From questionnaire to responses
Data collection
Build the instrument, share one link, and collect on any phone - with consent, withdrawal and retention working rather than promised.
Most research software starts at the point where you already have a data file. ZStat starts earlier, because most of what goes wrong in a study is decided before the first respondent answers.
What you can do
Items, response scales and choice lists, checked for leading wording, missing universes and formats that will not analyse afterwards.
A locked instrument cannot be edited while responses are coming in, because a codebook that changed halfway through describes neither half of the data.
It opens on a phone, shows the consent notice before any question, and gives each respondent a code they keep.
Response counts, typical completion time, and quality flags for straightlining and speeding, as they come in.
A respondent enters their code and their answers are deleted. What survives is a record that a withdrawal happened, with nothing that identifies them, so your totals can still be explained.
What it refuses
- Opening collection before there is an ethics reference, a lawful basis, a stated purpose, a retention date and a working withdrawal route.
- Locking an instrument with an item that tells the respondent which answer is wanted.
- Writing an answer without an authorisation the database itself checks, so data cannot be inserted around the consent gate.