Entering a Response Manually within SMDS
Modified on: Fri, 5 Apr, 2024 at 10:07 AM
Entering response data manually within SMDS is one of three ways you can enter data. The other two options are to use an Excel upload, or to enter responses via a hyperlink from the distribution function.
The steps outlined here for manual data entry are similar whether your data collection tool is a survey, an observation, or other type of tool. We have organized the guide by Information source, with Individual Respondents first, and then Locations. The key topic categories include:
- Accessing your evaluation to begin manual data entry.
- Finding the respondent ID if the respondent already exists in SMDS.
- Creating a new Respondent ID if your respondent does not already exist in SMDS.
- Entering a response after you have the correct Respondent ID.
- Entering a Location response with a Location ID.
Note: Please make sure that your computer enables pop-ups for the SMDS site to run smoothly.
- Place your cursor over the Evaluation tab.
- Place your cursor over Responses in the dropdown list that appears.
- Click Manage Responses.
The full list of active evaluations in your SMDS space will be displayed. By clicking on an evaluation link, you will see all the data collection tools in that evaluation.
- Click the data collection tool name below the green bar associated with the response you need to enter.
A new page will open with a list of all the current responses to that data collection tool in that evaluation.
- Scroll to the bottom of the page and click the green +New Response button.
- If your data collection tool is available in more than one language, the system will display a pop-up window to select the language you want to complete the data entry in.
Remember, all response data in SMDS must have an ID attached to it, whether a respondent, or a location. So, the first step of adding the response data is attaching it to a specific respondent (or location).
If Your Respondent Already Exists in SMDS
- At the Add Response page you can search for your respondent using the Find a Respondent search box if you know your respondent exists within the system or need to check if they are already in SMDS. You can search by either the First and Last Name, or by the Alternate ID if you know that the respondent has an alternate ID.
Please note: While SMDS gives you the option of having a response be regular or anonymous, we recommend always leaving it on the default option of Regular. We do not recommend changing it to Anonymous. Selecting Anonymous will make it difficult for you to do data cleaning prior to analysis, because you won’t be able to search by Respondent ID. The best way to enter a response without a name, if you want to give anonymity to a respondent, is to use an alternative identifier under the Alternate ID, such as client ID# or something such as Anon1001.
Using the Find a Respondent search box, as you begin to type either the name or the Alternate ID, the system will find corresponding respondents if they exist in your organization’s SMDS space.
- If you find the respondent that you want to enter response data for, click on that respondent. Once you click on the respondent, you will be able to see that respondent’s contact information, to verify this is the respondent you want to attach to this new response. You will be able to select the respondent for data entry by clicking on the check mark on the right-hand side.
If Your Respondent Does Not Already Exist in SMDS
- If the respondent you want to enter a response for does not appear in the system, you can create a new respondent using the green +New Respondent button to the right.
If you click on a respondent name to see if it is the one you want, and realize it is not, then you can either click on the +New Respondent button to the right or click the +Add New button below the respondent you looked at.
- When you select to create a new respondent, a new Add Response window will open where you can create the ID for that respondent.
- You can enter the first and last name, an Alternate ID, or both. You will not be able to save the new respondent without information in at least one or the other of those categories.
- The Alternate ID can be whatever you determine to use that makes sense for the program you are doing the data collection in. It might be the address of where the response was obtained, such as in a neighborhood survey effort. Or it might be a client ID #, such as in a Financial Education Program or Homeownership Initiative. Or if you have a response and you know it belongs in your data collection, but you do not have any other defining information about the respondent you might create an Alternate ID series of numbers, such as “#101” or “Anon 1001” to indicate that the response has no other identifying information.
- Entering the email address is optional.
- Once you enter the information you want for that respondent, click the Save button at the bottom.
- The system will open a Confirm screen, for you to review the information on this respondent, and there will be a space for you to Pick the Date for when the data was collected. Once you select the date on the calendar, click Confirm & Proceed.
The system will now open a screen that shows your data collection tool, and you can enter the response data.
Entering the Response
- As you proceed through the data entry of your response, you can leave any question blank that the respondent did not answer. Open-ended questions have text boxes you fill by typing in the words that the respondent wrote on their paper survey. Multiple choice questions that are “check all that apply” will have check boxes. Multiple choice questions that are single choice will have radio dials and you can only select one. Matrix questions are those set up on a survey or observation as a table with several rows of options and multiple columns of answer options. You will fill those in as the respondent did on the paper (see example Matrix below).
Please note: Be careful on radio dial multiple choice questions, because you can change your answer between the options that are there, but you cannot unclick back to no-answer. So, make sure the respondent entered an answer for that question before you click on anything.
- When you have entered all the respondent’s data into the system you will click the blue Submit Response button to indicate to SMDS that this response is complete and ready to be included in analysis reports.
- If for any reason you need to exit the response before you have completed the entire response, you can do that by clicking the Save & Exit button. This may be because you have a question about one answer, perhaps you cannot read all of what is written in a text box on an open-ended question and want to check it with a colleague, or you want to take a break and come back later.
- The Delete Response will remove the survey response that you have been entering.
Please note: If your data collection tool includes any skip logic when it is constructed, then as you do data entry you will see an additional blue button option at the bottom of the page, for Next, and the Submit Response button will not appear until you get past all the skip logic. For more about skip logic, please see the Working with Skip Logic guide.
Entering a Location Response
If you are entering a Location response instead of a Respondent, the steps are the same, but the screens will be slightly different. You still begin at Manage Response and select your evaluation on the list and select the observation tool you want to enter data for.
For Observation tools, the Information Source Type will be Location.
When you click on the tool name, a new page will open with a list of all the current responses to that data collection tool in that evaluation.
- To enter a new response, click the +New Response button at the bottom of the page.
- At the Add Response page you can search for your respondent using the Find a Location search box if you know your respondent exists within the system or need to check if they are already in SMDS.
If the Location that matches the response you are entering appears, select it by clicking on the checkmark to the right of that location.
Creating a New Location ID
If the location does not yet exist in SMDS, you can create a new location ID by clicking on +New Location.
The page that displays when you click on +New Location will ask you to first select a Location Type.
- In the text box next to the Location field, type the address for the location associated with the response. This will become the Location ID.
- Entering a Geo Code of Latitude and Longitude is optional. Most users find it easier to do any mapping of their response data using the address and leave this blank.
- Once you have the Location ID as you want it, Click Save.
- The system will create the new ID, display it for you to confirm, and ask you to select a date for when the response data was collected. Use the calendar icon to select a date and click Confirm & Proceed.
Please note: You can also click the blue Back button to return to the ID to make edits if needed.
- When you click the Confirm & Proceed button the system will open a screen that displays your data collection tool, and you can fill in the response data.
Entering the Response
- As you proceed through the data entry of your response, you can leave any question blank that the respondent did not answer. Open-ended questions have text boxes you fill by typing in the words that the respondent wrote on their paper survey. Multiple choice questions that are “check all that apply” will have check boxes. Multiple choice questions that are single choice will have radio dials and you can only select one (see example multiple choice below). Matrix questions are those set up on a survey or observation as a table with several rows of options and multiple columns of answer options. You will fill those in as the respondent did on the paper.
Please note: Be careful on radio dial multiple choice questions, because you can change your answer between the options that are there, but you cannot unclick back to no-answer. So, make sure the respondent entered an answer for that question before you click on anything.
- When you have entered all the response data into the system you will click the blue Submit Response button to indicate to SMDS that this response is complete and ready to be included in analysis reports.
- If for any reason you need to exit the response before you have completed the entire response, you can do that by clicking the Save & Exit button. This may be because you have a question about one answer, perhaps you cannot read all of what is written in a text box on an open-ended question and want to check it with a colleague, or you want to take a break and come back later.
- The Delete Response will remove the survey response that you have been entering.
Please note: If your data collection tool includes any skip logic when it is constructed, then as you do data entry you will see an additional blue button option at the bottom of the page, for Next, and the Submit Response button will not appear until you get past all the skip logic. For more about skip logic, please see the Working with Skip Logic guide.
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