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: AcuSurvey Solutions : AcuSurvey
AcuSurvey™ allows you to quickly set-up online surveys, capture responses online and automatically do basic comparative tabulations on the collected data. Responses can be monitored in real time, while the survey is still in progress, to discern trends, evaluate response rates, etc.
Here are some common questions (followed by our answers) about our AcuSurvey product:
Q: How does the Survey tool work? We're not planning on sending out emails, but rather, telling people to visit the website to take the survey.
A: Yes, AcuSurvey is an online survey tool, so you can direct people to your website and put a link to the Survey's 'start page' from there. Or, if you wish, you may use an external group-mailing program like Microsoft Outlook (or Acuity's Contact Manager software) to invite people to participate in your survey.
AcuSurvey works best for anonymous respondent surveys (i.e., where you don't need to personally identify the specific individual who gave a specific answer. In other words, it's more of a 'Gallup Poll' type survey, less of a "here's how person X answered each question".
Q: Can it do statistical analysis, for example, "Do women in the midwest, whose homes have high concentrations of mold, suffer more headaches than women in other parts of the country?"
A: Yes, if you include the proper questions in the survey, AcuSurvey will collect the respondents' data and, at any point (even while the survey is still going on, if you wish) you can query the database on whatever criteria (or combinations of criteria) for which you have collected data.
For your example above, you'd need (at the minimum) to ask (1) What part of the country do you live in (west - midwest - southeast - southwest - east-northeast - Alaska-Hawaii - as answer options)?; (2) On average, using a scale of 1 to 10 [with 10 being a large amount; and 1 being almost none], how would you rate the mold level inside your home?; and (3) How many headaches do you average per week? (0-1-2-3-4-5, or more than 5)?
With those questions, and range of answer options, you could certainly do the kind of query you posed in your question. With properly asked questions (and answer options), AcuSurvey can total, calculate percentages against the universe of people surveyed, or against any subset of that universe. To a limited extent, AcuSurvey can do some of the more advanced statistical calculations like standard deviation, mean, etc.
It's a bit tricky to learn how to do the more complex queries; not stuff for anyone who's uncomfortable with statistics logic (but then again, if you've ever tabulated results by hand or even in a spreadsheet, crafting proper statistical queries is never for the faint of heart!).
Bottom line -- both (a) setting up questions with the proper type and range of possible answers and (b) database queries and analysis should always be done by someone comfortable with statistics logic and survey design. We can provide those services if requested, on an hourly basis.
Q: Can we adjust the questions once the survey starts?
A: You can set up the questions, then re-order them if they wish, any time up to when the survey goes live. Once live, you can still "fine tune" or re-word a particular question, but don't change the response options (i.e., don't change a multiple choice question to an essay question; or don't add a fifth answer to a multiple choice question that was originally set up with only four answers) -- or your incoming survey data will be corrupted.
If you would like our help in designing the questions, or in reviewing what you've posted [prior to survey launch, of course], we'd be glad to help. One of the biggest problems we've had is that clients who don't do a lot of survey work sometimes inadvertently word a question in an ambiguous manner, or provide answer/options that are unclear, or too broad; and then wonder why the results they get don't make sense. Again, we can provide those services if requested, on an hourly basis.
Q: How do you charge for the use of your Survey tool? By the length of time the survey is in use? By the number of people who utilize it? By the number of questions?
A: Initial set-up of the standard AcuSurvey tool (ready to create a survey, but before any respondent instructions or actual survey questions have been entered) is a modest flat fee, depending on a number of variables; check with us for a specific amount. This set-up fee includes a basic training class at Acuity's offices in suburban Nashville, Tennessee on how to use the administrative tools in your site. Alternatively, we can arrange remote training via a WebEx online conference [WebEx fees are additional]; and, to maintain, back-up, and support your survey, we charge $50/month for each month the survey is "live" online, including the time period during which you wish to maintain the data online for post-survey analysis.
We do reserve the right to assess clients a bandwidth overage charge if you're sending the survey solicitation out simultaneously to a very large group of people (i.e., over 100 or so), because if they all log in to take the survey at the same time (say, in response to a group mailing or a TV mention of the survey address), we will need to raise the size of the internet "pipe" we normally use, in order to accommodate the sudden rush of incoming traffic.
Best bet is to consult carefully with us before putting your survey up "live," and let us know when you expect peak traffic periods. We would like to have 2-3 business days' notice before you expect a heavy-response/heavy-traffic period. Then, like the power company, we'll monitor your site's usage of Internet bandwidth, meter it, and will send you a specific invoice for the amount of extra bandwidth used. Normally, such charges are modest and reasonable, unless you're surveying tens of thousands of people simultaneously.
Q: Do you make data back-ups? What about long-term storage of the survey data?
A: Our main servers back-up data to our secondary servers 12 times daily, and then to an additional (third) server each night, overnight; so you data is well protected. The survey results can also be exported to .XLS (Excel spreadsheet) files, if you'd like to download your own "safety copies" of the data. If you wish, we can also create an offline (CD-disk-based) archive for you, at the project's conclusion, which is yours to keep.
Please note that once removed from the online (server-based) environment, your data will lose its link to AcuSurvey's query, statistical and reporting functionality; so generally we don't recommend deleting your online data until the post-survey analysis of that data is completely done and the results are safely published.
Data export services are charged on an hourly basis, but only when you need them. Our hourly database services rate will apply. However, most files can be exported in a matter of minutes, depending on the size of the survey (number of questions, number of respondents), so the charge is generally modest.
In the meantime, give some careful thought to your survey questions; how to word them; and precisely how you'd like the answer/options to be listed on the survey page. Finalizing your survey 'content' prior to loading it into the survey system makes sense; saves lots of time and 'revision stress'; and gives you time to share the draft questions with your clients and others who may wish to give you input before you finalize your question set.
We look forward to helping you with your next survey project! |
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