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Collecting Contact Information From Participants In An Anonymous Qualtrics Survey

Last modified 5/31/2023

Follow these steps to obtain contact information in a manner that keeps potential identifiers separate from your research data.

How to Collect Contact Information

  1. Create an anonymous survey following the instructions provided at the following location: How to set up an anonymous survey in Qualtrics.
  2. Create a new survey in Qualtrics (referred to as the compensation survey) 
  3. Add in questions to gather the desired contact information in the new compensation survey (i.e. name, email, etc.) 
  4. Click on the “Distributions” tab in the upper left corner
    Example project to show the Distributions button.
  5. Click on the “Get a single reusable link” button in the middle of the screen
    Image showing the Get a single reusable link button.
  6. Make sure that “Anonymous Link” is selected in the options on the left
  7. Copy the URL link being displayed in the middle of the screen
  8. Return to your initial research survey (the survey you are using to gather data)
  9. Select +Add new question
  10. Select Text/Graphic
  11. Replace the default text with instructions to click on the hyperlink
  12. Select the “Rich Content Editor” option
    Image showing the Rich Content Editor button.
  13. Select “More…” for more options
    Image showing the More button.
  14. Click on the link icon
  15. Paste the copied hyperlink into the URL box and click the “OK” button

How to prevent people from completing the compensation survey without completing the initial research survey

Follow these steps to ensure that only the participants who get to the end of the research survey and click on the link while in the survey can enter their information for compensation.

  1. Go to your initial research survey
  2. Click on the “Distributions” tab in the upper left corner
    Image showing the Distributions button
  3. Click on the “Get a single reusable link” button in the middle of the screen
    Image showing the Get a single reusable link button
  4. Make sure that “Anonymous Link” is selected in the options on the left
  5. Copy the URL link being displayed in the middle of the screen
  6. Go into your compensation survey
  7. Click on the “Survey Options” button on the left
  8. Select Security from the menu
  9. Toggle on Add a referral website URL
  10. Click on the Publish button in the upper right corner
  11. Test the surveys to ensure that these changes are working properly (both surveys must be published)

Still Need Assistance? 

For Technical Assistance, Submit a Help Ticket, or contact the Technology Support Center by calling (309) 438-4357, or by email at SupportCenter@IllinoisState.edu. 


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