WU employees can request online surveys. Authorized WU students or WU employees then design the forms and conduct their surveys on the web. Potential participants are invited via email.
LimeSurvey
LimeSurvey is a free and open source tool that allows you to create and conduct surveys. IT-SERVICES provides the software without any further verification - in particular there is no detailed security check of the source code. This is not necessary for the simple gathering of empirical data. Personal and sensitive data shall not be collected with LimeSurvey!
Request a survey
WU students
LimeSurvey is available to all WU students writing a Master's or Bachelor's thesis at WU. Your thesis advisor must request the tool on your behalf first: request new survey (LimeSurvey).
Type of survey installation Defines who gets administrative access to the survey.
Survey name English, as short as possible, describing the project (no special characters!). The name is part of the public link to your survey.
Creating a survey
The login data to your LimeSurvey instance will be sent to you by email.
Important! Change the password when you log in for the first time! This way you make sure that only authorized persons can edit the survey and view the data.
For further steps we recommend the LimeSurvey Manual in English. YouTube also provides some helpful video tutorials.
Furthermore, specific topics are addressed in the FAQ section down below. If you encounter other difficulties, please contact us via email to survey@wu.ac.at.
Inviting participants
We recommend that you send the invitations via your email client. This will allow you to design the text freely. With the mail merge function you can create individualized invitations and send them in compliance with GDPR (in German: DSGVO).
To send your survey to WU students, please use the mailing listumfragen@wu.ac.at. Its use is subject to certain specifications and restrictions - please refer to the related FAQ entry for details. Please keep in mind that WU students can unsubscribe from the mailing list. It is therefore not guaranteed that you will reach all members of your intended target group.
FAQs
Mailing list "Umfragen" (i.e. surveys) - which rules apply?
In order to comply with the guidelines of the mailing list usage, each mailing has to be approved by the Vice Rector’s Council for Academic Programs and Student Affairs.
The mailing list can be used by WU students for dissertations and master theses.
The mailing list can be used for bachelor theses (as non-scientific papers) if the survey results provide information that will help to further develop teaching at WU.
Furthermore, the mailing list can be used for WU internal research projects. The number of possible mailings per semester is limited for each department.
Using the mailing list correctly
If possible, provide both the text of the mailing and the questionnaire in German and English. If your survey is conducted exclusively in German, please include a note in English at the beginning of your mailing stating this fact.
Send your finished mailing text (as it is intended to be sent) to umfragen@wu.ac.at. Please note that the WUPOL email applies to these emails.
A valid sender address is absolutely necessary. In front of your subject text, the string "[Umfragen]" will be inserted automatically later on. After your mailing has been approved, you can find it in the list archive.
What features does LimeSurvey offer?
Lime-Survey offers the following features. Due to updates you might find a more complete feature list on the website of LimeSurvey.
Unlimited number of surveys at the same time
Unlimited number of participants in a survey
More than 30 different types of questions that can be customized via question attributes
Three different survey modes (question-for-question, group-by-group, all in one)
Support in more than 50 different languages in frontend and backend
WYSIWYG HTML editor for easy formatting of text blocks and integration of tables, graphics, etc.
Quotas management
Defining optional conditions for questions based on earlier answers
Creation of a printable survey version
Re-usable editable answer templates
Integration of pictures, movies or different types of multimedia content into a survey
Ready-made question templates for different applications
Assessment surveys, giving feedback to users at the end of a survey
Defining evaluation rules to assign points to individual responses and providing users with a predefined feedback at the end of the survey
Anonymous and Not-Anonymous surveys
Surveys with open and closed user groups
Sending of invitations, reminders, and access keys for a survey
Option for participants to buffer answers to continue the survey at a later time
Template editor for creating your own page layout
Extensive and user-friendly back-end (admin page) in different languages
Possibility to enter the data directly in the back-end
Survey starting and expiry dates for automation
Enhanced import and export function (Text, CSV, MS Excel, PDF, SPSS, R, queXML)
Integrated statistical evaluation functions with graphical results presentation and possibilities for filtering as well as exporting to PDF & Excel
W3C compliance
Can students also use other survey tools?
Currently IT-SERVICES only provides LimeSurvey. Other free survey tools (e.g. Survey Monkey, Google forms) are not supported.
Where is the collected data or the survey form stored?
Surveys that are run and managed by WU employees use WU's own servers and store collected data there. Surveys for bachelor and master theses store the collected data in the cloud due to technical and administrative reasons.
The following applies to both instances: when using LimeSurvey, collecting sensitive data in terms of the GDPR (in German: DSGVO) is not permitted.
Can the default language of the survey be changed?
The default language cannot be changed after the survey has been created. As a workaround you can export the survey structure, create a new survey and then import the structure again.
Is LimeSurvey suitable for academic research projects?
LimeSurvey is limited in terms of mass access and complex data analysis. For academic research projects the software "Qualtrics" can be used if necessary. Please contact us at survey@wu.ac.at, we will be happy to help.
Can I use LimeSurvey in courses?
WU staff and faculty members must apply for an instance that allows them to manage users independently. The respective user accounts for students can then be set up by themselves.
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