e-mail address," then click "Apply." You will see an email box right above the submission button. The respondent must fill out the email box first. The email could be used for sweepstakes or other type of incentives for participation.
If you have any other questions, please Email Dr. Li at hairong@msu.edu.