Can a survey be completed in two steps?

[ZekeMI]

Hi! I'm wondering the survey workflow described below can work.

One group of field workers goes out and knocks on doors, asking residents if they'd like to have water sampling done. If so, they collect the resident and address info in a survey form.

At a later date, field workers (who may or may not be the same as in the first group) then go out and conduct the sampling, using the remaining fields on the original survey. So, one survey form with one section filled out at one date, and another section completed at a later date. 

I can think of other ways, such as one form to collect resident/address info, then some backend process to put that data into a second survey. But if the first way can work, it can save that work on the backend. Thanks! 

[MarkChappell · Accepted solution]

It's possible to design a workflow that allows one survey to be completed in stages by different groups of field workers. One way of achieving this would be through using a single survey form that contains two sections, one for resident information and one for water sampling data.

You can utilize a 'Choice Single Select' question at the beginning of the survey to indicate whether the worker is collecting resident information (first visit) or conducting the water sampling (second visit). For example, the question could be "Which part of the survey are you completing?" with options "Resident Information" and "Water Sampling".

This answer would then dictate the subsequent sections of the form that are visible to the field worker. By employing 'Relevance Rules' or 'Skip Logic', you can ensure that only the relevant section of the survey appears. For example, if "Resident Information" is selected, only the questions pertaining to collecting resident and address information would be displayed. Conversely, if "Water Sampling" is selected, the water sampling section of the survey would be displayed.

It's important to ensure that the unique identifier (like the address or resident ID) is accurately captured in both visits to ensure data continuity.

[MobiusSnake]

I haven't done this exactly, but I could imagine something like this working:

• One feature service with two separate forms
• Your feature service contains all the questions from both forms
• Form one is for your first scenario, it allows new surveys to be collected
• Form one includes a hidden question named something like "revisit_site" that just writes a value of 1
• Form two is for your second scenario, it does not allow new surveys to be collected, but relies on the Inbox, with an inbox query of revisit_site=1
• Form two has some read-only fields displayed from the first visit (and in the "instance name"), but mostly has new questions that'll update the fields that weren't in the first form
• Form two also has a hidden question that sets revisit_site to 0 so that record is kicked out of the Inbox once it's been submitted

Potential issues I could see would be issues with offline workflows, plus the potential for a lot of records in your inbox, depending how many sites you're working with.

[ZekeMI]

Thanks all!

[abureaux]

I'll just add that this workflow would be ideal for the Inbox feature (user accounts required). This setup would simplify data collection by allowing multiple field users to collaborate and share work, and would guarentee that all sampling data is associated with a pre-existing record.