12. SurveyCTO

"Lost time is never found again" - Benjamin Franklin

Lesson Prerequisites

There are no formal pre-requisites for this course, but the downloading the following before taking the course is highly advisable:

Lesson Materials

Lesson slides

  • contain screenshots on materials covered in video and

  • additional more advanced functionalities: search(), randomization, pulldata(), audio audits, and intergration with google sheets & data studio

SurveyCTO Login:

0. Intro to the lesson

SurveyCTO is a powerful tool to collect high-quality data fast and efficiently.

1. Introduction to mobile data collection

Mobile data collection is a faster and a more efficient process compared to paper surveys.

2. Working with SurveyCTO

Overview of form elements and working on SurveyCTO server.

3. Building a survey in SurveyCTO: Part 1

Working with SurveyCTO is intuitive and there are many templates to use when building a survey.

3. Building a survey in SurveyCTO: Exercise 1

Practicing creating forms is the best way to master CTO. In this exercise you will be asked to program a form with basic elements. Download the paper question and template 1 from the links above, and follow the instructions in the presentation.


Exercise 1: Paper Questionnaire & SurveyCTO Template


Important: after you complete the exercise, please fill out this survey to receive the answer key for exercise 1.

3. Building a survey in SurveyCTO: Part 2

Using repeat groups is a powerful way to collect repeated information.

3. Building a survey in SurveyCTO: Exercise 2

Practicing creating forms is the best way to master CTO. In this exercise you will be asked to program two types of repeats. Download the paper question and template 2 from the links above, and follow the instructions in the presentation.


Exercise 2: Paper Questionnaire & SurveyCTO Template


Important: after you complete the exercise, please fill out this survey to receive the answer key for exercise.

4. Encryption

Encrypting the sensitive data at every step of the process is important to ensure only authorized users can access potentially sensitive information.

5. Collecting Data

Data collection can be done via web or an app (iOS or Android).

6. Downloading Data

The best way to download the data is through SurveyCTO Desktop application as it allows to download all files associated with the interview (data, pictures, audio files) as well as generate the data in the desired format.

Additional Resources


Instructions & help:



Other Links:



Other form examples:

  • Test form 1 containing a variety of field types (used as a demonstration in the video)

Banner photo: Florence Nightingale's polar area diagram showing the causes of death in the Crimean War, 1858. Accessed from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Nightingale#/media/File:Nightingale-mortality.jpg.