Web survey software comparison

By FCW

| January 10, 1999

Information is power. And while e-mail and the World Wide Web have made it possible to distribute information around the globe faster than ever, a new type of software is turning the Internet into a channel for collecting information.

Vendor	Perseus Development Systems	Raosoft Inc.	Raosoft Inc.	Saja Software
Product	Survey Solutions for the Web	EZSurvey 98	SurveyWin and EZReport	Survey Select
Price	$179	$399	$287 SurveyWin; $86 EZReport	$595 Survey Select; $495 Web/e-mail module
GSA	No	Yes	(more than 1/3 discount)	No (but 10% govt. discount)
Form Design
wizards	yes	yes	no	yes
for entire form	yes	yes	no	yes
forquestions	yes	no	no	yes
templates	no, but wizard offers choices	8	yes	15 (generated on the fly)
Import from:
word processor format	RTF	no	no	no
HTML		yes	no	no
ASCII		no	no	no
other		no	EZSurvey	no

question library	inc.: > 200	no	can create	inc.: >800
answers:
multiple choice-single entry	yes	yes	yes	yes
multiple choice-multiple entry	yes	yes	yes	yes
single list	yes	yes	yes	no
multiple list	no	yes	yes	no
weighted	yes	yes	yes	yes
repeated scale	yes	no	no	no
rank order	no (can approximate)	yes	yes	yes
write number	yes	yes	yes	yes
write text-one line	yes	yes	yes	yes
write text-para	yes	<250 char, or SurveyWin	< 16K char	yes
dual scale/gap analysis	no	no	no	yes
branch (choose one & go to)	no	(Web only)	yes	Survey Taker apps only


Web forms:	auto	auto	yes	auto (add-on)
lines	yes	no	yes	no
graphics	yes	no	yes	no
can add logo	yes	no	yes	splash screen (Survey Taker apps only)
page break	yes	no	no	no
bullet	yes	no	no	no
table	yes	no	no	no
symbol	yes (Windows)	no	no	no
calculation	yes	no	no	no
file	yes	no	no	no
date and time	yes	yes	no	no

navigation buttons	no (can approx.)	no	yes	no
submit button	yes	yes	yes	yes
cancel/reset button	yes	yes	yes	reset
e-mail button	no	no		no
can add HTML codes	yes	no	no	no
link to other Web page	can add	yes	no	yes

E-mail forms:	auto	auto	yes (UFillWin)	auto (must set up list)
MAPI	yes	yes	yes (UFillWin)	yes
POP/SMTP	downloadable	no		no
other		cc:Mail, Notes, other CMC	cc:Mail, Notes, Banyan	no
track sent/received	no	no	no	yes

Form Publishing
WWW	yes	yes	output to HTML	yes (Web/Email)
e-mail	yes	yes	(UFillWin)	yes (Web/Email)
network	no	no	(UFillWin)	yes (network)
disk	no	no	yes	yes
stand-alone	(Perseus Interviewer)	no	yes	yes
online phone-out	(Perseus Interviewer)	no	yes	no



Data Collection
db included	Access (2.0)	dBASE III	dBASE III	proprietary
exportable	.asc (text),.csv, .tsv,.utx,.xls (Excel 4),.dbf	ASCII, SPSS	ASCII delim	ASCII delim
importable	.mdb (Access 2.0 only)	ASCII	lots of native	ASCII delim

Data Security
password access	no	no	yes	no
group definition	no	no	yes	no
data validation	no	yes	yes	no

Data Analysis
sort	yes	yes	yes	no
filter	yes	no	no	no
query: single	yes	no	yes	yes
query: compound	yes	no	yes	yes
crosstab	custom	no	yes	yes
charts:
3D	yes	yes	yes	yes
pie	yes	yes	yes	yes
bar	yes	yes	yes	yes
graph	yes	no	yes	yes
table	yes	yes	yes	yes
statistical analysis	custom	yes	yes	yes
count	yes	yes	yes	yes
count breakdown	yes	no	yes	yes
gap mean	no	no	no	yes
word search	no	no	yes	yes
maximum	no	yes	yes	yes
mean/average	no	yes	yes	yes
minimum	no	yes	yes	yes
sum	no	yes	yes	no
neg/neutral/pos	no	no	no	yes
neg/neutral/pos demo vs. all	no	no	no	yes
% breakdown	no	no	yes	yes
% answered	no	no	yes	yes
standard deviation	no	yes	yes	yes
analysis of variation	no	no	yes	no
chi square	no	no	yes	no
multiple regression	no	no	yes	no

comments	no	no	yes	yes
Quick analysis	yes	yes (summary)	yes (summary)	yes



Reporting & Presentation
slides	yes	no	yes	no
datasheet view	yes	yes	yes	yes

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Information is power. And while e-mail and the World Wide Web have made it possible to distribute information around the globe faster than ever, a new type of software is turning the Internet into a channel for collecting information.