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CAWI Online Survey Best Practices

Introduction Screen

Begin your survey with an introduction that explains the purpose of the survey and provides respondents with an estimate of how long it will take to complete.

Prototype and Test the Survey

Before launching your online survey, test it thoroughly with multiple users using different:

• Web browsers

• Screen sizes

• Desktop and mobile devices (including iOS and Android)

In addition to identifying technical issues, gather feedback on the overall user experience, survey flow, and readability.

Send Invitation Emails in Stages

Estimate the number of invitation emails required based on your expected response rate. As a starting point, send invitations to approximately the number of completes you need (for example, send 1,000 invitations if your target is 1,000 completes) and measure the response rate. Use the results to estimate the total number of invitations required.

Rather than sending all invitations at once, send them in batches. This gives respondents time to participate, helps you monitor response rates and quotas, and reduces the risk of oversampling or reaching quotas too quickly.

For more information, see:

• How to Set Up CAWI Email Connectors

• How to Design Your CAWI Email Template

Send Reminder Emails

Track each respondent's participation status and send reminder emails to those who have not yet completed the survey. SurveyToGo includes built-in functionality for sending reminders based on respondent status.

Implement Quality Control

Because CAWI respondents complete surveys without an interviewer, implementing quality control checks is highly recommended.

Consider enabling checks such as:

• Minimum and maximum interview duration

• Minimum and maximum time spent on specific questions

• Straight-lining detection

• Minimum character requirements for open-ended responses

For more information, see How to Use Quality Control Flagging.

Consider GDPR Requirements

If your survey collects information from residents of the European Union, ensure your survey complies with GDPR requirements.

For more information, see SurveyToGo and GDPR.

Customize the Survey Appearance

You can customize the appearance of your online survey using one of the following options:

• CAWI Themes

• A custom CSS file

For more information, see:

• How to Set Up Your Survey to Use CAWI Themes

• How to Customize Your Display Using a CSS File

Choose the Appropriate Link Type

Determine which respondent link type best fits your project:

• Access-All links

• Unique links

• Panel links

• Non-panel links

• A combination of these options

For more information, see How to Create CAWI Respondent Links.

Pre-fill Survey Responses

Pre-fill respondent information using SurveyToGo respondent list columns or query string parameters whenever possible. This reduces respondent effort, shortens interview time, and helps improve data quality.

Plan Your Quota Strategy

Decide whether your project requires:

• SurveyToGo Quota Sheets for detailed quota management, or

• General CAWI quotas configured in the survey settings.

For more information, see Quota Management in SurveyToGo.

Support Mixed-Mode Surveys

If your survey is designed to run on multiple platforms, consider using the IsPlatform() function during scripting to customize survey behavior based on the platform being used.