Simple to CATI-like Questionnaires

• Sensus, the questionnaire-authoring component of WinCati, is both straightforward and powerful. It lets you create simple questionnaires easily and yet it is flexible enough for even the most complex of surveys.
• Sensus can handle all common question types, such as single response, multiple response, numeric, open-end, and constant sum. Branching can be as complex as you like; you can skip based on previous responses, combinations of responses, and even arithmetical computations. Sensus lets you restore responses to questions in later questions, so you can customize interviews to enhance respondent interest.
• With Sensus, you have complete control over screen formatting for your questionnaire: You can place question and response text anywhere on the screen and use color and type fonts to guide interviewers.

Advanced Capabilities - Sensus has special features and efficiencies designed for researchers with advanced needs.

• Its powerful list-handling capabilities let you ask questions repetitively with minimal setup.
• You can construct customized lists for each respondent based on previous answers, and then ask additional questions for that list.
• You can also use this capability to construct rosters where you ask a series of questions for each member of a list.
• You can randomize choices within questions, questions within blocks of questions, and blocks of questions within questionnaires.
• You can create and administer multilingual studies; interviewers can switch between languages at any point during the questionnaire.
• You can write macros to create your own custom instructions for use throughout a questionnaire.
• If you own WinCati’s sound option, you can incorporate commercial jingles or other sound bytes as part of the interview and record open-ended responses.

Sensus lets you create questionnaires three ways.

• You can create questionnaires by dragging and dropping text, response, graphic, and other “objects” onto question pages and then changing the look and function of questions by clicking on objects and modifying their properties. (Click on the Sensus Questionnaire Authoring Tour at the right to see a demonstration.)

• If members of your staff are familiar with that language or with the Ci3 scripting language, you can create questionnaires using the Sensus scripting language.
• If you have existing Sensus or Ci3 questionnaire scripts, you can import the scripts and then modify them.

Once you have created your questionnaire you can use the Sensus’ Auto Test feature to check it. Auto Test runs your questionnaire by entering responses for each question that is within the range of responses you set when constructing the questionnaire. It follows the branches and skips you specify. You can inspect Auto Test’s simulated data to identify problems with your questionnaire before interviewing begins. You can spot, for example, response ranges, skips, or randomizations that are incorrectly specified or branches that are never followed. You can also use the data for setting up crosstabs and analysis specifications.

“WinCati combines the ease of use and the flexibility we need to efficiently set up and conduct even our most complex research products. Instead of requiring our clients to adjust to the needs of the software, WinCati allows us to meet the needs of our clients.”

Mark Price,
PEGUS Research