Data Scan (r9)

Data Scan is a report which is designed to highlight potential issues in a survey. This report is best used either in conjunction with dummy data or a "soft launch" data set (a limited launch with a small controlled group of respondents). This way, if any issues are found, you can minimize the impact on the live survey data.

To access the Data Scan applet, expand the Field group in the left navigation menu and click on Survey Performance. If the latest version of the survey has not been published, this applet will be inactive.

Running a Data Scan

The Data Scan report will run automatically when the applet is opened. You can re-run the report by clicking on the refresh arrow on the right-side of the toolbar. The Data Scan report can also be downloaded by clicking the Download button. The file exports in .doc format.

Data Scan Metrics

The following metrics are included in a Data Scan report.

Quotas

Are there quota caps entered in the survey's Quota Manager? The Data Scan summary will warn you if there are no quotas caps (maximum targets) in place.

Questions with zero total answering

Many surveys have pages and questions that are conditioned to not be seen by all respondents. However, if a question is not being seeing by anyone at all, the Survey Programmer (SP) should check the programming logic for errors. If a survey has pages with zero answers, the Data Scan shows those pages in a list once the total base size of a survey reaches 50 respondents.

Pages with abandonment rates >= 5%

Survey respondents becoming inactive on a given page in great numbers may indicate that there is a programming problem which is preventing these respondents from successfully submitting that page. If 5% or more of the survey's respondents become inactive on a given page, that page is listed here. 

Pages with validation failure rates >= 5% 

If a question has unclear or strict conditions which must be fulfilled in order for the page to submit successfully, it may take respondents more than one try to successfully meet the correct criteria. If this is happening, it might indicate a programming or design problem. If a page accounts for 5% or more of all survey validation failures, that page is listed here.