Illinois Qualtrics Guide

This guide will show you how to create, edit, distribute, and view the results of a Qualtrics survey. It is written for staff, faculty, and students at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign but may be helpful to anyone.

Preface

Qualtrics is a popular online survey platform that can be used to create, distribute, and analyze surveys and forms. The University of Illinois has a campus-wide Qualtrics license, so all U of I faculty, staff, and students can use Qualtrics at no cost.

Work in Progress

This guide is a work in progress, and will be updated substantially as time allows. If you find an error, please let us know.

Overview

The guide is an attempt to compile what we know about using Qualtrics: How to do common tasks, what works, and what should be avoided. It discusses how to navigate through the Qualtrics website for creating, editing, distributing, and viewing the results of your survey. Depending on your goals, you will likely want to jump to the relevant section(s) instead of reading from start to finish.

Sections are listed in the table of contents, which will appear on the left or as a “hamburger-style” menu, depending on your screen size. On a wide enough screen, subsections will also be listed in the “On this page” bar at the right. Many images can be clicked to zoom in.

Qualtrics also maintains extensive documentation on their website. The purpose of this guide is not to re-invent existing materials but to facilitate the research of faculty, students, and staff by presenting information in an easy-to-access and relevant format. This guide also includes some information that is not covered in the official Qualtrics documentation.

Why Qualtrics?

Everyone at the University has access to several survey/form creation tools, including Google Forms, Microsoft Forms, RedCap, and Webtools. So, why use Qualtrics specifically?

Simply put, depending on the nature of your project, the amount of data you are collecting, the sensitivity of the data, and the analyses you plan to perform, some tools may be better suited to your needs than others. For example, for HIPAA-protected health information, RedCap may be the best choice. In contrast, for a quick registration form or two-question survey, the best choice is whatever you are most comfortable using.

For larger forms or projects, Qualtrics offers several useful features. For example:

• Qualtrics is a FERPA-compliant solution for collecting student data (assuming you follow other data protocols correctly).
• Qualtrics surveys can incorporate detailed skip and display logic, meaning you can set it so respondents will only see questions that are relevant to them. This logic can be based on their responses or on information you have previously acquired. (See 2.5 Survey Logic.)
• You can export response data in a variety of common formats, including .csv, .sav (SPSS), and .xlsx (Excel).
  • Response data can be formatted to split multiple-response/checkbox questions across columns, which can drastically simplify analyses involving race, ethnicity, or preferences. (This feature is absent in several other tools.)
• Qualtrics enables collaboration with colleagues outside the university, as well as with defined groups of Illinois researchers (i.e., within the same division, such as Housing, or with a lab or project group. (See 13  Collaboration and Groups).
• Surveys can be distributed via anonymous links, QR codes, personalized email links, or (for an extra cost) SMS messages. (See 5  Survey Distribution.)
• Survey data can be analyzed inside Qualtrics using StatsIQ or TextIQ, or downloaded and analyzed in the tool of your choice (Excel, SPSS, R, Python, etc).
• Surveys can trigger a variety of workflows, such as emailing respondents a summary of their results, sending you (the researcher) a notification in Microsoft Teams, or populating a Google Sheet. (See 15  Workflows.)

Features

The University has a Qualtrics CoreXM license with some premium features:¹

• Premium CoreXM and programming/automation features (details below).
• Training and support.
  • Free courses, events, and webinars through XM Basecamp. (Note that not all Basecamp offerings are included with our license.)
  • Personal support from experts at Illinois as well as experts at Qualtrics.
    • (Note: for best results, login to Qualtrics before attempting to access the Qualtrics Support portal.)
  • Access to the XM Community, a global peer-to-peer discussion board about Qualtrics.
  • System status page that constantly monitors Qualtrics performance.
• The XM Product Roadmap is a great way to learn about changes to Qualtrics software. It includes a history of product updates and a look at upcoming features.
• Illinois does not subscribe to the separate Qualtrics products that are built on top of the CoreXM foundation (CustomerXM, EmployeeXM, whateverXM, etc.). We also do not have access to Conjoints/MaxDiff or Website/App Feedback.
  • We do have access to the Qualtrics offline surveys app, but not the XM Mobile App. The offline app is a workable solution when you need to administer surveys at a location that does not have a reliable internet connection. Please contact us if you would like to use the offline app so we can enable the appropriate permissions.
  • We have XM Directory Lite, which lets you upload contacts and distribute surveys to them, but for data privacy reasons we do not have the full XM Directory.

Premium CoreXM features:

• File Upload question type: allows survey participants to upload a file along with their survey response. This is useful if your survey collects files, images, or documentation from respondents.
• Signature question type: allows participants to draw their signature, essentially ‘signing’ the survey. Can be useful for obtaining informed consent.
• Table of Contents survey flow element: adds a table of contents to your survey, allowing survey participants to navigate between different blocks of questions and track their overall progress.
• SMS Distributions: if you have a list of mobile phone numbers for your respondents, you can distribute a short survey - or a link to a survey - using SMS text messages. SMS distributions can be purchased from the WebStore at $550 for 50,000 SMS credits. See 5.4 SMS Distribution for details.

Programming and automation features:

• Workflows allow you to trigger tasks based on various events. Examples include sending an email notification about a survey response, or automatically sending a survey invitation when an event occurs on a related system. For both the trigger event and the resulting task, you have a lot of options, most of which are inside the Qualtrics platform and some of which are external, such as connecting to Excel Online or Teams. Workflows report successes and failures when they run, which is useful if you need to troubleshoot. See 15  Workflows.
• The Qualtrics Application Programming Interface (API) allows you to automate repetitive processes within the application. API can be used to automate contact lists, create surveys, and to move information in and out of Qualtrics. Detailed API documentation is available online. To obtain access to the Qualtrics API, submit a request.
• Qualtrics lets you embed HTML and JavaScript in the Survey Editor to add custom functionality to your survey. For example, you can change the size of a question text box, create a custom question type, and much more. A few examples of custom JavaScript are included in 16.5 Custom JavaScript.

Good to know:

• Qualtrics survey projects and response data are stored and managed by Qualtrics, not by the University of Illinois.
• Qualtrics regularly backs up your data, protects it from unauthorized access, and adheres to several security standards. See the Qualtrics security statement for details.
• For added protection, survey owners can export their surveys and responses to create personal backup copies; multiple file formats are available.

Request a Consultation

If this guide does not answer your questions, you can also schedule a consultation. Consulting is open to all University of Illinois students, faculty, and staff during the Fall, Spring and Summer 2 semesters.

You are encouraged to contact us for appointments by submitting a request. Drop-in questions during consulting hours are welcome either through Zoom during our virtual drop-in hours or in person at Scholarly Commons 220 Main library (check their website for updates - (https://www.library.illinois.edu/sc/)).

---

1. Thanks to our friends at Wayne State University for the knowledge base article that we based this list on. Our license is quite similar to theirs.