Are there different languages available for the text to speech feature?
Currently, only English is supported.
How can I send multiple surveys to participants and link their responses?
If the responses need to be anonymous, please see the section Surveys: Anonymous.
If responses do not need to be anonymous, you must at some point collect individual email addresses to send participants multiple surveys and have the data linked. You can do this in a few ways:
1. Project’s first instrument is a Survey & Use of Public URL & Designate an email field: If you want to utilize the Public URL to distribute an initial survey and invite participants, the survey MUST contain a text field with validation = email to collect the participant’s email address.
On the Project Setup page > Enable optional modules and customizations > Enable: Designate an email field to use for invitations to survey participants. Designate the email address you are collecting on the first survey.
When participants complete the first survey, their email addresses will pre-populate the Participant Lists and will allow you to send additional surveys for the same record.
Surveys will be automatically linked by record ID. Participant Identifier on Participant List will not be editable.
Additional Notes: You will still be able to use the Participant List to send emails to the first survey, if needed. Participant will be prompted to enter their email address on the survey itself. You can also create new records using the Data Entry feature to populate the first survey and manually enter email addresses.
LIMITATION: Only participants that answer the first survey with an email address will be able to respond to the follow-up surveys.
2. Project’s first instrument is a Survey & Use of Participant List:
If have individual email addresses, you can create a project with multiple surveys. You would add individual emails to the Participant List with or without a Participant Identifier. Then you can send the survey invites through “Compose Survey Invitations”.
LIMITATION: Only participants that answer the first survey will be able to respond to the follow-up surveys. If you wish to collect additional surveys for the non-responders, you will need to create additional REDCap projects with the follow-up surveys. Because of this limitation, you may want to try method #3:
3. Project’s first instrument is Data Entry & Use of “Designate an email field”:
If you know your email addresses and want participants who haven't completed the first survey to be able to complete the second survey (within the same project), then you can do the following:
1. The first form is a data entry form (ex: “Email Form”). On the "Email Form", at minimum, you can have the participant ID number field and an email field: a text field with validation = email
2. On the Project Setup page > Enable optional modules and customizations > Enable: Designate an email field to use for invitations to survey participants
3. Select the email field you created on the "Email Form"
4. You can either import (Data Import Tool) or enter the email addresses directly into the data entry "Email Form". Entering the emails here will automatically populate the Participant Lists for all surveys in the project
You can send your invites to any surveys regardless of participant’s responses and survey completions.
Advantages: You can import a list of pre-defined record IDs and email addresses. Record IDs do not have to be assigned incrementing values by REDCap.
How do I turn text to speech on for a specific survey?
You can turn on text to speech on in the survey settings of each survey under “survey customizations”.
Do the remaining reminders get canceled once a participant fills out a survey?
Yes, Once the specific survey gets filled out by the participant or a REDCap user, all remaining reminders get cancelled automatically.
Can I pipe in information from the survey into my confirmation email?
Yes, you can pipe in any information from the survey or any other form associated with the record.
Can my participants go back to a previously completed survey and make edits?
Yes, but this feature is turned off by default for each survey. You will need to turn it on manually in the survey settings for each survey.
What happened to the “Preview survey" feature?
This feature is no longer available because branching logic or calculated fields would not always work correctly. To preview your surveys, it is recommended to view the survey as a test participant when testing the project while in development status.
What happens when I take the survey "offline"? What does the participant see if they click on the link?
When a survey is "offline" participants will no longer be able to view your survey. They will navigate to a page that displays "Thank you for your interest, but this survey is not currently active." Project users will still have access to the project, all the applications and survey data.
When a "stop action" condition is met, can I customize text to display to participants prior to the survey closing?
Customized text cannot be incorporated into the standard REDCap message that displays to the participant.Another method instead of using the stop action feature, is to hide all other questions with branching logic. A descriptive text field can be used to display instructions for those who meet the "end of survey" criteria. These participants can then submit the survey as usual.
If a participant answers a question in a certain way, can they be taken to the end of the survey if the rest of the questions are not applicable?
Yes, you can indicate "Stop Actions" for survey fields only. The survey participant will be prompted to end the survey when programmed criteria are selected. Stop Actions will not be enabled on the data entry form when viewing as an authenticated user. Stop Actions can only be enabled for certain field types.
Can I receive a notification when a survey has been completed?
Yes. On the Online Designer page, choose 'Survey Notifications' located in the Survey Options section. You may indicate which users should be notified when a survey is complete.
For surveys with multiple pages, can the "Previous Page" button be disabled?
Yes. The "Previous Page" button option can be disabled on the Online Designer > Survey Settings page.
For surveys with multiple pages, can participants go back to a previous page to change answers?
Yes. Participants can go back to a previous section to change answers by clicking the “Previous Page” button at the bottom of the survey screen. Participants should only click the “Previous Page” button and not the web-browser’s back button.
For surveys with multiple pages, is there a progress indicator on the survey?
Yes. There is a “Page # of #” at the top right of the survey, so respondents know how many pages they have left. You can hide/display this feature on the Online Designer > Survey Settings page. The progress bar is not a feature of REDCap.
When "Display Questions" = "One section per page" is enabled and entire sections/questions are hidden due to branching logic, are blank pages displayed to the participant?
No, sections (creating a survey page) where ALL questions are hidden due to branching logic are skipped in survey view.
If I enable "Display Questions" = "One section per page", do answers get saved after the respondent hits "next" to go on to the next page?
Yes. Answers are committed to the database as you hit “Next”. So if responders quit the survey before finishing, you’ll have all the data up to that point (partial responses).
My survey has matrix fields and it’s creating undesirable page breaks. What is causing this?
Matrix fields contain a “Matrix Header Text” which is actually a Section Header. Using this field will cause a survey page break. To avoid this, instead of entering text into the header field, add a new “descriptive text field” above your matrix question and enter your text there.
For Survey + Data Entry Projects, is it possible to start entering data on a data entry form for an individual prior to their completion of the survey?
Yes, you can have multiple surveys and data entry forms in the same project. You can start with a data entry form and enable the second instrument to be a survey.
Can I create multiple surveys in the same project?
Yes, you can have multiple surveys in the same project. The multiple surveys will be linked to a single participant. If your surveys are for different cohorts or populations, you will want to create separate projects for each survey.
Is there a way to get rid of the red “must provide value” message for required fields?
Yes, but only in survey mode. You can change this setting in the survey settings. The fields will still be required and the survey will display a warning if they are not filled out, but the red text will be gone.
How do I setup a survey confirmation email?
You can setup a confirmation email in the survey settings of each email in the survey termination section. Select “Yes” on the dropdown and fill in the “From”, “Subject” and “Body” sections. You can also add an optional attachment.
Note: REDCap must have an email field defined for the project in order to send out the survey confirmation automatically.
How to do I set a survey expiration date for a specific survey?
You can set the survey expiration date for any survey in the survey settings. REDCap will deactivate the survey at the specified time point.
Note: The survey will be deactivated for all instances of that survey in all arms and events. It’s currently not possible to put expiration dates on specific surveys in specific events.
What is “Designate an email field to use for invitations to survey participants” option?
Project users may designate a field in their project to be the survey participant email field for capturing the email address to be used.
The field can be designated in the "Enable optional modules and customizations" section of the Project Setup page.
Once designated, if an email address is entered into that field for any given record, users will then be able to use that email address for any survey in the project to send survey invitations.
How do I enable surveys for my project?
Surveys can be enabled at any time in development mode by a project user with "Project Design & Setup" User Rights.
On the Project Setup tab, in the Main Project Settings step at the top, click "Enable" button for "Use surveys in this project?". This feature must be enabled in order to use surveys.
After enabling surveys, go to the Online Designer. A link to that page is on the Project Setup tab, in a lower step on the page. On the Designer, designate which instruments should be surveys by clicking the ‘Enable’ button next to them. You can enable surveys on as many instruments as you wish.
Each time you designate an instrument as a survey, you will be prompted to define some additional features of the survey. Be sure to scroll down and save those settings. You can return to them at any time to review and modify them as needed, even in production mode. They are found in the 'Survey Settings' buttons that will appear next to each survey instrument in the Online Designer.
To enable surveys for a project in "production" status, you must contact your REDCap Administrator.
Where can I setup survey reminders?
You can setup survey reminders in the same modules that REDCap allows you to send out a survey invitations: Automatic Invitations, Participant List, Compose Survey Invitations.
Can I send more than 5 survey reminders?
The current maximum for reminders is 5 in order to prevent spamming people.
What happens when a REDCap Administrator takes the system "offline" for routine upgrades and/or expected downtime? What does the participant see if they click on the survey link?
When the REDCap system is "offline", participants will no longer be able to view your survey. They will navigate to a page that displays "REDCap is currently offline. Please return at another time. We apologize for any inconvenience.
If you require assistance or have any questions about REDCap, please contact your REDCap Administrator.
Why am I getting duplicate notifications when a survey has been completed?
REDCap specifically checks to ensure it doesn't send a double email to someone. However duplicate notifications can be sent if another user on that project has a slightly different version of your email address on their REDCap account e.g. jane.J.doe@vanderbilt.edu vs jane.doe@vanderbilt.edu. There is another possibility. After a survey participant finishes a survey he or she may refresh the acknowledgement page. This could result in another batch of emails being sent.
How do I automatically display the current date/time on a survey?
Every survey that is submitted is date/time stamped. This completion date and time are available in the data export and data entry forms. However it’s not possible to display the current date on the survey while it’s being taken by participants.
You can add a question onto your survey to indicate "Today's Date". The calendar pick list will have a button for "Today" or "Now" that the participant can easily click.
Action tags are a relatively new addition to REDCap and can be applied to any variable (see Action Tags info for additional details). These options are available:
@NOW
Automatically provides the user’s current time as the value of a Text when the page is loaded. Once the value is captured, it will not be changed when visiting the page at a later time. If the field has validation, the value will conform to the date/time format of the field. The field will be disabled and will not allow users to edit the value. NOTE: The time will be the user’s local time, which is derived from their device/computer.
@TODAY
Automatically provides the user’s current date as the value of a Text when the page is loaded. Once the value is captured, it will not be changed when visiting the page at a later time. If the field has validation, the value will conform to the date/time format of the field. The field will be disabled and will not allow users to edit the value. NOTE: The date will be the user’s current date, which is derived from their device/computer.
@READONLY
Makes the field read-only (i.e., disabled) on the survey page, the data entry form, and in the REDCap mobile app so that its value cannot be changed
What kind of attachment can I send with a survey confirmation email?
You can send one file of any type as long as it isn’t bigger than the size limit set by the local administrator. This is usually around 16 MB.
How can I track the length of time to complete a survey?
Use the action tags @NOW and @HIDDEN-SURVEY to capture the time the participant starts the survey. You can then use the survey timestamp for the end time and calculate the survey length from the two times.
There are two important notes on using this method. The first is that if the survey has the “Save and Return Later” feature enabled, this could be an extremely long time that doesn’t reflect how long the participant actually spent on the survey page. The second is that @NOW action tags record the time based on the user’s browser, and the timestamp is based on the REDCap server. So if the participant is taking the survey from a different time zone from the REDCap server, the calculation may not be accurate.
Is there any way to make a survey available for a specific time window for a specific record—for example, 24 hours before and after an appointment?
There is no way to set this within the survey settings or that redirects to the “Survey Not Available” page. Within the survey itself, you can use branching logic to hide questions based on your date’s conditions. You can set up the questions to only be visible within a range that works with your relative dates using a datediff calculation. You would then have a descriptive field stating that the survey is unavailable display if the datediff calculated value falls outside of your accepted range.
Can survey respondents save, leave, and then go back to a survey to complete the questions?
Yes. You must enable the "Save and Return Later" option in the Modify Survey Settings section of the Project Setup tab. This option allows participants to save their progress and return where they left off any time in the future. They will be given a Return Code, which they will be required to enter in order to continue the survey.
Note: If a project has the "Survey Login" feature enabled, Return Codes will not be used to return to the survey, but it will use the Survey Login's credentials instead.
If participants forget their Return Code and contact you, you have access to participants codes on their Survey Results page. You will only be able to distribute lost codes if the survey responses capture identifiers. If the survey is "anonymous" you will not be able to recover the Return Code for the participant.
If my survey is really long, can I create page breaks?
Navigate to Project Setup > Modify Survey Settings. Make sure to set "Display Questions" = "One section per page". Then on your questionnaires, you can create page breaks by adding in fields (field type = "Begin New Section (with optional text)") where you would like those breaks to occur.
Can survey respondents return and modify completed surveys?
Yes. This feature can be enabled on the Online Designer > Survey Settings page under the "Save & Return Later" section. Once enabled, a respondent will be able to return to their response and make any edits to it even if they have fully completed the survey.
Once enabled as part of the "Save & Return Later" feature, respondents will need to provide a Return Code in order to make edits to a completed survey. If the Survey Login feature is enabled for the survey, then instead of using a Return Code, they will use their login credentials to return to the survey.
If enabled, participants who have completed the survey will still appear in the Participant List in the Compose Survey Invitations popup to allow their invitations to be resent to edit their completed response. Additionally, their survey link and survey return code will also remain in the Participant List for this same purpose.
Note: If Survey Notifications have been enabled for a survey that has the "Edit Completed Responses" option enabled, then whenever the respondent returns to the survey again and completes the survey again, it will again trigger the Survey Notifications to send an email to those users selected.
What are the differences between the Survey Auto-Continue and Survey Queue features?
Survey Auto-Continue is:
- Easier for many users but does not have branching logic for entire surveys
- Much easier to configure for multi-event projects with a lot of surveys
The Survey Queue provides:
- A landing page for many surveys
- Survey based branching logic
- Ability to define logic across events
Limitations with Auto-Continue:
- No option to add branching logic to skip an entire form/survey
- No landing page / 'table of contents' view
Limitations with Survey Queue:
- If a lot of events, slow to load
- Survey-queue link in the upper-right corner of surveys or the 'summary' on the end-of-survey page cannot be disabled
- Can be a challenge in multi-arm projects
- Survey styling doesn't apply to the table-of-contents view
Why doesn’t the Survey Queue work when I have Auto-Continue enabled?
The Auto-continue survey setting overrides the Survey Queue logic. If you want to utilize the Survey Queue, disable the Auto-continue feature first.
Note: Survey Queue only works on instruments that are 'enabled' in the queue. You could potentially have a mix of Auto-continue and Survey Queue. However, it is true that if a survey is enabled in the Survey Queue, it is probably not good to have that same survey (or the survey before it) set up with auto-continue.
Will a value entered for a field on one page of a survey be removed if another page of that survey later hides that field?
Fields on a survey that are hidden by branching logic due to a new value being entered on that same page will have any already-entered values removed, but fields on other pages will not.
While not ideal, this is currently the expected result due to technical limitations.
This situation arises if:
- A survey is configured to show one section per page
- A value is entered for a field on one page
- On another page, a value is entered that causes branching logic to hide the field on the first page.
What is the Survey Login feature?
To provide improved security to your surveys, you can require the participant to enter specified login credentials in order to begin a survey and if the "Save & Return Later" feature is enabled to return to a previously entered survey response.
To enable the Survey Login feature, there is a button at the top of the instrument list on the Online Designer that will open up the Survey Login settings popup. Users who wish to enable Survey Login may choose one, two, or three fields in their project to be used as the login credential fields for surveys in their project.
The Survey Login can be enabled for ALL surveys in a project or just selected surveys. For selected surveys, navigate to the Survey Settings page to enable.
If Survey Login has been enabled and a record does not exist yet for the respondent (e.g., if they are beginning a Public Survey), then the survey page will display directly without the login page. However, once the record exists, the respondent will always be prompted to log in to the survey.
Note: If a survey has the "Save & Return Later" feature enabled, Return Codes will not be used to return to the survey, but it will use the Survey Login's login credentials instead.
Note: Survey Login cannot be used with a public survey, which requires a Return Code if "Save & Return Later" is enabled.
Can I extend the time limit on a survey?
Yes, you can. If you set a time limit (for example, 2 weeks) on a survey and want to change it, you can go back and extend the length of time. If the survey had already closed and you extend the time limit, the old surveys will be re-opened if they are within the new time limit.
How do I know which survey delivery option is right for my project?
It depends on if you have the need for future scheduling or conditional logic. Use this grid to determine the best option for you:
| Delivery Option | Allows for Future Scheduling | Allows for Conditional Logic |
| Manual | Yes | No |
| Auto-continue | No | No |
| Survey queue | No | Yes |
| ASI | Yes | Yes |
Can the respondent see the survey queue even if that survey is not in the queue?
Yes. If the survey queue has surveys in it, the respondent will see the link for the queue and be able to access it and any surveys that are not locked. This is true even if the survey respondent received the survey trough the “Survey-specific invitation field” option and is not the main respondent for that record, because the survey queue exists on the same level as the record itself, not the individual forms. If there will be multiple respondents for a record and you are concerned about them accessing inappropriate surveys via the survey queue, then you should not use the survey queue for that project.
Is this there any tool that can help me figure out how to set up my survey?
This link [Survey Wizard: The Basics] will take a user to a survey algorithm that was created by the Training Collaboration Committee using REDCap version 7.6.3. It addresses when to enable survey functionality, what to consider when choosing a survey model, and reviews survey setting options.
(URL: https://redcap.vanderbilt.edu/surveys/?s=43TD4MRF8A)
Can I collect anonymous survey data from participants?
Responses can only be collected anonymously using the Survey Distribution Tools > Public Survey Link.
The survey questionnaire must not contain any questions asking the participants for identifying data (ex: What is your email? name? address?).
Multiple Surveys: Be mindful that projects with multiple surveys present potential challenges to anonymous data collection. If you are analyzing data in aggregate, you can having multiple REDCap projects, each using the Public Survey Link. If you need to track individual responses over time, using the Public Survey Link for each survey (pre, post, follow-ups) requires that you collect data points within the survey questionnaire to later export and merge. The data points should not be identifying information, but specific enough question(s) that a participant will enter answers consistently (ex: last 5 digits of their first phone number; color of first car).
Projects containing data entry forms and surveys cannot be considered anonymous. Manually entered data needs to be identified by the team to be properly associated and linked with survey responses.
How does Twilio interact with REDCap to send calls and SMS messages?
The REDCap/Twilio interaction looks like this:
