How-To Design Surveys With Returning Visits

Overview

Some projects require a single interview to be completed over multiple visits rather than in a single session.

The best implementation depends on your project requirements, including:

• Whether interim interview data needs to be available to operations, quality control, or data processing teams.

• Whether all visits are conducted by the same interviewer or by different interviewers.

• Whether all visits are conducted as face-to-face (CAPI) interviews or whether some visits are completed by the respondent (for example, after an initial interviewer visit).

The following sections describe the most common approaches.

CAPI, Same Interviewer, No Interim Data Required

If the same interviewer conducts every visit and interim data does not need to be available to project managers or data teams, the survey can be designed as a standard SurveyToGo survey.

The interviewer simply stops the interview at the end of each visit and resumes the same interview during the next visit.

CAPI, Same Interviewer, Interim Data Required

If the same interviewer conducts all visits but interim data must be available before the interview is completed, configure the survey to upload stopped interviews.

With this approach, the interview is synchronized after each visit, allowing operations and data teams to review the collected data before the interview is completed.

For more information, see Uploading Stopped CAPI Interviews.

CAPI, Different Interviewers, Interim Data Required

If different interviewers may conduct different visits and interim data must be available between visits, the survey can be designed as a single script that supports multiple interview sessions.

A typical structure is:

• Screener

• Visit 1

• Visit 2

• ...

• Visit n

• End

Configure the survey so that interviews are not automatically approved.

To do this:

1. Open the Survey Properties tab.

2. Clear the Auto Approval of Interview option.

This configuration allows the interview to remain available for additional visits while making the interim data accessible for operational review.

1. 

2. The survey logic and flow can be controlled using Entrance Rules and Jump Rules. This allows only the chapter assigned to the current visit to be displayed during that visit.

   Refer to the sample survey for an example of how this can be implemented.

   After the logic is configured, the workflow can operate as follows:

   1. The interviewer starts the interview with the Screener chapter.

   2. After the Screener is completed, the interview is submitted automatically.

   3. The interviewer may also continue directly to the first visit, if required.

   4. A State dummy variable is used to store the current interview phase.

   5. The script can update the SubjectData to indicate the next phase. For example, in the End Script of the last question in the Screener section, you can add:

   SubjectData = "Next Phase is Visit 1";
   

   6. The interview is submitted and uploaded during synchronization.

   7. A reviewer reviews the interview in the Operations Console and decides whether to delete it, for example if the Screener did not pass, or return it to an interviewer for the next phase.

   8. When returning the interview, the reviewer can assign it to a different interviewer if needed. This is useful when one group of interviewers handles the Screener and another group handles the main visit.

   9. The interviewer receives the interview back on the device. The SubjectData indicates which phase should be continued.

   10. After the main visit is completed, the interview is submitted again, or manually stopped and set as complete.

   11. The script can again update the SubjectData to indicate the next phase. For example:

   SubjectData = "Next Phase is Visit 2";
   

   12. A reviewer reviews the interview again in the Operations Console and decides whether to delete, modify, approve, or return it for the next visit.

   13. If the interview is valid and should continue, the interviewer receives it again with updated SubjectData indicating the next chapter to complete.

   14. After all visits are completed and uploaded, the reviewer can approve the interview.

   CAPI Followed by CAWI Self-Completion

   If the first visit is conducted by an interviewer and the remaining visits are completed online by the respondent, use the CAPI to CAWI method.

   In this approach:

   • The first visit is completed as a CAPI interview.

   • The remaining visits are completed in the CAWI section of the survey.

   • A unique respondent link allows the same interview to be stopped and resumed later.

   Build the script so the respondent is instructed when to stop. When the respondent returns to the survey link, the interview continues from where it stopped, allowing the next visit section to begin.