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As part of our consultation (Who
can approach us for help?) we help identify criteria to arrive at a
couple of online survey software products suitable to your needs. This
page lists resources, criteria, articles and selected software products,
both commercial and free software. As an alternative to the software
products on this page you may consider hiring a full service provider
which is able to take care of sampling, questionnaire programming, data
analysis, etc. as well.
Content
1 Available Software Overviews
2 Criteria for Selecting Products and Reviews
3 Technical Aspects for Programmers
4 Commercial and Non-profit Products
5 Free Software (Open Source)
Along with software reviews you will also find sources which describe
and elaborate on feasible criteria for the selection of products.
Conferences which had discussions about survey software are for example:
International Field Director's & Technologies Conference (IFD&TC),
General Online Research (GOR), Mensch und Computer (MC), Applied
Statistics (AS).
-
Crawford, S. (2002) 'Evaluation
of Web Survey Data Collection Systems', Field Methods, 14 (3):
307-321.
Based on the distinction in basic, intermediate and
professional solutions, Scott Crawford evaluates three products:
"The three products selected for this review represent the three
main types of Web survey packages available today: a basic
off-the-shelf package, an intermediate application service provider
package, and an advanced survey system." (S. 1f.)
-
Evans, J.R. and Mathur, A. (2005) 'The
Value of Online Surveys', Internet Research, 15 (2): 195-219.
-
Exploring Online Research Methods in a Virtual Training Environment
This trainging module offers a click-together check list to ease your
own comaparisons among products.
- Kaczmirek, L. (2004). Choosing Survey Software: How to Decide and
What to Consider [online].
A Guide from the Web Survey Methodology Site.
The paper describes
and discusses various criteria.
- Macer, T. (2007).
Independent software reviews from meaning. [Webseite].
- NEON, Arbeitsgruppe im BVM Berufsverband Deutscher Markt- und
Sozialforscher e.V. (2003).
Anforderungen an Online-Umfrage-Software. [Demands for Online Survey
Software, German document]
A list with criteria divided into must-have, should-have and
could-have features and central main topics such as design, control,
security, data protection.
-
Göritz, A. S., & Birnbaum, M. H. (2005). Generic HTML form Processor:
a Versatile PHP Script to Save Web-Collected Data into a MySQL
Database. Behavior Research Methods, 37: 703-710.
- Hellbusch, J. E., & Bühler, C. (Hrsg.). (2005). Barrierefreies
Webdesign. Praxishandbuch für Webgestaltung und grafische
Programmoberflächen. dpunkt.verlag.
"Accessible Webdesign" contains the necessary examples and information
to design accessible web forms.
- Fraley, C. (2004). How to Conduct Behavioral Research on the
Internet. Guilford Publications.
Contains exercises in the
programming language perl.
The market offers products which are likely to satisfy every need. Many
vendors are capable and flexible enough to tailorize or adjust their
product to the special requirements of their customers. The products
listed here support at least: set-up of the questionnaire, data
collection and to some extent data anaysis.
Products which provide entry offers up to 200 euros for a complete
survey are marked with an [E]. As pricing is likely to change this
should only be seen as a hint. Often, the price is a bad clue for the
overall functionality of a product. Especially vendors which are capable
to carry out big projects offer many features also in the low price
segment. Commonly, the online survey is hosted by the vendor and
administered and programmed through a web-interface.
WebSM
and ASC
offer additional overviews with different approaches to categorization.
Table 1: Software to Conduct Online Surveys
How to use this table: The list is supposed to help
identify eligible products. It is neither complete nor can we guarantee
its validity. Products should always be compared with the specific
demands of a survey project.
Abbreviations: [E]ntry offer
available; [U]niversity/non-profit use; Questionnaire
set-up via [W]eb-interface or [L]ocal
software installation;
[A]dvanced features available. Also suitable for complex
projects (e.g. scripting language, major individual tailorizing is
possible).
To sort click on the headers. The arrow indicates the
sorting order (needs JavaScript to work).
|
Firm/Institute |
Product |
E/U |
W/L |
A |
Remarks |
| amundis |
2Ask |
E |
W |
A |
reporting, price calculation online |
| askalloGmbH |
askallo |
E |
W |
|
free entry offer, reporting |
| Befrager |
Befrager |
E |
W |
|
free, the host mentions restrictions
in layout, available question types, and other aspects |
|
Echopoll(Economy) |
|
E |
W |
|
|
| Globalpark |
Umfragecenter |
E |
W |
A |
a non-commercial version is available under the
name 'unipark'
|
|
MarketTools |
Zoomerang |
|
W |
|
free version available with restrictions |
|
NetReflector |
InstantSurvey |
E |
W |
|
reporting |
|
NetQuestionnaires
|
NetQuestionnaires
|
E |
W
|
A |
free student edition in Switzerland |
|
Objectplanet |
Opinio(tm) |
|
W |
|
|
|
onlineumfragen.com
|
onlineumfragen.com
|
E
|
W
|
|
|
| Perseus
|
SurveySolution
|
|
W
|
A
|
|
| Polliscope
|
|
E
|
W
|
|
|
|
PreyerInformation Technology GmbH
|
Echopoll
|
E
|
W
|
|
|
|
QuestionPro
|
|
E
|
W
|
|
free entry offer, reporting |
| SelectSurveyASP(ClassApps)
|
|
E
|
W
|
|
.NET source code in C#, code available, data bases: MS Access, SQL
Server, MySQL, needs own server |
|
StellarSurvey.comLLC
|
Stellarsurvey
|
E
|
W
|
|
free entry offer, reporting |
| SurveyMonkey
|
SurveyMonkey
|
E
|
W
|
|
free entry offer, reporting |
| SurveyZ
|
|
E
|
W
|
|
|
| ApianSoftware |
SurveyPro |
|
L
|
|
|
|
Bebosoft |
ProntoSurvey |
E
|
L
|
|
program in PHP and MySQL or PostgreSQL, needs own server |
|
Catapult Systems |
Inquisite |
|
L
|
A
|
|
| CfMC |
Websurvent |
|
W |
A |
Multimodal, e.g. Web-based CATI. Reporting
|
| Equip
Questionaire Generator |
Equip Software
|
|
L
|
|
also CAPI |
|
Exavo SurveyStudio |
Exavo Umfragesoftware
|
|
L
|
|
|
|
IFB logistics &
process consulting
|
Infoluchs
|
|
L
|
|
also paper, export in word-processor |
|
Interrogare
|
IRQuest
|
|
L
|
A
|
coding of open answers, CATI, CAPI |
|
Principia Products Inc.
|
Remark Web
Survey
|
|
L
|
|
OCR extratool to import answers on paper questionnaires with a scanner |
|
QuestionMark
|
Perception
|
|
L
|
|
|
|
Mercator
|
SNAP Survey Software
|
|
|
A
|
framework for multi-mode-surveys (CAPI, CATI, PDA, mobile, online) |
|
oFb Team
|
oFb - der onlineFragebogen
|
U
|
W
|
A |
free use under special license conditions |
|
Pulse Train
|
Bellview Web
|
|
|
A
|
|
|
Rogator AG
|
Rogator G4 |
|
|
A
|
|
|
Senecio Software Inc.
|
Askanywhere
|
|
|
|
java |
|
SPSS
|
Dimensions:
mrInterview
|
|
|
A
|
|
|
Statistic Netherlands
|
Blaise Internet Service (BlaiseIS)
|
|
|
A
|
extra module for their CAI-product, special expertise in
blaise-specific script language necessary
|
|
VOXCOO
|
Voxco Command Center
|
|
|
A
|
especially CATI |
|
Webropol Deutschland GmbH
|
Webropol
|
|
W |
A |
Yearly license with unlimited survey volume. Answers provided by break-offs are not saved. |
|
Websurveyor Corp.
|
WebSurveyor
|
|
|
|
|
With free software
no costs are associated with licensing. Own derivations and further
development of the code is allowed. Free access to the program code (open
source) is a precondition for this.
Costs emerge mainly from hosting or renting a server on which the
software can run and from manual installation and maintenance. Solid
knowledge concerning the operating system and the web-server-platform is
the basis for using such software. Expertise in the programming
language, database administration, patching, HTML and JavaScript are
advantageous. Considering the 'total cost of ownership' a (commercial)
product in table 1 may be cheaper. It is possible that third-party
vendors use free software for their services.
Table 2: Free Software to Conduct Online Surveys
How to use this table: The following list was compiled
with care and can guide in identifiying eligible products. However, we
cannot guarantee its completeness or validity. Please
leave us a note, if you know of other free software products for
this list.
Licences:
GPL,
LGPL,
MPL.
Sorting:
Active projects with a developing community are listed on the top (green). They
are available as stable systems and suitable for beginners. Frozen
projects (yellow) have had their last update some time ago or the main
developers noted that only few spare time is available for the project.
Such projects might be revived or finally discontinued in the future.
Discontinued projects (red) often have only one source version online.
In addition they might be outdated in terms of technical implementation
or are generally not recommendable as a productive survey system.
|
|
Project
(birth - last update)
activity |
Repository |
Programming |
Licence |
Project Description (as seen on their
homepage) |
| Demo |
Team |
Languages |
|
|
LimeSurvey (formelerly
PHPSurveyor)
(2003-2007)
active |
SF.net |
PHP, MySQL |
GPL |
LimeSurvey (formerly PHPSurveyor) is a
leading Open Source Online Survey Tool written in PHP. |
|
Demo |
11 developers, 25 translators |
en, de, ... |
|
|
Open Survey Pilot (OSP)
(2004-2007)
active |
SF.net |
PHP, Apache |
MPL 1.1 |
Opensurveypilot is a strong opensource
webbased system for generating complete
online surveys, polls and
many more. |
| Demo |
1 developer |
en, de |
|
|
Web Survey Toolbox
(2004-2006)
frozen |
SF.net |
Java, JSP, PL/SQL |
GPL, LGPL, MPL |
The Web Survey Toolbox makes building
online surveys easier, more secure, and the surveys more powerful.
Includes a survey management website, a GUI survey editor, survey
webapps, and a clustering survey. Can be infinitely customized by adding
JSP code. |
| example |
7 developers, 15 contributors |
en |
|
|
phpESP
(2003-2006)
frozen |
SF.net |
PHP |
BSD |
PHP scripts to let non-technical users
create surveys, administer surveys, gather results, view statistics. All
managed online after database initialization. |
| Demo |
1 developer, ehemals 3 |
en |
|
|
Mod_Survey
(2000-2006)
frozen |
Home |
Perl |
GPL |
Mod_Survey is a mod_perl module for Apache.
It is used as a content-handler for "survey" files, or in other words
for files containing questionnaires described in an XML-based tag
notation defined in the Survey v3.0.0 DTD. |
| example |
3 developers |
nl, de, it, sw |
|
|
Unit Command Climate
Assessment and
Survey System (UCCASS)
(1998-2006)
frozen |
SF.net |
PHP |
other [?] |
The Unit Command Climate Assessment and
Survey System (UCCASS) is a PHP survey script for creating dynamic
surveys. Supports unlimited questions and answers, branching logic, bar
graph results with filtering, CSV export, templates, time limits and
more. |
| Demo |
3 developers |
en |
|
|
VTSurvey
(2005)
frozen |
SF.net |
Java, JSP |
LGPL |
VTSurvey is a web-based tool enabling users
to autonomously create and run online surveys, feedback or registration
forms. By providing a forms-based visual editor, the use of VTSurvey
requires no programming knowledge or skills in HTML. |
| Demo |
2 developers, 9 translators |
en, de, ... |
|
|
phpSurvey
(2000-2003)
frozen |
SF.net |
PHP4 |
GPL |
phpSurvey is a web based survey package
written in PHP4. With support for several powerful functionalities such
as survey library, report generator, result analysis tool, and many
others. PostgresQL is used as the backend database. |
| |
1 developer |
en |
|
|
Internet Survey Engine
(2004)
discontinued |
SF.net |
Python |
GPL |
Internet survey CGI engine. Allows to
define the collected data set, generate SQL database tables, displays
survey form, validates them and finally stores in the database. Written
in Python. |
| |
1 developer |
en |
|
|
HTMLq
(2004)
discontinued |
|
Python |
GPL |
A program that would take a text document,
a questionnaire with a few simple commands embedded in it to specify how
the questions should be laid out, and preprocess that into an HTML
document (which could then be further edited, of course). Revising the
questionnaire would be a matter of modifying the source file and running
it again through the preprocessor. |
| example |
1 developer |
en |
|
|
Teacher Evaluation based on
phpsurveyor
(2004)
discontinued |
SF.net |
PHP |
GPL |
Teacher Evaluation is built on top of
phpsurveyor. It is an online survey system giving a school the chance to
have their teachers evaluated by their students. It includes the
questionnaire in different languages and graphical statistics about the
results. |
| |
2 developers |
en, de |
|
|
Multi-Platform Survey
Architect
(2004)
discontinued |
SF.net |
Java |
code available |
Java-based application for survey creation.
Initial versions are geared toward the creation of web-based surveys in
PHP / MySQL. The program is designed to be extensible (hopefully) to the
extent that any language can be used for output. |
| |
1 developer |
en |
|
|
Doug's Impromptu Survey
(2003)
discontinued |
Freshmeat |
Perl |
GPL |
dsurvey (Doug's Impromptu Survey) is a
quick, down and dirty, easy-to-configure, CGI-based online survey. It is
implemented as a set of Perl CGI and config scripts which work with
Apache 1.3 and MySQL 3.25. |
| |
1 developer |
en |
|
|
Socrates Questionnaire
Engine
(2002-2003)
discontinued |
SF.net |
Java |
GPL |
Socrates is a Java based
questionnaire/survey engine and wizard, that enables fast delivery of
questionnaires to the web. Socrates is an API, with a thin servlet
layer, so that it can be used in other applications. |
| example |
7 developers |
en |
|
|
SurJey
(2001-2003)
discontinued |
SF.net |
Java |
Code verfügbar |
Flexible, robust, and highly-extensible
Java-based survey system. Supports survey creation, storage, and
rendering, as well as response validation, storage, and summarizing. |
| |
3 developers |
en |
|
|
OpenRatings
(2002)
discontinued |
|
PHP |
other [?] |
The OpenRatings engine allows students to
rate professors based upon three simple questions, and (our best
feature) free form comments. |
| |
4 developers |
en |
|
|
Single Survey
Project: Who is doing it? (WIDI) (2001)
discontinued |
Ergebnisse |
PHP |
GPL |
widi is a form targeted to Open Source
Developers that processes automatically their input and shows the
results graphically. It is part of a project at the "Computer Science
and Society" Institute at the Technical University of Berlin. |
| |
5 developers |
en, de, es |
|
|
My Survey MySQL
(2001)
discontinued |
Freshmeat |
Perl |
GPL |
My Survey MySQL is a script which allows
you to conduct a survey over the Web. It stores the responses in a MySQL
database. You can retrieve the results over the Web in either a sortable
HTML table, a bargraph summary, or a downloadable spreadsheet. This
script is cabable of recording and displaying thousands of responses. |
| |
1 developer |
en |
|
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ActionPoll
(2001)
discontinued |
SF.net |
PHP |
GPL |
Actionpoll is a simple PHP Voting script
which provides the standard functionality such as unlimited options, IP
tracking of users, easy installation. Surveys can be stored either in a
MySQL database or in text files. |
| |
1 developer |
en |
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© GESIS Lars Kaczmirek
13. März 2008
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