Follow up on trying to develop a multi-wave survey

Question

Dear SoSci Survey,

Thank you for your quick response. In answer to your question, I am using a double-opt in mail that automatically redirects the respondent to the second questionnaire. As I mentioned, that part works. I am able to get the generated mail. I am able to click the link in the mail message and it sucessfully takes me to the second survey. The manual page I looked at was the one you referenced in your answer. Specifically I was attempting to follow this procedure:

Automatic Sending of Invitations

*This option is sensible when participants should start the survey straightaway after registering.

In the Opt-in question in Personalized link from, the first mailing is selected. This means the participant will begin with the first questionnaire directly after confirming their email address.
At the end of the questionnaire, the PHP function mailSchedule() (for separate data records) or mailResume() (if all waves should be saved in one data record) will be used in order to schedule the time-controlled sending of the next mailing(s). Independent of which two functions you use, specify false for the first parameter and the ID of the mailing for the second parameter.*

I am wondering if there is an argument I need to add to the link to transmit the ID. From what I see in another part of the instructions this should be automatic and the link generated by the double opt-in mail did have the 'd' parameter so it seems that it would not be necessary but I thought I would ask to be certain. Here is an example of the link in the text of the opt-in mail that directs me to the survey.

https://www.soscisurvey.de/test154210/?l=eng&d=WNYL7L56LTPU22W5

I extended the test time for the survey so the link continues to work.

Comments

>  I am able to click the link in the mail message and it sucessfully takes me to the second survey.

Just to be sure: When you check the record of the second survey in the data set, is there some code written to the variable SERIAL?

>  From what I see in another part of the instructions this should be automatic and the link generated by the double opt-in mail

Yes, it should. I am already testing what's going wront. But maybe you could check the SERIAL in the meantime? Thanks.

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Alright, thank you for the links (both, the opt-in link and the survey link).

> https://www.soscisurvey.de/test154210/?l=eng&d=WNYL7L56LTPU22W5

This is not (!) an opt-in link, but the subsequent link in the questionnaire, right? In the Opt-In Mail there should be something like...

https://www.soscisurvey.de/PROJECT/?act=96VL1RPK7H5V4XLN&a=cf

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Sorry for the delay.

When I look at the data I see the "~anonymous" in the SERIAL field. That sounds like a big clue.

You are correct in that I sent you the wrong link before. What I sent you was what appears in the browser after arriving at the second survey.

The opt-in link that actually appeared in the mail message was this one:

https://www.soscisurvey.de/test154210/?act=KMU41WKS8EP5N386&a=cf

My apologies for that.
answered 2 hours ago by s108637 (140 points)

Answer 1

When I look at the data I see the "~anonymous" in the SERIAL field. That sounds like a big clue.

Yes, exactly. Apparently, you set the privacy mode "Anonymous" in the opt-in question.

SoSci Survey takes it very serious with privacy - and therefore, anonymous means really anonymous. As soon as the interview was started (actually a bit earlier) is is impossible to determine who started the interview. For details please see the section on Privacy Mode.

For your design, you'll have to limit privacy to some degree. In multi-wave surveys, it is necessary to use "Pseudonymous", so that different interviews from the same respondents can be assigned to another by the SERIAL. If it's only one wave OR when a break page is used (as you wrote) than "Anonymize when finished" would be fine as well.