You can compare the responses from two or more surveys that have the same structure or contain matching questions. This allows you to, for example:
- Compare different language versions of the same survey, as long as the order, number and types of questions are the same.
- Measure your results against those of other researchers running the same survey, even if some of the questions are different.
- Track and analyse trends in regularly running surveys.
To compare responses from several surveys:
- Ensure that you hold Analyse permissions on all the surveys you wish to compare.
- Locate the survey you wish to use as the base for your comparison and click Analyse.
- On the Analyse page, click on the Advanced tab and select Compare surveys from the menu.
- At Select survey to compare, select the survey you wish to compare your base survey to from the drop-down menu.
- Below, select whether you want to:
- Compare surveys based on their structure: This will compare surveys based on the number, type and order of the questions. The comparison tool will attempt to match question 1 with question 1, question 2 with question 2 and so on. If both questions are the same type (e.g. both are selection list questions), and they both contain the same number of answer options, they will be compared. If both questions are not the same type, or do not contain the same number of answer options, they will be omitted from the comparison.
- Compare surveys based on question text: This will compare questions based on the question text only. The questions can be in any order and can be any question type (excluding free text) as long as the question text matches. If the tool is unable to find a match for the question text, the question will be omitted from the comparison.
- Click Next. You will now see a table listing the matching questions from both surveys side by side.
- Check that the questions have been matched correctly and click Proceed with comparison (or click Cancel to return to your Summary page).
The responses from both surveys will appear in table format, showing the response numbers from each survey, as well as a combined total. You can now undertake the following actions:
- Add another survey to the comparison by repeating the steps above.
- Filter the comparison report for more nuanced analysis.
- Download the comparison report in PDF format by clicking Export at the top right of the page and choosing Download PDF.
- Export individual comparison tables by clicking on the
cog at the top right of the comparison table and choosing the appropriate format. - Save your comparison for later use by clicking the
Save these settings button at the bottom of the left-hand menu. Your view will be saved under the Views tab at the top of the responses list. - Remove the comparison and return to your response summary by clicking
Remove advanced reporting at the top of your Analyse page.
Note: The comparison tool will not compare free text questions. Comparisons can only be run on questions with pre-defined answers, e.g. multiple choice or selection list questions.