ONLINE SURVEYS FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS FOR FLASHLIGHT 2

General Questions | Creating Surveys - General | Creating Surveys - Authoring Questions | Creating Surveys - Question/Survey Presentation | Respondent Pools | Deliver Survey | Survey Data (Collect Results) | Flashlight 1.0 FAQs

General Questions

What do I do to get started with online surveys at Sac State?

Fill out and submit the online surveys request form. Following receipt of your request, instructions for obtaining an account will be emailed to you within 24 hours.
 

What survey software is currently available to Sac State faculty and staff?

Flashlight Online 2.0 (new accounts as of 6/15/09). If you have an account that was created prior to this date, you have a Flashlight 1 account. Existing Flashlight 1 accounts will soon be moved over to the new version. See the TLT Group's Flashlight 2.0 features page for information about Flashlight 2 features.

I have a Flashlight 1 account. How can I obtain a Flashlight 2 account?

Send an email message to onlinesurveys@csus.edu, requesting that your account be moved to the new system. You can also wait until Flashlight 1 accounts are moved to the new system; you will be informed when this occurs.
 

Where do I go to log onto Flashlight?

Flashlight 2 users, login on the Skylight/Flashlight login page (https://skylight.wsu.edu/). Flashlight 1 users, login on the Flashlight 1 Login page (http://ctlsilhouette.ctlt.wsu.edu/ctlsilhouette2_5/).
 

How can I retrieve my username and/or password for Flashlight?

Send an email message to onlinesurveys@csus.edu requesting the information. An email containing information and/or instructions will be sent to you within 24 hours.
 

How secure is Flashlight?

Flashlight is considered "secure". For additional information about Flashlight security, see the TLT Group's FAQ on Flashlight security (applicable to both Flashlight 1 and Flashlight 2).
 

Is survey data from Flashlight completely anonymous?

Yes, Flashlight surveys are completely anonymous (Flashlight 1 and Flashlight 2).
 

I can't find the answer to my question here. What's my next step?

Additional resources are available on our Resources, Handouts, and Tutorials pages. You might also find the answer to your question on the TLT Group's Flashlight Training pages or on the Help pages for Flashlight (Skylight Wiki). If you cannot find the answer to your question using these resources, send an email message to onlinesurveys@csus.edu.

Creating Surveys - General

I have questions about the "Survey Properties" that I'm prompted for when I create a survey. What is the importance of each property?

The Create New Survey Skylight Help page provides descriptions for each property. Disregard the information on the page about Respondent Pools, Delivery Mode, and Summary. The Completion URL is described on the Survey Properties page. Note that the Flashlight 2 Help pages are currently under construction, as the system is fairly new.

What survey properties will my participants see?

Participants will see the survey title, and the description. They will also see the "completion URL" if you include one, after they submit the survey.

What is the Survey Metadata used for? Do I need to include this information?

Survey metadata is not used at this time by the system, so you currently do not need to include it. In the future, it will be used to provide search criteria for surveys. More information is available on the Uses of Metadata help page.

Can I delete a survey once I have responses?

Yes, but keep in mind that survey deletion is permanent and non-reversible. Consider one of these Skylight Help strategies first.

Can I copy a survey from one folder to another?

Yes, a survey can be copied to another folder.

How do I give someone else access to my survey?

Currently, this can be done by sharing the folder your survey is located in. The person you're sharing it with must have an account on the system.

Creating Surveys - Authoring Questions

What is a Question Group and why is there one in my survey?

A question group is an element of a survey that you'd use if you're going to take advantage of the Flashlight matrix feature. A matrix survey is used if you want your respondent groups to receive different groups of questions, depending on group particulars (perhaps two different courses in the same department). A survey cannot exist without at least one question group. Most surveys only have one question group.

What's the difference between a question group, a page, and a question/element?

Check out the Skylight description of Survey Question Hierarchy. Don't miss the explanation of the difference between a question and a question element!

What kind of title do I need to give my questions?

Question titles are not seen by survey participants, but are seen by you within the survey authoring environment, plus will be visible in survey reports. Your titles should be short, yet descriptive enough for the author to know what the question is about.

Are there examples or explanations somewhere regarding each of the different question types?

An example survey is available for you to view (http://tinyurl.com/r2olh9). The rubric type question, however, has not been represented in this survey.

I have my survey questions typed out in a Word document. Is there a way to import my questions?

No, there is not. However, copy/paste works pretty well. View this 5-minute demo on how to copy questions to Flashlight 2 from another source.

Can I import questions to Flashlight 2 from Flashlight 1?

No, but copy/paste works pretty well. View this 5-minute demo on how to copy questions to Flashlight 2 from another source (Flashlight 1).

Is there a way to make a question [submission] required?

No, but that feature is coming.

What about question branching (conditional formatting) for questions [the selected choice for one question governs the delivery of subsequent questions] - how can I set this up?

Although you may have read that this is a feature of Flashlight 2, this feature is not yet available on the system (as of July 2009).

Can I add output values to my survey questions?

Yes. Output values might be specified if you want a value to show in your survey report that is different from the choice label. By default, choice labels show in the report as the values. To specify values to be something different, look for a "Value" field in the question editor for the question. If you can't find anything, save the question, then go back into it. Oftentimes the value field will not show until after the question has been saved. In some cases, you can add values at the same time that you're inputting a label.

What are these key/value pairs ["metadata"] I see everywhere?

You'll run into key/value pairs, or metadata, in survey properties, question group properties, question properties, and at some point, in respondent pool properties. Survey and question metadata will eventually be used for search purposes, but are not utilized at this time. Metadata for question groups and for respondent pools are used to drive matrix surveys. Uses for Metadata is described here.

Can I move a question from one page to another page? How about from one question group to another?

No, questions cannot be moved. They can be reordered if they exist on the same page. To essentially "move" a question, copy the question (click the "Copy" button), then click the "Paste" button at the point you'd like to insert it at (either on another page or another question group). The "Paste" button will appear after you've click the "Copy" button. After copying, delete the question from the original location.

Can I add questions to a survey after I've started it?

Yes, you can.

I can't see my individual pages when I preview my survey. Is this normal?

Yes. Pages are not shown as separate when the survey is previewed. They will show correctly for participants.

What is a matrix survey?

A matrix survey is a survey in which the different pools of respondents receive groups of questions or specific words that are unique to that group. For additional information, see the TLT Group's Matrix Surveys pages.

Creating Surveys - Question/Survey Presentation

What titles will participants see, with regard to question groups, pages, and questions?

Survey participants will see your survey title (and description), and page titles.

Can I prevent page titles from showing?

Yes, you can. If you don't want participants to see you page title, type a blank in the Page Title area.

Can I add formatting to my questions, such as bold font, color, or larger text?

Yes, you can. Formatting can be added by formatting your text in an HTML editor, such as Dreamweaver, or by using a free Web editor such as NVU (for PC/Mac). Once formatted, copy the resultant text and HTML code into Flashlight.

Can I add images or other media objects to my survey?

Yes, you can. View this short video on Adding an Image or Video Clip to Your Survey.

Can I control some of the text that shows for my participants, depending on my survey or respondent pool properties?

Yes, you can. Check out the Skylight Help page on Displaying Metadata in Surveys and Messages.

Can I control which survey questions are displayed to my participants?

Yes. This is done by using the matrix capability of the system. You will use Question Groups and Respondent Pool metadata to drive the delivery of questions. For additional information, see the TLT Group's Matrix Surveys pages.

Is there a limit to the amount of text that can be entered into a text box by a user?

No, nor are survey authors given the option of setting these limits.

Why does the Washington State University banner show at the top of my survey? Can it be removed and replaced with a Sac State banner?

Flashlight was developed at the University of Washington, hence the WSU banner. The banner cannot be replaced or removed at this time (July 2009), but will be soon. An option you have would be to include a Sac State banner at the top (along with the existing WSU banner). To add this Sac State banner to your survey, copy and paste the following HTML code into the "Properties" field of your survey:

<hr /><img src="http://www.csus.edu/atcs/tools/onlinesurveys/images-surveys/sacstate_banner.jpg" alt="Sacramento State"/><br /><hr /><br />

Respondent Pools

What is a respondent pool?

 

A respondent pool is a "container" or pool that you set up to gather the data for your survey. This group (or groups) of respondents has certain survey properties in common and is managed as a unit for survey administration and analysis purposes. A survey can have multiple respondent pools (such as a survey for a course with several sections).

I'm getting a "date not valid" error message when I attempt to set up dates for my respondent pools. Why is this?

Most likely, the main survey dates that you have set up are outside of the date range that you're trying to set for your respondent pools. Main survey dates can be adjusted from Survey Properties. Click the "Properties" button in your Survey to access them.

Can I import my Respondent Pools into my survey?

Yes, you can. The process is described on the Skylight Help page Import New Respondent Pool using Excel format.

Deliver Survey

How do I deliver my completed survey to participants?

You need to have first created respondent pools for your survey. If your pool will be delivered via a single URL, you can obtain the URL used to take the survey from the respondent pool URL tab. This method is described in more detail in TLT Group's Obtaining the URL for a survey demonstration video. If your pool is being delivered via a unique URL, you'll use the Flashlight internal message/notification function. This method is described in the TLT Group's Send Survey Notification video.

How can I give my participants the URL for my survey?

You can email the URL to participants, post it on a Web page, or write it down somewhere. To shorten the URL to your survey (makes it easier for participants), use TinyURL.

How can I test my survey?

Test your survey by first creating a respondent pool for testing. Use the URL (or send notification to yourself if using the unique URL method of delivery) to submit your survey. You might want to submit your survey several times, to provide more testing data. Once you have test data, collect or view your data from the Reports area. If you're planning to download your data for further analysis, it would be worth your while to download your test data to make sure that the formatting is what you're expecting. Once done testing, you can delete your test respondent pool, so as not to corrupt the real data.

Can I limit the number of survey responses to one response per person?

Yes, this can be done if you're using the unique URL method of delivery. Delivery methods are described on the Skylight Help page Delivery Modes page.

Can I use Flashlight to send my survey URL out to participants?

Yes - if you use the unique URL method of delivery. To use this option, you'll need to input a list of participant email addresses into your respondent pool (video).

Can I send survey completion reminders to my participants?

Yes, if you're using the unique URL method of delivery. See the TLT Group's Reminding Participants to Respond video.

How can I improve response rates for my survey(s)?

Read this TLT Group article on Improving Engagement in Studies.

Survey Data (Collect Results)

How do I access the data from my survey?

To view the data from a survey in your browser, click the "Report" button from the main page of your survey.

Can I view my data for a single respondent pool?

Yes - but only in the quick report view for the respondent pool. You can view a quick report for a respondent pool from the Respondent Pool screen. Click on the "Response Rate" percentage for the pool that you want to view. Respondent pool designations are also included for each record of data in the general report for a survey.

How can I share my report data with others?

The easiest method in this case is to share the Quick Report URL with them (the main quick report for the survey or a quick report for a single respondent pool). They will not need an account on the system in order to view the page. Data on the quick report page is updated automatically, as participants submit the survey. Another method you can use is via the Skylight Dashboard, which a survey author can use to distribute permission to others to view reports and/or manage respondent pools for a survey. Participants need an account on the system to access the Skylight Dashboard.

I want to download survey data to my computer for further analysis. How do I do this?

From the Reports window for your survey, use the "Standard Excel Report" option. If you're importing into a program that won't accept Excel format, use the "Download Raw Data" option.

Can I access survey responses (data) during the time the survey is available to participants?

Yes, you can.

What is the "Custom Excel Report" option on the Reports screen?

This option allows you to use an Excel file that you've pre-formatted for your data. To create this file, you'll need to start with a Standard Excel Report that you've downloaded for your survey. This method is described on the Excel Report Custom Download Skylight help page.

Can I see how many people have responded to my survey during the period of time it is available to my respondents?

Yes, you can. To view the current number of responses go to your survey's Respondent Pool screen. From this screen, you can view your "respondent count" and the "completion count" for a respondent pool.