Pulling Data Into a Second Survey (Longitudinal Surveys)

Suite
Strategy & Research
Product
Qualtrics
What's on this page

About Pulling Data into a Second Survey

Longitudinal research can involve following up with the same respondents later, in addition to retaining previously provided data about the same respondents. For example, you can use randomly generated IDs to link responses in an anonymous study. As another example, you can carry over certain information respondents have already filled out, such as an email address; the email will be presented to them in the second half of the study, and they can either leave it alone, or change it, if their email has updated.

This support page will explain how to connect data in two different surveys, so that the second survey prepopulates with certain information for the same respondent. You must follow the directions in every section of this support page to successfully complete your project.

Qtip: Remember that changes are only live to your respondents after you publish them! This includes any workflows you may have added to your surveys.
Attention: This particular survey process has been designed for longitudinal surveys meant to be several hours or days apart. As such, there is often a several minute delay before the contact list updates and the authentication can be fully processed. We do not recommend using the process for automatic authentication.

Listing Your Fields

This project involves two different surveys and lots of different features. One thing that can help you stay organized is a list of the data you want to transfer from one survey to another. It’s important to think of short, intuitive names for each of these fields, because you will be using these shorthand names throughout the project. You also need to make sure spelling and capitalization stays the same throughout.

For example, let’s say you want to carry over someone’s employee identification number, the office where they work, and the department they work for. Your list might look like this:

  • EmployeeNumber
  • Office
  • Department

You would then want to use these same names throughout. For example, you can’t use “Employee Number” and “EmployeeNumber” interchangeably. Choose one you prefer and stick with it.

First Survey Setup

Create a contact list with a name you’ll remember later. You don’t need to add any contacts to it yet.
creating a mailing list named authenticate part two
creating a mailing list named authenticate part two
Create your first survey and add all the desired questions.
Go to the Survey flow.
navigating to survey flow and clicking add a new element here
navigating to survey flow and clicking add a new element here
Click Add a New Element Here or Add Below.
Select Embedded Data.
selecting the embedded data element
selecting the embedded data element
Click Move and drag this element to the top of the Survey Flow.
moving the embedded data element to the top of the flow, and adding login ID
moving the embedded data element to the top of the flow, and adding login ID
Name this element Login ID. This is going to be the key to linking the two surveys.
Click Set a Value Now
Set the Login ID equal to a random number by selecting Insert Piped Text, Random Number, entering the range, then clicking Insert.
for the login ID value, using the piped text menu to insert a random number
for the login ID value, using the piped text menu to insert a random number
Qtip: The best random number ID is 5 characters or more, decreasing the chance respondents can be randomly assigned the same ID. To learn more about generating random IDs, see Assigning Randomized IDs to Respondents.
Click Apply.
Go to the Workflows tab.
creating a workflow in a survey
creating a workflow in a survey
Follow these steps to create a workflow started by a survey response event.
Choose Newly created responses.
new window where you configure survey response event
new window where you configure survey response event
Click Save.
Qtip: For information on settings not covered here, see the Survey Response Event support page.
Click the plus sign (+) and then select Add a task.
adding a new task
adding a new task
Choose Update XM Directory Contacts.
new window where you can search tasks. update xm directory task is highlighted
new window where you can search tasks. update xm directory task is highlighted
If you have access to multiple directories, choose a directory.
menus where you can select the directory and list
menus where you can select the directory and list
Select the contact list you made in step 1.
Example: In our example, this is a list named “Authenticate part 2.”
Next to External Data Reference, click the Piped Text button ( {a} ).
matching login ID to external reference ID
matching login ID to external reference ID
Hover over Embedded data field, then select Login ID.
Next to each of the preset fields, you can use the Piped Text button ( {a} ) to match survey answers to important contact information.
preset fields highlighted
preset fields highlighted
Qtip: Any of the default fields that you don’t plan to use, you can delete. Keep in mind some may be required by your organization. We recommend removing Contact ID.
Attention: Required contact info can vary by organization. It is highly likely that email is required, but you may also need to include information such as first name or last name.
Click Add Field.
On the right, select one of the fields you want to move from survey 1 to survey 2. In this example, we want to save the respondent’s City.
adding a city field
adding a city field
On the left, click the Piped Text button ( {a} ), select the question or embedded data where the respondent provides this information.
If needed, repeat these steps to add fields you want to move from one survey to the other.
When you’re done adding these fields, click Next.
Click Save when you’re finished.
Qtip: For information on settings we didn’t cover in these steps, see Update XM Directory Contacts Task.

Displaying the Login ID to User

Although the setup described on this support page doesn’t require that you show the respondent what their Login ID is, you may still want them to know this information, just in case. Using Piped Text for the “Login ID” embedded data field, you can show the Login ID to the respondent in several parts of the survey, including:

  • An email task that is sent to the respondent after they complete the survey.
    Qtip: You must already know or ask a respondent to provide their email address to use this option.
  • An end of survey message.
  • A question.

For more on displaying this information to respondents, see Assigning Randomized IDs to Respondents.

Second Survey Setup

Qtip: The information from the first survey can only be brought into the second survey as open text data. This means the second survey will have one text entry question for each field being brought over.
Create your second survey.
Create a text entry question for each data point you want to bring over.
adding text entry questions to the survey
adding text entry questions to the survey
Go to your Survey flow.
navigating to survey flow and clicking add a new element here
navigating to survey flow and clicking add a new element here
Click Add a New Element Here or Add Below.
Choose Authenticator.
selecting the authenticator element
selecting the authenticator element
Click Move on each element to drag it under the authenticator. If you have multiple blocks or branches in your survey, make sure they are in order.
adding the authenticator based on contact, selecting the contact list, and then adding pre-fill based on loginID
adding the authenticator based on contact, selecting the contact list, and then adding pre-fill based on loginID
Set the Authentication Type to Contact
Select the library where you saved the contact list in the first survey.
Select the same contact list you created for the contact creation workflow. In this example, it is “Authenticate for Part 2.”
Choose to authenticate by External Data Reference.
Select Pre-fill.
Qtip: If a respondent uses the correct link to access a survey, this option assures they are automatically logged into the survey without having to remember or type their Login ID in.
Type “Login ID.”
Add an embedded data element nested under the authenticator. Make sure it is before other elements under the authenticator.
Qtip: You’ll also need to make sure you have an embedded data element before your authenticator to capture the Login ID field.
an embedded data element for login id before the authenticator in the survey flow
an embedded data element for login id before the authenticator in the survey flow
Click Add a New Field and add each of the fields you are trying to move over. For example,  we said we wanted to carry over everyone’s “Office,” so we have an “Office” field in the screenshot.
Click Apply
adding an embedded data element to capture the carried over fields
adding an embedded data element to capture the carried over fields
Navigate to the Survey builder.
selecting the text entry question, and selecting default choices
selecting the text entry question, and selecting default choices
Select your text entry question.
Click Default choices.
Click the dropdown arrow.
using the piped text menu to select our embedded data field
using the piped text menu to select our embedded data field
Select Embedded Data and enter the name of your embedded data field in the box. You can also use the dropdown menu to select a field from a list of available fields.
Click Insert.
Click Save.
Repeat Steps 17-22 as needed.
Because this solution allows respondents to change information, we recommend creating another workflow to save the updated contact information to your directory. That way, if you need this information in a different survey for the future, the contact is already up-to-date.
Qtip: Create a workflow started by a survey response event, then add an update XM Directory contacts task. This workflow should be very similar to the one you made for the first survey, but should be triggered by your second survey instead.
Qtip: In order to carry over specific default choices for multiple choice questions instead of text entry questions, you will need to use JavaScript. Qualtrics Support cannot advise on custom coding, however, you can always try asking our community of dedicated users instead.

Distributing the Second Survey

In order to connect the data from your first survey to your second survey, you need to do two things: build the right link using query strings, and distribute the second survey directly from the first.

Building the Survey Link

In your second survey, navigate to the Distributions tab.
navigating to distributions and clicking get a single reusable link
navigating to distributions and clicking get a single reusable link
Select Get a single reusable link.
Copy the link from the anonymous survey link section.
copying the anonymous link from the distributions tab
copying the anonymous link from the distributions tab
Paste the link into a Word document, Google Doc, Notepad, or other app where you can make some quick edits. It should look like this: https://survey.xx1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
At the end of the link, add a question mark ( ? ).
Add the following (bolded): https://survey.xx1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX?Login%20ID=${e://Field/Login%20ID}

Qtip: If your survey has been translated into multiple languages, it’s possible to specify which language a respondent gets when they open the survey using query strings. You can add the language field onto the end of the link, using the below text:

&Q_Language=XX

Instead of XX, add your language code of choice.

Connecting the Surveys

Using the link you created above, you have several options for distributing your second survey.

  • Email task: Distribute the second half of a study to the participant based on hours / days since they finished the first half. Remember, although you’re linking to the second survey, you must add the email task to the first survey!
  • Send survey via email task: Distribute the second half of a study to the participant based on days / months since they finished the first half. Remember, although you’re linking to the second survey, you must add this task to the first survey!

    Qtip: Send survey via email tasks won’t let you save them if you don’t have special piped text in them. For your link to the second survey, you will need to copy your query string and put it on the end of the “Survey URL” piped text to link to the survey, like this:

    ${l://SurveyURL}?Login%20ID=${e://Field/Login%20ID}

    You can also copy this exact piped text and use it as a hyperlink in your XM Directory task.

    A hyperlink window with the protocol set to other and the piped text we gave you above pasted in the URL field
    A hyperlink window with the protocol set to other and the piped text we gave you above pasted in the URL field
  • Redirect to URL at End of Survey: When your respondents finish the first survey, they will be immediately redirected to the second survey. Remember, although you’re linking to the second survey, you must add the redirect to the end of the first survey!
    Qtip: This feature is not available for free accounts.
  • Posting Your Link: Did you display the Login ID to the participant? Do you expect them to remember this ID? After the first part of the study is complete, you can paste the second survey’s link to a website, send it to an email group, or post it wherever you know the participants will see it. Respondents can then use their Login ID to “log into” the second survey.

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