3 Thoughts on Survey Passwords

Researchers often need a way to make sure that they know exactly who is taking their survey. If they have demographics data available, they need to be able to associate that data with the respondent. If they want to ensure that only specific people complete the survey, they need a way to limit entry to outside respondents.

If they want to make sure they send the incentive to the right person they need to know who completed the survey. When researchers need to ensure that only a specific person can take a survey, they may decide to use a survey password. Survey passwords require that the individual log in to their survey before they can complete it.

Especially useful for longitudinal studies, survey passwords do limit who can access each survey. But they are also not a well-studied aspect of data collection. Here are some things researchers should consider: Are They Necessary? If you don’t need to prevent additional responses, or you have another method of ensuring the same respondents (or unwanted respondents) cannot take your surveys, you should avoid a password.

Passwords represent yet another step that may limit/prevent people from completing the survey and cause a low response rate. Make Them Easy Survey passwords should also be easy. Complicated passwords are tough to type in and may lead to frustration that will either alter your data or cause a worse response rate.

Random letter and number generators are fine when the survey auto-logs in, but if the person has to sign in manually they can represent a serious problem. Passwords Can Be Fun Researchers should also consider using passwords that are fun, interesting, or humorous. While they may not work for every business, your surveys are in many ways a marketing opportunity.

You want your business to be looked at in a positive light, and funny words or phrases may be a more effective password than something more complicated or less light-hearted.

Survey passwords are a relatively new feature to the survey research world, and as such they have not been well-researched in terms of how they can affect data collection or response rates. But logically one can see how a complicated, boring, and/or useless password can be harmful to your data collection efforts. Use passwords only when necessary, and make sure that they do not harm your ability to get reliable data.