How to Create an Anonymous Survey in Qwary

Qwary's surveys are a convenient and flexible way to get valuable information. The right survey can let you get marketing ideas, figure out how to improve your workspace, and develop new product concepts.

However, it can sometimes be challenging to get accurate input when participants are worried about maintaining their own privacy. Making anonymous surveys is an easy way to solve this problem and increase engagement.

To learn how to create anonymous surveys in Qwary, explore our helpful guide.

What Are Anonymous Surveys in Qwary?

An anonymous survey is a survey that doesn't do anything to track or discover the identity of the respondent.

In Qwary, any anonymous survey does not track participant's IP addresses. This means that you cannot discover the participant's location. It also means you cannot track whether the respondent has submitted any other surveys in Qwary.

The survey tools will simply collect the data provided by the participant without logging the identity of the person who submitted the form.

Keep in mind that some survey questions can still cause issues with anonymity though. For example, if your survey asks for the person's legal name, the answer could tell you about the participant's identity. If you want your survey to be truly anonymous, you'll need to both adjust your Qwary settings and design your survey carefully.

Understanding the Pros and Cons of Anonymous Surveys

There are a lot of situations where anonymously surveying people makes sense. However, there are also some potential downsides to be aware of. Here's what you need to know when deciding whether you should make your survey anonymous.

Benefits of Anonymous Surveys

• Participants are more likely to be open about problems because they don't worry about being embarrassed.
• People can share their opinions freely without worrying that they'll upset someone and get in trouble.
• You get more survey responses because people don't have to worry about potential drawbacks to being surveyed.
• Respondents' data is protected, so they don't get concerned about identity theft or invasive data collection.
  

Disadvantages of Anonymous Surveys

• You cannot follow up with respondents since you don't know their identity or contact information.
• Some people may choose to disrupt the survey by providing silly answers or taking the survey multiple times.
• You might have to ask less specific questions which can lead to less detailed information for you to work with.
• It's no longer possible to cross-reference survey results with location results to find trends for specific cities.
  

When Should You Use an Anonymous Survey?

This type of survey can be extremely useful. First of all, it easily complies with industry standards for data protection. If you're in academic or healthcare-related fields, being able to create anonymous surveys ensures you meet your industry's ethical guidelines.

Choosing to survey people anonymously is also ideal if you're asking questions about sensitive subjects. When discussing topics like romance, sexuality, religion, or politics, people tend to be more open if they know their real-life identity won't be tracked.

Any time you want to ensure that you get as many answers as possible, an anonymous project is the way to go. There are many people who can be hesitant about providing personal information online, and by reassuring them about the survey's privacy, you can convince them to take your survey.

The final reason many people use anonymous surveys is to prevent fear of reprisal. If you're doing something like asking employees about potential problems in the workplace, some might not want to bring up negative things due to worries about offending others.

Any situation where the surveyor regularly interacts with the survey respondents might call for an anonymous survey.

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Step-by-Step Guide to Creating an Anonymous Survey on Qwary

Qwary makes it simple and straightforward to create anonymous surveys.

All you need to do is follow these steps.

1. Go to the Qwary Project Page

You can start the survey creation process by either signing up for a Qwary account or logging into your existing Qwary account.

Once you are signed in, go to the Qwary Projects page at https://app.qwary.com/projects to begin the survey creation process.

2. Select the Survey You Want to Anonymize

Next, you'll need to decide on the survey you want to make anonymous. Some people like to include the option of anonymity while building a brand new survey from scratch or from a Qwary template. Others prefer to take existing surveys and turn on the option of being anonymous.

Depending on your preference, you can either click the "Create Project" button and go through the stages of building a survey, or you can just click on the title of a survey you've already made.

3. Choose the "Responses Settings" Option in the Qwary Builder

In the Qwary Builder, you'll see a page where you can add new content to your survey. Look to the left side of this page to see a menu with a variety of options. Click on the "Responses Settings" icon that looks like a lock next to a person's silhouette.

4. Toggle the "College GeoIP data" Setting

Scroll through the different survey response settings until you get to the one labeled "Collect GeoIP data." Click on it to slide the toggle to the left.

Once the setting's button is gray instead of blue, congratulations! Your survey is now anonymous.

5. Consider Making It Optional to Answer Questions

Technically, the only thing you need to do to make a survey anonymous is turn off the GeoIP data that would otherwise log the user's computer and location as they answer questions. However, keep in mind that some questions can potentially reveal more about a user's identity than they want to. To further boost privacy, you may want to allow users the option of skipping questions they don't want to answer.

FAQ About Creating Anonymous Surveys in Qwary

Here are some other helpful things you may want to know about making anonymous surveys.

What is geoIP data?

GeoIP data involves logging a computer's Internet Protocol address and then using that information to record the computer's physical location. It can keep track of which computer was used for which survey, and it also provides details about which city the participant is located in.

Will people who take an anonymous survey know that it's anonymous?

Qwary won't automatically alert participants to the fact that you've decided to make your project anonymous. If you want them to know the survey is anonymous, you may want to write an informational blurb at the beginning of the survey that tells participants you will not be tracking their geolocation data.

What happens if you switch the anonymity option on and off on a pre-existing survey?

If your survey is already open to participants, adjusting the GeoIP settings will only apply to future responses. For example, if your survey used to track geolocation data, you'll still have that information for past surveys after you turn it off. Meanwhile, turning the GeoIP option back on will not show you identifying data on customers who took the survey while it was anonymous.

Is there a difference between anonymous and confidential surveys?

If a project is anonymous, it means responses are not connected to any personal information. Qwary will not record identifying details about participants at all. If a project is confidential, you are simply promising to keep the information secret. You can still look at identifying data from participants on Qwary, but you have agreed to not share these details with others.

Qwary Makes Online Surveys Easy

As you can see, it's fast and easy to make an online survey anonymous in Qwary. In just four basic steps, you can turn off data collection and ensure that your participants' privacy is respected. This allows you to encourage more participation and get more data for your project.

For more great tips on working with Qwary, check out the Qwary blog!