Better to use an existing survey or copy and distribute? | XM Community
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Better to use an existing survey or copy and distribute?

  • July 25, 2022
  • 3 replies
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K
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Newbie here and still learning. I have a survey that will be distributed on a quarterly basis, and trying to figure out if best to just use the existing survey and send to a new distribution list; or to copy the survey and then distribute. When it comes to the dashboard, I would like to be able to look at data specific to the quarterly responses, but also in aggregate. Trying to understand the pros/cons of each approach and would love any insight. Thanks!

Best answer by InessaG

Always better to reuse the same survey - easier maintenance, no need to add additional survey mappings into dashboard - and you can easily view responses over time based on the End Date of the response.

3 replies

InessaG
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  • InessaG
  • Level 5 ●●●●●
  • Answer
  • July 25, 2022

Always better to reuse the same survey - easier maintenance, no need to add additional survey mappings into dashboard - and you can easily view responses over time based on the End Date of the response.

B
K
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  • Kdennis
  • Author
  • July 25, 2022

Thank you! Much appreciated.

MatthewM
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  • MatthewM
  • Level 6 ●●●●●●
  • July 26, 2022

I agree, reusing the same survey is best for time series and aggregate results if at all possible. Just be careful if you sunset questions or edit them as time goes on.
When sunsetting a question, consider moving it to a "graveyard" block in the survey that respondents cannot reach instead of deleting it; that way it's still available for analysis if ever needed.
And when editing a multiple choice question, say by sunsetting an original choice, consider using display logic to hide the choice instead of deleting it. Again, this keeps it available for analysis later one if needed. (Deleting a choice would remove that choice from all responses in the data.)

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