Personalized URLs

Question

Rather than asking respondents to enter their participant IDs, I want to send them personalized URLs. I set this up successfully, but when I export the data, the URLs are not exported. As such, I have no way of knowing who completed the survey. Any advice would be appreciated.

Comments

How did you personalize the URLs, exactly?

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Invitation Mailings > Access URLs

I specified the number of URLs I needed, titled the URL List, and confirmed that the URLs are for the only questionnaire in the project. I also allowed only one submission per person.

I used this approach because I do not want to store participant email addresses in Sosci Survey

Answer 1

Access URLs are designed to keep datasets anonymous, that is, the URL token is explicitly NOT stored in the dataset.

If you need links that relate to the dataset, access tokens (that can also be used in URLs) would be it.

Comments

Is the access token the same thing as an access code? I found the instructions below - is this correct? Also confirming that this means I have to create a code for each person, and this cannot be automatized.

Access Code (s)
A special case of marking is the access code (Access Codes). This is a one-time-password that allows him to access a questionnaire using the access restriction Access code.

For this to work, every participant needs his valid access code. They don't need to type it in by himself, instead add the access as the parameter s to the URL: https://www.soscisurvey.de/demo/?s=AB123456

Access codes must only contain letters (A-Z) and digits (0-9).

Tip: When sending personalized URLs using access codes, participants are able to pause the interview and resume it later where they left off. This even works for questionnaires that are public. Nevertheless, every participant needs to have their own access code beforehand.

Important:​ An individual access code is only valid until the questionnaire was filled out and reached the last page. Afterwards, the access code won't work, any more. For more details see Access Codes.

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> Is the access token the same thing as an access code?

No, there are two distinct mechanisms.

The access code (attached with an s=) is stored in the dataset unless you use the access feature NOT to store it (set in the questionnaire settings).

The access URL is a unique URL that allows one-time access, but ensures anonymity.

You fin both options in the "Invitation Mailings" menu.

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Based on your comments, I need access tokens, then. How can I set this up? I am unable to find instructions.

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I did manage to create URLs and corresponding tokens previously, but the token are also not included when I export the data.

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The access tokens are not what you need, if you want to match the data.

What you need are access codes. Please create them in "invitation mailings" -> "access codes".

In case you're using the German user interface, please feel free to post in German.

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Thank you. That worked (exported the URLs and corresponding codes), but when I copy and paste one of the URLs into my browser, it says access is denied and a special key is required. There is nowhere to enter a key, but even if there was, I would rather avoid that. I would like participants to simply click a link without having to enter a code or ID (and for that link to have their ID embedded).

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> it says access is denied and a special key is required

Please make sure to set the proper access mode in your questionnaire (access code, not access URL).

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This has resolved the issue. I appreciate your help.