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SectionCategoryComments0 (major deficiencies)1 (minor deficiencies)2 (no deficiciencies)3 (exceptional)

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Survey buildingQuestion typesThis refers to the different kinds of questions that are available (e.g. "select one", "select multiple", "free response", etc.)Missing core question types (e.g. no "select one")Includes basic question types (select one, select multiple, free response).…plus advanced question types such as grids, visual analog scales, etc.…plus ability to include multimedia (images, video, etc.) in questions, ability for respondent to upload files

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ValidationAbility to create validation rules for user inputNo validationBasic validation (number vs. text)Advanced validation (ability to distinguish between an integer, currency, and a phone number for example); email validation...plus full customizability of validation with regular expressions or similar

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Ease of useGenerally how easy is it to create a survey through the software's website?Very difficult to perform basic survey building tasks (e.g. inserting new question). Requires viewing help documents to use basic functions.Inefficient question building (e.g. unnecessary extra clicks to add questions, unnecessary animation).User can build survey quickly and without instruction. No unnecessary clicking or confusing user interface elements.Survey building is very quick (e.g. can be done completely from the keyboard without the mouse)

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Survey logici.e. skip patterns, skip logic, display logic, etc.No survey logicBasic survey logic (e.g. only possible to skip between pages)Able to skip both individual questions and entire pages; can chain skip logic (e.g. if Q1=yes and Q2=no). Can display data from prior questions in question descriptions.…plus ability to use external data in survey logic (e.g. prior data about respondents)

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Email distributionImporting respondent informationImporting email addresses and other respondent information (name, occupation, etc.) from an external data sourceNo ability to importCan import limited data (e.g. only name and email)Can import arbitrary data for each respondent in addition to name and email…can display imported information in survey questions.

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Distribution via emailSending survey links via emailNo ability to distribut survey via emailEmails custom links but no personalizationPersonalized email (e.g. "Dear John,") with custom link…plus ability to send HTML email, customize templates

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Followup via emailNo ability to send target followupsTargeted followups but no personalizationPersonalized, targeted followup email…plus ability to send HTML email, customize templates

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TrackingNo ability to track clicksn/aTracks clicks on cusotmized links (you know who opened link)…plus email delivery and/or open tracking

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RespondingThemesRefers to look/feel of survey as displayed to respondentsNo ability to change themesThemes are limited or poorly designedMultiple, well-designed themes with the ability to customize through the admin interface…plus ability to include arbitrary HTML/CSS/JavaScript

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Domain nameThe domain name used for responses should be sensible and not look weird to respondents. Research.net is good; superfunfreesurvey.info is bad.Domain has a non-standard TLD (e.g. .info vs. .com/.net), or is generally unprofessionalDomain name is ok but not great (e.g. uses name of company; survey companies have weird names)High quality domain name (e.g. research.net, or company's domain name isn't weird)Ability to use custom domain name or choose from multiple high quality domains

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White labelAbility to remove all logos/branding of the survey softwareNo white label optionAbility to remove some but not all branding, or requires manual customization of themesAbility to remove the majority of branding (e.g. can remove logo but not small footer text)Fully white label (no branding whatsoever)

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Survey completion pageIt is good to have control of what happens after the respondant finishes the survey. This is usually a "thank you for responding" page with some degree of customization.n/aGeneric "survey completed" screen without the ability to customizeSurvey completed screen with customized text…plus ability to redirect to any URL

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Mobile supportDoes not have mobile-specific formattingMobile-specific formatting but some bugs that make completing the survey difficultMobile-specific formattingFully responsive layout (works on phones, tablets, small laptop screens, etc.)

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Analysis/exportingViewing data onlineThis is not critical because we can always export the data, but it is nice to be able to see summary metrics (e.g. # responses) and to see the distributions for responses to each question.No ability to see survey data online (e.g. must export)Limited ability to see response rate and survey data onlineCan see response rate and distributions of responses for each question.…plus advanced data analsysis features, good visualizations, or anything else that makes looking at data online better/easier.

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ExportingNo ability to exportCan export but can't export to CSVExport to CSV…plus export directly to one or more statistics packages.

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GeneralDocumentationOnline help/documentation for creating surveys, managing admin accounts, etc.NoneSome online documentation; limited or not searchableSearchable online documentation...plus contextual integration with the admin interface (if you have a question about a feature, there's a link next to it with help)

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SupportNo way to talk to a humanSupport is additional costFree email/web-based support...plus free phone support

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APIWay for programmers to interface with the survey softwareNo APILimited API (e.g. can only create responses but cannot create new questions)Full API (majority of features through web interface can be accessed through API)...plus RESTful/JSON interface (not XML or less friendly interface)

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SSLaka bank-level encryption, prevents data from being intercepted between your computer and their serversNo SSL or certificate errorSome SSL (e.g. only for responses but not for creating survey)n/aSSL used throughout