Section 13. Using Field Surveyors

The Conduct Survey tab folder in the SurveyGold application is the place for you to create a roaming network of surveyors all of whom use collect survey results on your behalf using any surveys you have created. 

You create your field surveyors network by inviting a colleague via an email created via the application. When they accept they are able to download and install the free SurveyGold Mobile application on to their computer. You can then assign surveys to them easily and collect responses from them in real-time.

Field surveyors use the free SurveyGold Mobile application to collect responses whether or not their computer is online. When they are ready to submit their responses back to you, they can do so when their computer goes online. Responses they have collected are submitted securely to you via the Internet.

All field surveyor capabilities are enabled for a SurveyGold application user with a Premium or Ultimate subscription. The field surveyors are not required to have a subscription and can use their SurveyGold Mobile application for free.

​Tap or click images to enlarge them.
Understanding Survey Author Activities

The Conduct Survey tab in the SurveyGold application provides the ability for you as a survey author to make any your surveys into a field survey and to create a network of field surveyor colleagues to collect survey responses for you.
Making a Survey a Field Survey

Any survey that you have created in the Setup Survey tab can be activated as a field survey to make it available your network of field surveyors.
Step 1 - From the Conduct Survey tab, select the survey you want to make a field survey. Then select Field Survey in the button bar.
Step 2 - When the Field Survey panel appears, the Status is initially disabled. 

Select Enabled to make your survey a field survey.

This makes it possible to assign this survey to any or all members of your field surveyors network so that they can conduct the field survey for you.
Adding a Field Surveyor to Your Field Surveyors Network

To create your field surveyors network, use the SurveyGold application to send an email invitation to one or more of your colleagues.

​The email invites them to help you conduct surveys and provides them with simple instructions that describes how to:
  • Install the free SurveyGold Mobile application on their device and then...
  • Accept the invitation to join your field surveyors network via their newly installed application
Step 1 - From the Conduct Survey tab, select the field survey. Then select Field Survey in the button bar.
Step 2 - When the Field Survey panel appears, select Manage Your Network of Field Surveyors from the Field Surveyors button bar group.
Step 3 - When Field Surveyors appears, select Add New Field Surveyor.
Step 4 - When Select SurveyGold Application Edition appears, choose the edition they will be using as a member of your field surveyor network. Then select Next.

Note: Normally your will choose "Field Surveyor Edition". However, if your colleague is a survey author who already has a SurveyGold application installed on their computer, you will choose "Standard Edition".
Step 4 - When the next window appears, select Add Email Address and enter the email address of the person you want to invite.

Note: To invite multiple people, select Add Email successively for each person you want to invite.
Step 4 - Select Next to send invitation emails to the people you specified.

Note: The invitation email is created and sent automatically. The text of the invitation cannot be altered by the survey author.

Later on when a field surveyor accepts your invitation, a notification appears in the Activity news feed in the Dashboard tab.
Collecting Field Survey Responses Submitted by a Field Surveyor

Survey responses submitted by your field surveyors network flow into your SurveyGold application when you perform the Update Activity action in the Dashboard tab.
Step 1 - From the Conduct Survey tab, select Update Activity in the button bar.
Managing a Field Surveyor

After a field surveyor accepts your invitation to join your field surveyors network, you can manage their field survey assignments by:
  • Adding them to a field survey
  • Removing them from a field survey
  • Removing them from your network of field surveyors
Step 1 - In the Dashboard tab in the SurveyGold application, notice the notification in the Activity news feed indicating that someone accepted your invitation to join your field surveyors network.

You can now proceed to the Conduct Survey tab to manage this field surveyor.
Step 2 - ​From the Conduct Survey tab, select the field survey. Then select Field Survey in the button bar.
Step 3 - When Field Survey appears, the list of people who have accepted your invitation are displayed in Available Field Surveyors.

  • Select Assigned to This Survey 
    This assigns the field survey to the field surveyor and sends an email notification to them. An assignment notification appears in the Activity news feed in Dashboard tab in their SurveyGold Mobile application. The field survey appears in their SurveyGold Mobile application automatically the next they launch their application. They can then proceed with conducting the field survey.

  • Deselect Assigned to This Survey
    This removes the field surveyor from the field survey. No email is sent. However, the next time they perform the Update Activity action in the Dashboard of their SurveyGold Mobile application, any responses they have collected for the survey will be submitted to you, a notification will appear in their Activity news feed and the survey will be removed from their application.
Step 4 (Optional) - Select Manage Field Surveyors from the Field Surveyors button bar group to display a list of all field surveyors in your network.
Step 5 (Optional) - When Manage Field Surveyor appears:
  • View whether or not the field surveyor has set their Status to available or unavailable
    Note: Status is not editable by the survey author and reflects the status set by the field surveyor via their SurveyGold application.
  • Add or remove a field surveyor from your network
  • Manage all field survey assignments for a field surveyor at once
Removing a Field Surveyor from Your Field Surveyors Network

When a field surveyor is no longer available to be included in your field surveyors network, they can be removed.

Note: Removing a field surveyor does not remove any responses collected by them from your SurveyGold application. Rather, they are removed from your field surveyors network. When this occurs, the next time the field surveyor selects Update Activity in the Dashboard tab of their SurveyGold Mobile application, any responses they have collected will be submitted prior to their being removed from the field surveyors network.
Step 1 - From the Conduct Survey tab, select the any survey. Then select Field Survey in the button bar.
Step 2 - When Field Survey appears, select Manage Field Surveyors from the Field Surveyors button bar group to display a list of all field surveyors in your network.

 appears, select a field surveyor and select Remove. Follow the step-by-step instructions that follow to remove your field surveyor.
Step 3 - When Field Surveyors appears, all of the field surveyors in your network are listed. Select the field surveyor to delete and select Remove Field Surveyor from the button bar.

Follow the step-by-step instructions that appear in order to remove your field surveyor.
Understanding Field Surveyor Activities

SurveyGold Mobile is a free application used by a field surveyor to participate in collecting responses to field surveys on behalf of a survey author. The application is free and is downloadable via instructions received in the invitation email received from a survey author using their SurveyGold application.
Accepting an Invitation to Be a Field Surveyor

An invitation to participate in a survey author's field surveyors network is received via email. Refer to the email and perform the following actions to accept the invitation.

Note: As a first-time user of SurveyGold Mobile, you will be asked to register the application by providing your name and email address when the application launches. This is required to activate your free SurveyGold Basic subscription. After this, proceed with the following steps to proceed.
Step 1 - From the Dashboard tab in the SurveyGold Mobile application, select Accept Field Surveyor Invitation.
Step 2 - When the Begin Conducting Surveys for Someone appears, enter the Invitation Code and select Next.

Note: Copy and paste the Invitation Code directly from the email to ensure accuracy.
Step 3 - Wait a moment while your invitation is accepted. Then select Finish.
Step 4 - Later, when you are assigned a field survey by the author, the SurveyGold Mobile application displays a message in the Activity news feed in the Dashboard tab and a field survey appears in the Conduct Survey tab.

Note: There is typically a delay between the time you accept an invitation to be a field surveyor and the time your first survey is available in your SurveyGold Mobile application. This is because the survey author receives notification in the Dashboard tab Activity news feed in their SurveyGold application that you accepted the invitation. After the survey author sees this notification, they can assign you to any of their field surveys via their SurveyGold application, at which point they appear in your SurveyGold Mobile application.
Recording Field Survey Responses

A field surveyor collects responses via the Conduct Survey tab in the SurveyGold Mobile application. For guidance on collecting survey responses see Section 5: Conducting Your Paper or In-Person Survey in the topic entitled Automatically Collecting Web Responses.
Submitting Field Survey Responses

A field surveyor submits collected responses while online via the Dashboard tab in the SurveyGold Mobile application.
Step 1 - Make sure your computer is online. From the Dashboard tab in the SurveyGold Mobile application, select Update Activity. All responses that you have collected for your field surveys are:
  • Submitted to the respective survey author
  • Permanently removed from your SurveyGold Mobile application


Note: Selecting the Conduct Survey tab after performing this action will reflect that all respondents listed for your surveys are gone. This is normal because they have been submitted to the survey author.
Disabling a Field Survey

When a survey no longer needs to be accessible to your field surveyors network, it can be disabled. Disabling a field survey does not remove the survey from your SurveyGold application. Rather, it removes the survey is from distribution to your field surveyors network. 

When this occurs, the next time the field surveyor performs the Update Activity action in the Dashboard tab of their SurveyGold Mobile application:
  • Any responses the field surveyor has collected for the field survey are submitted
  • The field survey is removed from their application

This is how to disable a field survey:
Step 1 - From the Conduct Survey tab, select the survey you want to disable as a field survey. Then select Field Survey in the button bar.
Step 2 - When the Field Survey panel appears, the Status is initially enabled. 

Select Disabled to make your survey no longer a field survey.