Access Codes

Access Codes are short one-time codes that entitle you to fill out a questionnaire. They have the following functions:

• Restriction of who can access the questionnaire.
• Prevent Multiple Submissions by the Same Respondent
• Linking survey data to an external data set (using the code as key variable).

Note: Under certain conditions, it is possible to fill out the questionnaire multiple times with one access code (see Pause and Continue Questionnaire Completion). Multiple cases with the same access code can be identified and deleted in the data cleanup using the SERIAL variable.

Note: Resuming a previously interrupted interview works regardless of whether the access restriction “access code” was selected in the questionnaire. On the other hand, the correct access restriction must be set for the restriction of the participants and the display of a access code query (if the access code is not transmitted in the link).

To let SoSci Survey know which access codes are valid, there are two possibilities:

1. SoSci Survey creates a list of valid access codes under Invitation Mailings → Access Codes.
2. You create (outside of the program) a list of codes and imports those into SoSci Survey under Invitation Mailings → Access Codes.

If the access restriction “Access Codes” is configured for a questionnaire, then an access code must be entered in order to start answering the questionnaire.

• The respondent can either type in the access code manually,
• or the respondent will receive a link that comprises the access code.

If you want to send the access code directly in the link, add the parameter “s” in the URL. For more information see URL to the Questionnaire. This does not require any changes in SoSci Survey, you just need to send a supplemented link.

Access codes can – depending on the application – lead to obtaining personal data or to ensuring maximum anonymity.

The access codes is noted directly in the record, as a SERIAL variable – unless you use the “Access code (anonymous)” access setting.

So if you have a list of names and sent links (with access codes), then it is possible to unambiguously assign which addressee belongs to a data record based on this list.

Important: As soon as you send the links with access codes via e-mail, the assignment will at least be evident from the sent e-mails. It is also possible that copies of the e-mails are stored on the mail server. This data must be avoided or reliably deleted if anonymity is to be guaranteed.

Access codes can also be printed out – for example, on stickers that are then stuck on letters (without remembering or noting the assignment) or on slips of paper that are subsequently placed in a lottery drum.

Slips of paper in a lottery drum are particularly suitable for surveys in companies (employee surveys, customer surveys) where the addressees of the survey are personally on site. If each person draws a slip of paper from the lottery drum, anonymity is guaranteed (provided that the questionnaire does not ask for any characteristics that may indicate identity), and at the same time the following is ensured:

• Each person can fill in the questionnaire only once (unless they draw several slips from the lottery drum).
• The completion of the questionnaire can be interrupted and continued later.