Release Notes

Survey Solutions 23.09

September 13, 2023
Version 23.09 contains:
  • Administrator users can get straight to the workspace settings from within a workspace
  • Action buttons were added to questionnaires and assignments details pages and the interview review page.
  • The workspaces page was enhanced with a search box.
  • Assignment history is now augmented to show the tablet ID.
  • GDAL installation is now optional for the use of digital maps in GeoTiff file format.
  • Calculated variables can now be seen in the WebTester.
  • Event timestamps in paradata now contain information with milliseconds precision.
  • Paradata export archive now has additional identification files.
  • Assignment color update.
  • PDF transcripts of interviews no longer contain preloaded values of hidden questions.
  • Other changes, bugfixes, and announcements: view.
  • Android 7.0 or more recent is required for this version!

Survey Solutions 23.06

June 8, 2023
Version 23.06 contains:
  • new feature: Carousel in the map dashboard in Interviewer and Supervisor Apps.
  • new feature: Possibility to assign maps in the server user interface.
  • new feature: Maps assignment by supervisors.
  • new feature: Warning for markers outside shape file boundaries.
  • changes to format of export of list questions.
  • other changes, bugfixes, and announcements: view.

Survey Solutions 23.04

April 23, 2023
Version 23.04 contains:
  • new feature: Map dashboard in Supervisor app;
  • new feature: Destination view in external mapping app for any GPS location question;
  • new feature: Control over relinking of the mobile device;
  • Maintenance procedure M1 is made accessible for remote administration;
  • Change of format for uploading categories;
  • Password reset available to Headquarters users;
  • Shapefile overlay for online map dashboard;
  • Minimum version for Android Apps is now 6.0;
  • other changes, bugfixes, and announcements: view.

Survey Solutions 22.12

December 14, 2022
Version 22.12 contains:
  • new feature: Input mode for Geography question;
  • new feature: Overlap detection for Geography-type question.
  • bugfix: Attachments in special values.
  • bugfix: Answers to identifying questions could be modified.
  • bugfix: Shapefiles consisting of points were not shown on tablets.
  • other changes, bugfixes, and announcements: view.

Survey Solutions 22.09

October 6, 2022
Version 22.09 contains:
  • new feature: images as categories in single-select and multiple-select questions;
  • some limits were revised and naming rules changed;
  • other changes and bugfixes, view.

Survey Solutions 22.06

June 14, 2022
Version 22.06 contains:
  • Centralized distribution of the shapefiles.
  • Anonymous questionnaire sharing.
  • Other changes and bugfixes, view.

Survey Solutions 22.02

February 9, 2022
Version 22.02 contains:
  • Questionnaires with only a cover page are now allowed;
  • Enabling conditions are now allowed in the cover page section;
  • Removed custom title checkbox for rosters;
  • The limit on the number of items in a single section has been raised from 400 to 1,000;
  • API user accounts may additionally enable an access token;
  • Approve and reject buttons for the supervisors in the map dashboard view;
  • Performance improvements;
  • Fixes of bugs and other inconsistencies;
  • View details.

Survey Solutions 21.09

September 30, 2021
Version 21.09 contains:
  • Performance improvements;
  • Fixes of bugs and other inconsistencies;
  • View details.

Survey Solutions 21.06

June 28, 2021
Version 21.06 contains:
  • Configurable session length;
  • Autolock: protection against bruteforce attacks;
  • Control cookies security attribute;
  • Other changes and bugfixes, view.

Survey Solutions 21.05

May 11, 2021
Version 21.05 contains:
  • User management across workspaces;
  • Multiple workspaces on the tablets;
  • Own-passwords enforcement;
  • Progress indicator
  • Dynamic filters
  • Exposed variables
  • CAPI/CAWI Switch
  • and other changes and improvements, view.

Survey Solutions 21.01

January 22, 2021
Version 21.01 contains:
  • Isolation of work into workspaces;
  • Server-wide users management page;
  • Map dashboard for online users;
  • and other changes and improvements, view.

Survey Solutions 20.12

December 14, 2020
Version 20.12 contains:
  • Calendar events.
  • Alert interviewers of wrong clock settings.
  • Variables on dashboard.
  • Filter by status in survey statistics report.
  • and other changes and improvements, view.

Survey Solutions 20.10

November 7, 2020
Version 20.10 contains:
  • Editor of reusable categories in Designer.
  • Generation of cover page.
  • Linked combobox single-select question.
  • Formatting for web-interviewing pages.
  • Approve rejected interviews at HQ.
  • Interview resume event indicates where the interview was resumed.
  • Send email confirmation with answers to web-interview respondents.
  • Public API now allows protection of questions.
  • and other changes and improvements, view.

Survey Solutions 20.09

September 17, 2020
Version 20.09 contains:
  • Interview transcript.
  • Shapefile can be overlaid onto the map dashboard.
  • Changes to data export.
  • Warning at deletion of a questionnaire from HQ.
  • Other changes, improvements, and bugfixes.
  • View.

Survey Solutions 20.08

August 5, 2020
Version 20.08 contains:
  • Flexible images;
  • Integrated export service in installation;
  • Date received on the tablet for assignments and interviews;
  • Other changes, improvements, and bugfixes.
  • View.

Survey Solutions 20.07

July 20, 2020
Version 20.07 contains:
  • Map dashboard
  • Dedicated cover page
  • Reopen at last point
  • Do not allow web interviews to Supervisor
  • Export service healthcheck
  • View.

Survey Solutions 20.06

June 10, 2020
Version 20.06 contains:
  • Selection of language for export;
  • Possibility to reject interview to a different user;
  • Increased Limit for dimenstions of lookup tables;
  • Introduced new Maps API;
  • Temporary Web Interviews
  • View.

Survey Solutions 20.05

May 13, 2020
Version 20.05 contains:
  • Partial synchronization of interviews.
  • Two-factor authentication (2FA).
  • Filtering of interviews by identifying fields.
  • Split of the HQ list of interviews into processed and in-progress
  • Other changes.
  • View.

Survey Solutions 20.04

April 6, 2020
Version 20.04 contains:
  • Non-exportable variables
  • Filters for categorical questions linked to lists;
  • Customization of labels on the roster buttons;
  • HQ to pick destination location from a map;
  • Changes to export format and API;
  • View.

Survey Solutions 20.03

March 10, 2020
Version 20.03 contains:
  • Changes to GPS question behavior
  • Changes to audio audit option
  • Changes to assignments upload and questionnaire import dialogs
  • API changes
  • Designer can copy questions with reusable categories
  • Local server password policies and metrics
  • Old system log is phased out
  • View.

Survey Solutions 20.01

January 13, 2020
Version 20.01 contains:
  • Matrix presentation of categorical questions in CAWI surveys;
  • Reusable categories in multiple categorical questions;
  • View.

Survey Solutions 19.11

November 12, 2019
Version 19.11 contains:
  • Questionnaire details page at the Headquarters;
  • Data export archive now contains more information;
  • Revision comments in the Designer;
  • Questionnaire import comment at Headquarters;
  • Revision review in the Designer;
  • Device logs;
  • Multiple web interviews may be started from the same assignment link.
  • View.

Survey Solutions 19.10

October 1, 2019
Version 19.10 contains:
  • Assignments history and details page;
  • Assignment comments;
  • Headquarters users may be responsible for assignments;
  • Closing assignments;
  • Multiselect combobox allows for large number of selections;
  • Testing scenarios;
  • View.

Survey Solutions 19.08

August 16, 2019
Version 19.08 contains:
  • headquarters and supervisor users can resolve comments;
  • headquarters users can answer supervisor questions;
  • detailed user action log can be accessed via API;
  • export page and other improvements;
  • View.

Survey Solutions 19.07

July 18, 2019
Version 19.07 contains:
  • Improvements to management of interviewers at the HQ;
  • Improvements in presentation of table rosters;
  • Control over audio audit for specific assignments at creation;
  • Changes to export
  • Updated requirements.
  • View.

Survey Solutions 19.06

June 5, 2019
Version 19.06 contains:
  • Table presentation of rosters in web interviews;
  • In-app reminders and notifications for the interviewers;
  • Improvements to cascading questions;
  • Other changes and improvements;
  • View.

Survey Solutions 19.05

May 13, 2019
Version 19.05 contains:
  • Small feature improvements and bug fixes

This is mostly technical, intermediate release. The description of new functionality introduced in version 19.05 will be provided in the release note of the standard, scheduled release of version 19.06.

Survey Solutions 19.04

April 4, 2019
Version 19.04 contains:
  • Web-interviewing with email-notifications and reminders to respondents;
  • Multiselect combobox - compact and efficient representation of large multiselect questions;
  • Cascading selection with list of categories;
  • Bugfixes and improvements to the data export;
  • Other changes and improvements;
  • View.

Survey Solutions 19.02

January 14, 2019
Version 19.02 contains:
  • Hyperlinks included into the text of a question or an error message facilitate jumps in the questionnaire;
  • Audio audit: complete audio recording of the interview;
  • Questions bank and classifications library provide a fast way of reusing the repeated questions and classifications in categorical questions.
  • Plain-mode roster streamlines the work of the interviewer presenting the roster in plain view;
  • Dynamic roster limits allow creating more flexible data structures;
  • New functions to examine the completeness of sections and subsections;
  • Control over version updates of the tablet apps (Interviewer, Supervisor);
  • Other changes and improvements;
  • View.

Survey Solutions 18.12

December 4, 2018
Version 18.12 contains:
  • An extra level of data encryption on tablets comparable and exceeding industry standards for data security.
  • Support for audio, video and PDF files in attachments.
  • Heat map overlay in Map reports and improvements in processing maps with more than 50,000 coordinates.
  • A global flag to hide disabled questions.
  • Ability for users to set up default value for the date question.
  • New report on data traffic usage with total amount of traffic consumed by Survey Solutions.
  • View.

Survey Solutions 18.11

November 5, 2018
Version 18.11 contains:
  • Small feature improvements and bug fixes
  • An additional level of encryption of the data stored on tablets.

This is mostly technical, intermediate release. The description of new functionality introduced in version 18.11 will be provided in the release note of the standard, scheduled release of version 18.12.

Survey Solutions 18.10

October 1, 2018
Version 18.10 contains:
  • Offline Supervisor app improvements and additional features.
  • Variable name in the questionnaire translation file.
  • Comments on questions can now be deleted
  • Harmonization of interview__id variable names in export files
  • Supervisor/Team filter is added to the Status Duration Report.
  • New filter added on the Assignments page.
  • Improvements on the Interviewer Profile page.
  • Text wrapping in the Interviewer and Webtester apps for better visualizing long answers.
  • View.

Survey Solutions 18.08

August 6, 2018
Version 18.08 contains:
  • Offline Supervisor app To meet the needs of survey teams operating in remote or poorly connected locales, the Supervisor app allows supervisors to do offline all of the things that previously required a connection: make assignments, receive completed interviews, review interviews, and approve or reject them. This functionality being released as a public beta, and will be refined and improved over coming development releases.
  • Flat, compact view for reviewing interviews To promote rapid review of interviews, all of Survey Solutions data collection components–Headquarters, Supervisor, and Interviewer–now have an optional, compact view of interviews.
  • Interview diagnostics file To provide users with consolidated information for data processing outside of Survey Solutions, export archives now include a file that contains, among other information, the interview duration, the number of errors, number of comment, and number of unanswered questions per interview.
  • Questionnaire variable field in Designer To provide control over how the main export file is named, questionnaire designers must now specify the questionnaire name and the questionnaire variable. The former is how the questionnaire appears to human users. The latter is the name of the main file to which interview data are exported.
  • Text substitution in question instructions
  • Timestamps in paradata now reflect local time of the device where the data event occurred (e.g., when a question was answered, expressed in the local time of the tablet where the question was answered).
  • Set up Interviewer by scanning a QR code To make set-up of Interviewer tablets more streamlined and less error-prone, one may now scan a QR code to populate the synchronization endpoint and username fields. rather than populate those fields manually.
  • View.

Survey Solutions 18.06

June 5, 2018
Version 18.06 contains:
  • New Geography question adds polylines, multipoint and other variants for offline selection on the map;
  • Offline selection is now accessible from the syntax in conditions;
  • Added support for GeoTIFF and shapefiles;
  • Added report for frequency tabulation and basic statistics based on user collected data to the set of the reports accessible to the Headquarters users;
  • Upgrade of assignments for newly imported versions of the existing questionnaires allows simpler updates to the questionnaire when the survey is already in progress;
  • Simplified preloading process requiring less data preparation;
  • Protection of preloaded answers for some questions;
  • Log of actions undertaken on the tablet is accessible for the Headquarters users;
  • New online map report of interviewer movements;
  • Improved behavior of limited multi-select and linked questions;
  • Playback of an audio question to verify the quality of the recording;
  • New API requests, syntax functions, updates to translations and new interviewer language added;
  • Other improvements and bugfixes;
  • View.

Survey Solutions 18.04

April 2, 2018
Version 18.04 contains:
  • Validation warnings;
  • Special values for numeric questions;
  • Capturing signatures;
  • Comments in Designer;
  • Export questionnaires as HTML;
  • Reload questionnaire in Web Tester;
  • Prevent circular references in enabling and filter conditions;
  • Compact presentation of questions in interview details;
  • Old interview details page is now deprecated;
  • Customize web interview messages;
  • Export binary data to user-designated cloud data storage;
  • Map report is now available for supervisors;
  • Speed report uses active interview time;
  • Search on the dashboard of the Interviewer app.
  • View.

Survey Solutions 5.26

February 8, 2018
Version 5.26 contains:
  • Online Tester tool allows instant preview of the designed questionnaires in the browser.
  • Interviewers can be transferred between different teams.
  • Descriptive meta information can be added to the questionnaires being designed.
  • New tab “Shared with me” in Designer for shared questionnaires.
  • Enhancements in data export.
  • Objective measurement of time of recalculation of expressions.
  • Other improvements and bugfixes.
  • 5th online user group meeting
  • View.

Survey Solutions 5.25

December 6, 2017
Version 5.25 contains:
  • Revised interview details interface. Interface for reviewing interviews made more intuitive and more powerful;
  • Complete localization of the user interface. All components of Survey Solutionshave been fully translated into French, Russian, and Spanish.
  • Improved multi-language features PDF export of questionnaires can created for each user-defined translation of the questionnaire. Default language for a survey may be set.
  • Data export files. ID variables have been harmonized across all export files. New data files to analyze data collection devices and interview errors.
  • Folders on Designer. Public questionnaires organized in folders for user learning, sharing of resources, and development and dissemination of standards.
  • Managing and distributing maps. New tools for headquarters to manage maps and distribute them wirelessly to interviewers.
  • Admin auditing log. Record of all the main actions on the server, identifying who made the action, and when.
  • View.

Survey Solutions 5.24

October 3, 2017
Version 5.24 contains:
  • Export of calculated variables with collected survey data;
  • new appearance of the assignment and interview cards on an interviewer dashboard;
  • several critical bugfixes to address the issues raised by our users on the forum and in the requests for technical support;
  • View.

Survey Solutions 5.23

September 1, 2017
Version 5.23 contains:
  • New reports: Status Duration and Interviewer/Device
  • Facility for exporting reports to XLSX, CSV, and TAB formats
  • Improved interface for the Interviews report
  • And other small changes improvements
  • View.

Survey Solutions 5.22

August 3, 2017
Version 5.22 contains:
  • New question type: audio recording
  • Interviewer sign in to Survey Solutions server and access to interviews from the browser
  • And other small changes and functionality revisions
  • View.

Survey Solutions 5.21

July 6, 2017
Version 5.21 contains:
  • New paradigm for distributing interviews: assignments
  • Assorted Interviewer improvements
  • Assorted Designer improvements
  • Tester improvement
  • Application Programming Interface (API) improved and extended
  • New area question type
  • View.

Survey Solutions 5.20

May 4, 2017
Version 5.20 contains:
  • Sample mode for Web Interviews (CAWI)
  • New interface for several HQ pages, including Interviews list
  • New Troubleshooting page at HQ
  • And other small changes and functionality revisions
  • View.

Survey Solutions 5.19

April 5, 2017
Version 5.19 contains:
  • Interviewer profile page is reflecting the status of the interviewers’ device and synchronization;
  • Human-readable interview key generated and displayed on the data server for HQ and supervisor users;
  • Security enhancements, and other changes;
  • View.

Survey Solutions 5.18

March 7, 2017
Version 5.18 contains:
  • Web-interviewing mode is added to collect data online
  • Export to Stata 14 Unicode data files
  • View or Download as pdf

Survey Solutions 5.17

February 1, 2017
Version 5.17 contains:

Survey Solutions 5.16

January 4, 2017
Version 5.16 contains:
  • Android 6.0 and 7.0 support
  • Re-designed Headquarters pages
  • Changes to Designer: substitution of the nested roster titles
  • Animated group opening
  • Download the full release notes

Survey Solutions 5.15

December 12, 2016
Version 5.15 contains:
  • Questionnaire versioning on Designer
  • Draw answer options for categorical questions directly from list questions
  • Improved handling of HMTL formatting in all components of the software
  • Headquarters role can approve interviews without waiting for a supervisor’s approval
  • Ability to reassigned interviews to a different Supervisor (team)
  • Customization of the Headquarters login page with a custom logo
  • Download the full release notes

Survey Solutions 5.14

November 4, 2016
Version 5.14 contains:

Survey Solutions 5.13

October 3, 2016
Version 5.13 contains:

Survey Solutions 5.12

September 6, 2016
Version 5.12 contains:

Survey Solutions 5.11

August 1, 2016
Version 5.11 contains:
  • An ability to develop and administer the multi-lingual questionnaires with on-the-fly switching;
  • More comprehensive support of Chinese, Nepali and some other languages in PDF preview;
  • Translation of the Headquarter/Supervisor interface to Portuguese, and other changes.
  • Download the full release notes

Survey Solutions 5.10

July 5, 2016
Version 5.10 contains:
  • Filtered options in categorical questions
  • Current time question type
  • Substitution in error messages and sections/sub-sections, and other changes.
  • Download the full release notes

Survey Solutions 5.9

May 31, 2016
Version 5.9 contains:
  • Variables allow more convenient programming of complex expressions and logic
  • Substitution in static text for more informative instructions to the interviewer
  • Access to Math library
  • Cloning questionnaires at HQ allows setting up a server for data collection isolated from future changes at Designer
  • Translation of Supervisor and HQ interface presents the supervisor and HQ in French and Russian, and other changes.
  • Download the full release notes

Survey Solutions 5.8

May 2, 2016
Version 5.8 contains:

Survey Solutions 5.7

April 1, 2016
Version 5.7 contains:
  • Pictures in static text elements of the questionnaires
  • Filtered linked categorical questions
  • Support of regular expressions, and other changes
  • Download the full release notes

Survey Solutions 5.6

March 3, 2016
Version 5.6 contains:
  • Up to 10 validation expressions can be defined per question
  • Linked questions now can reference and display roster titles
  • Designer can control whether enablement conditions enable/disable questions or show/hide
  • Download the full release notes

Survey Solutions 5.5

February 1, 2016
Version 5.5 contains:
  • Lookup tables to provide reference data for validation and enabling expressions.
  • Possibility to create assignments directly to interviewers from headquarters, bypassing the supervisor level
  • Encryption of data in exported file, and other changes.
  • Download the full release notes

Survey Solutions 5.3

December 1, 2015
Version 5.3 contains:
  • Macros to simplify writing complex expressions.
  • Possibility to copy and paste sections, rosters and individual questions between questionnaires.
  • New mode of multi select categorical questions with explicit Yes/No options and new export format for multi-select questions, and other changes
  • Download the full release notes

Survey Solutions 5.2

November 2, 2015
Version 5.2 contains:
  • Localization of the interviewer app to French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian languages.
  • Possibility to unapprove interviews previously approved by the headquarters users.
  • Increased limit of up to 15,000 items in cascading selections, and other changes
  • Download the full release notes

Survey Solutions 5.1

October 5, 2015
Version 5.1 contains:
  • Export of commentaries and DDI meta data.
  • Hidden questions to store necessary data for panel surveys and other uses.
  • New function for randomization in surveys
  • Possibility for interviewer to ‘un-answer’ any question, and more changes to all components of Survey Solutions.
  • Download the full release notes

Survey Solutions 5.0

September 1, 2015
Version 5.0 contains:
  • New design of the Interviewer and Tester application, support of Android 5.0: Colors that communicate status, expandable navigation pane, compact view of disabled questions, buttons for navigating to the next or parent section and other visual changes.
  • Improvements to users and assignments management at the Headquarter: Batch creation of user accounts; possibility to archive interviewers and/or supervisors; store names and phone numbers for users.
  • Changes to questionnaire designer and programming language
  • New guides on the use of functions in Survey Solutions
  • Download the full release notes

Survey Solutions 4.4

May 26, 2015
Version 4.4 contains:
  • Export of data to SPSS and Stata binary files simplifies data transfer to popular statistical packages;
  • Streamlined sample upload allows creating assignments for multiple supervisors in a single operation;
  • New questionnaire completion report provides more information for planning and decision making;
  • Download the full release notes

Survey Solutions 4.2

April 22, 2015
Version 4.2 contains:
  • Observer users can be created to be able to monitor the progress of the survey without permissions to make changes;
  • Functions can be used for routine validations and checks, include convenience functions to work with dates, strings, lists, geographical distances, and anthropometric measurements (zscores);
  • Addressing roster elements by code can be used within rosters (particularly in fixed rosters) for customization of validations and checks for different roster elements;
  • Download the full release notes

Survey Solutions 4.1

April 1, 2015
Version 4.1 contains:
  • Multiple headquarter users;
  • Server administrator role;
  • Batch approvals (rejections) of interviews;
  • Optimized communications in large teams;
  • Interviewer tablets registration;
  • Improved navigation in the questionnaire designer;
  • Import of text options in single-choice questions.
  • Download the full release notes

Survey Solutions 3.0

November 10, 2014
Version 3.0 contains:
  • New language for validation and skip conditions: Now, Survey Solutions can validate data using algorithms of arbitrary complexity. You will appreciate the simplicity and flexibility of new functionality for writing validations and conditions for rosters and groups; string functions for validating text questions; functions that calculates distances between GPS coordinates, data and time functions, and hundreds other functions and methods.
  • Extension of Data Export functionality: we removed the limitation that only a HQ approved questionnaires can be exported. Now, any questionnaire on a HQ or Supervisor, regardless of its status, can be exported.
  • Tab-delimited format for preloading, batch operations, and long lists: Survey Solutions is now using tab-delimited format for preloading, batch operations, and filling the long lists in the single choice and cascading questions. The Tab-delimited format can handle better the local scripts and punctuations.
  • We also made some changes in the user interface on a tablet, fixed bugs and optimized Survey Solutions for better performance.
  • Download the full release notes

Survey Solutions 2.4

October 6, 2014
Version 2.4 contains:
  • Cascading questions. Single-option questions can be linked to one another, so that the choices available in one (e.g. state) are dependent on the answer given to the previous question (e.g. country).
  • Multimedia question: photo. Interviews can contain photo attachments.
  • Find an interview. Headquarters and Supervisors dashboards allow users to search for an interview.
  • Improvements in Designer. Large questionnaires load up to eight times faster.
  • Download the full release notes

Survey Solutions 2.3

September 10, 2014

Survey Solutions 2.3 brings to the users four new features:

  • Interviewer: Filter-as-you-type drop-down menus (combo boxes). Multiple choice questions can now be presented as drop-down menus, filtered according to characters typed in by the enumerator.
  • Designer: Import and export for answer lists. Answer lists for multiple choice questions can be imported from and exported to CSV files.
  • Designer/Interviewer: HTML tags for questions. You can use HTML tags to format the question text.
  • Headquarters: Deleting unused templates. Unused questionnaire templates can be now deleted, together with the corresponding data.
  • Headquarters: Survey progress graph. For surveys conducted in the sample mode, a new report plots the survey progress.
  • Download the full release notes

Survey Solutions 2.2

August 6, 2014

This release, next to bug fixes and stability improvements, introduces:

  • New Questionnaire Designer. New user interface improves performance and makes it easier to move questions or groups across chapters.
  • Static text field. Messages to the enumerator, consent forms and other types of text information that are not normally considered a part of the question can be included in the questionnaire as “static text fields”.
  • Custom labels. Users can customize the variable label exported to Stata.
  • Masked entry. Questionnaire designers can set specific data format for text fields that the application will enforce, for example phone or national ID numbers.
  • Enhanced export. CSV export now includes interview status changes, responsible supervisors and enumerators, as well as interview durations.
  • Thousands separators. A comma will group thousands together when entering a large number into a numeric field.
  • Batch operations. “Select all” button will allow HQ users and supervisors to assign or delete interviews in a batch.
  • New map report. After clicking a pin on the map, the system will display basic information about the interview (responsible staff member, interview status), as well as a link to the complete interview record.
  • Download the full release notes

Survey Solutions 2.0

May 23, 2014

Next to multiple improvements in user interface and stability of the software, we have introduced a seven new features:

  • Listing mode. While conducting a listing or a census, your enumerator will be able to dynamically add new households to the set. However, just like with any other survey, such submissions will still be subject to supervisor’s approval.
  • “Nested” rosters. From now on, you can “nest” rosters—that is, include rosters within rosters (within rosters…, etc.). For example, each row of the household members rosters can include a subsequent roster listing person’s assets. Additionally, the questions can now include the tag “%rostertitle%”, which will be dynamically replaced by the relevant row header.
  • Offline supervisor. Teams that work in the field without connection to the internet can now start using the offline supervisor dashboard, installed directly on the supervisors’ laptops. Enumerators and supervisors will able to exchange data using the local network; the information will be uploaded to the headquarters once the internet connection is available.
  • Data preloading. Survey Solutions makes it possible to “pre-load” data into all fields, including the rosters. Such information can be then edited or deleted by the enumerator. The function makes it simple to, for example, upload and verify data from previous panel waves.
  • Map report. GPS data gathered with Survey Solutions can now be plotted on a map (using Google Maps imagery: both the street map and the aerial/satellite imagery). In that way, the headquarters users can instantly see where the data have been gathered.
  • QR Codes. The enumerators will be able to scan both two-dimensional QR codes and ordinary barcodes. Their contents (e.g. a serial number) will be stored with your data set.
  • API. You can now built your own application on top of the data gathered with Survey Solutions, as the current version adds the support for a JSON-based Application Programming Interface. The API will allow you to create dynamic dashboards, visualizations or export the data to custom formats (e.g. SQL-like databases).

WB CAPI 1.6

February 4, 2014

This release, next to bug fixes and stability improvements, introduces:

  • New question type: list. Lists can be used to collect up to 40 lines of text, for example to names gather of household members.
  • New roster type. The new list-type questions can also be connected to roster, where each list entry will correspond to one roster row.
  • Groups enclosed in rosters. Every roster can now include a nested group of questions, which helps organize roster data entry more efficiently.
  • Faster data export. Saving the survey results in .csv and tab-separated file formats takes less time and resources.

WB CAPI 1.5

January 14, 2014

The latest version of WB CAPI introduces two new types of rosters. In addition to the standard type of roster, connected to an integer-type question determining the number of rows to be displayed, WB CAPI now supports:

  • Fixed rosters. Such a roster can be defined by simply providing a static list of row headers.
  • Rosters connected to multiple-choice questions. In this case, a roster will be created with rows representing every option selected in a multiple-choice question. This feature is especially useful in income and consumption surveys, where the respondent can be first asked to select the products consumed from a list, in order to, subsequently, fill in a consumption roster specifying quantities and units.

Additionally, the process of selecting roster row headers has been made easier and more intuitive. The release also contains a number of bug fixes and measures improving stability of the application.

WB CAPI 1.4

December 9, 2013

This release includes bug fixes and performance improvements.

WB CAPI 1.3

November 20, 2013

This release features:

  • Questionnaire tester. A new application allows Questionnaire Designers to easily test their questionnaires on an Android device, helping them ensure that skip patterns and validation expressions are correct.
  • Easier management of rosters. “Autopropagated groups” changed their name to “roster”. A roster can now be created by connecting a group to any integer question.

WB CAPI 1.2

November 1, 2013

Features added in the release include:

  • Questionnaire compiler/verifier. After editing your questionnaire in the Questionnaire Designer, you can instantly check if the skip patterns or validation expressions you have entered are correct. Our verifier will warn you when wrong syntax, references to nonexistent variables or other design errors are detected.
  • Smarter “select multiple”-type questions. While creating categorical questions with multiple answers possible, questionnaire designers have more options. They can limit the number of answers (E.g. “select the three most important reasons…”) and ask the respondents to order them, for example indicating their preferences.

WB CAPI 1.1

October 20, 2013

The CAPI team is constantly working on adding new features. This release (1.1) has included various fixes that improve the stability and responsiveness of the Designer and Interviewer software. In addition to that, the release includes support for:

  • Name substitution. The text of a question displayed to the interviewer can now include the answers to one or more of the other questions. For example, if the answer to the question about the interviewee’s name is “Tom”, a question about the job that follows can be automatically updated to “What is Tom’s job?”;
  • Supervisor questions. Certain questions can be marked as answered only by supervisors. This feature might be helpful when more experienced supervisors are expect to assign codes to answers given to the interviewers in a narrative form;
  • Decimal fractions in numeric questions. Questionnaire designer can freely select the number’s precision.

The release also contains various user interfact improvements, such as displaying the name of the interviewer on the dashboard of the tablet app.

Official release of WB CAPI

September 30, 2013

The World Bank’s software for computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI) has been officially released. Using the web-based editor, users around the world can build their own questionnaires that will be used to gather data with Android-based tablet devices. The official release comes with a set of new features:

  • Linked questions give the possibility to e.g. precisely map different kinds of relationships within a household by allowing to select answers to a categorical questions from within a roster list;
  • CAPI can collect GPS coordinates, supported in the new question type: Geolocation;
  • Interview assignments that have not been yet completed can be deleted by the headquarters user

New version of Questionnaire Designer; the Headquarters console supports bulk uploading of interview assignments

August 7, 2013

Substantial changes have been introduced to the Questionnaire Designer:

Additionally, we have introduced the possibility of importing large batches of addresses to be visited by the interviewers from a CSV file.

  • The application makes a more efficient use of the screen size, while new tool tips provide contextual help to the users;
  • The SingleOption and MultiOption questions are now called “Categorical: one answer” and “Categorical: multiple answers”;
  • Adding a new option to a categorical question is much easier—it can now be done with one click and does not require any further confirmation;
  • The “Export to PDF” function has been redesigned. The PDF files generated by the system now feature a cover page, distinguish between different types of questions and include the condition and validation expressions
  • Download the full release notes

New interface and further performance improvements

July 29, 2013

A new, responsive user interface has been introduced to the Headquarters and Supervisor consoles, making it easier to quickly add new supervisors and interviewers and match them to single or multiple households (or other interview assignments). We have also rolled out further performance improvements: downloading 1000 questionnaires to a tablet device takes only 8 minutes; uploading 1000 completed questionnaires to a cloud server takes 30 minutes. The supervisor console can handle over 10,000 submissions and generate statistics without noticeable delays.

Performance improvements

July 22, 2013

Synchronization of the data between tablet devices and the server is now faster; thousands of completed questionnaires can be uploaded within minutes. The system handles broken internet connections more robustly and without data loss. The tablet application displays a gauge measuring the synchronization process.

Questionnaire Designer users can now make their questionnaires public (available to other users).

Project background

The CAPI project started in early 2012 in cooperation with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Living Standards Measurement Study-Integrated Surveys on Agriculture team and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Initially, the client software was produced for Microsoft Windows 7-based Tablet PCs; at the same time first versions of the Survey Management System (the server software) have been released.

The project, however, coincided with massive changes to Microsoft Windows-powered tablet devices. Windows RT, the successor of the tablet version of Windows 7 that was launched in September 2012, has not preserved backward software compatibility. Consequently, applications written specifically for Windows 7, such as the CAPI client, would not work on the newer devices

At the same time, the market share of basic Android tablet devices kept growing, especially among low-cost devices that could be purchased also by austere governments or from shoestring research budget. As a result, our team decided to concentrate its efforts on developing an Android-based client, with the possibility of extending the support to other platforms at a later stage.

The change in the chosen platform led to postponing the implementation of certain features, as the attention of the developers was focused on producing the new version of the client. Given that, the first pilot survey using the CAPI system was started only in March 2013 in St. Lucia.