Overview #
SurveyCTO includes a wide range of features and safeguards meant to prevent the possibility that you will ever lose any of the data you collect. However, it’s not uncommon for data to be mis-coded, mis-placed, or just generally overlooked, and so it’s not uncommon to find yourself thinking that some data has gone missing somewhere.
If you find yourself suddenly worried that some of your data is missing, the first thing we’d ask is that you trust that SurveyCTO has been used to collect data in thousands of challenging settings around the world — and that you don’t need to panic. Almost certainly, the data is safe and sound somewhere.
This troubleshooting guide will walk you through the most common sources of problems and confusion, and guide you through the process of looking for your missing data.
When reviewing your data:
(A) Are you looking at the data in the CSV file (perhaps by opening it in Excel) that is exported by SurveyCTO? Data can be exported from the Export tab of your server console, or using SurveyCTO Desktop.
If yes >> Continue in this article.
(B) Or are you looking at your data after importing the CSV/Excel file into another software, like Stata, SPSS or R?
If (B) >> Please look at the data directly in the original CSV exported by SurveyCTO. Is any data missing in the CSV? The simplest way to look at your CSV data is to open the CSV in a spreadsheet tool like Excel or Google Sheets. If you have trouble viewing the data properly in Excel, please follow the steps in here to correctly import the CSV into Excel.
If yes >> Continue in this article.
If no >> Stop here: your data is being exported from SurveyCTO correctly and it sounds like the real issue is that it is not fully being imported into your third-party data analysis tool (such as SPSS or Stata). To resolve the problem with your third-party analysis software, you will want to troubleshoot in that tool. If you are using Stata, you can read our help topic on using our SurveyCTO-generated Stata .dta file for some guidance.
What is the nature of the missing data? #
(A) All rows and columns are there but, for some submissions, values under some columns are missing.
Missing values/variables #
Form design updates
Briefly, a change to the name of a field or group effectively creates a new field where new data will be stored. The data previously collected before this form revision is still there but only fields defined in the current form version are exported. You can confirm evidence of this by comparing sections of missing data with the formdef_version metadata variable that is exported in your data (formdef_version will tell you which version of your form each submission was made with).
Values and fields which go missing in this way can be restored by re-adding the original field to the form design. Please read the help topic on updating an existing form for a full explanation.
When you update a form on your server, it stores a copy of all your previous form versions. To download a copy of an older form version, scroll to the title of a form on your Design tab, click on the Download icon to the right side of the form title, and then click Form files from the expanded list of icons that opens up.
You may wish to preserve changes you have made which don’t affect the export of data, so compare your current form version and the version that preceded the version where values or fields stopped exporting. Recreate the missing fields with the same name, nested in the same group/s of the same name/s. If you don’t want fields added back to appear in the form, enter 0 in relevance. Update your form with your new version with restored fields and export your data again, and see if you were able to restore your missing values or fields.
Missing because of encryption #
It is also worth checking whether the form you are trying to download data from is encrypted. Only those fields that are specified as publishable in an encrypted form will appear in an export from the Export tab of your server console (all other fields will be missing). SurveyCTO Desktop will not export data from an encrypted form without a private decryption key. Read the help topic on encryption for details.
Common form design problems #
Sometimes form programming errors can lead to missing values. Here are some mistakes that can lead to missing values:
(A) In order to guarantee that fields are not left blank by mistake, fields should be made required. You cannot expect that any field exports values if the field is not required as surveyors may have simply skipped those fields and not filled them in.
(B) Perhaps a calculate expression produces values some of the time but not at other times – which could explain cases of missing values in calculate fields. Did you thoroughly test your form definition to be sure the calculate field works as intended, in all scenarios?
- Calculate fields should not have a relevance expression.
- You will also need to plan for when a field that is used in a calculate is blank, as in this tips and tricks help topic.
(C) When a relevance condition for a field re-evaluates, so that the field becomes not relevant after it has been completed, such a field can appear blank in exported data (even though it appeared as relevant while completing the form). For this reason, relevance conditions need to be stable. A stable relevance condition is one that depends only on earlier questions the user has already answered and does not depend on any questions that come after the current question (as a relevance condition that depends on future questions could change as the user gets to those later questions and make the earlier question irrelevant, and hence erase the value stored in it).
Missing rows/submissions #
If you believe rows/individual submissions are missing, where are the submissions going missing?
(A) The number of submissions collected on devices and uploaded to the server matches the number of records next to the form title on the server’s Export tab. That is, all submissions are on the server. But the number of rows in the exported CSV is less than the number of records on the server, so not all submissions on the server appear to be in the exported CSV. Please click here to go to the next step to resolve this problem.
(B) The number of records in the exported CSV matches the number of records indicated next to the form title on the server. But the number of records indicated on the server is less than the number of submissions uploaded from surveyor’s devices. So not all submissions that were uploaded have appeared on the server. Please click here to go to the next step to resolve this problem.
(C) The number of submissions in the CSV matches the number of records indicated on the server. And the number of records indicated on the server matches the number of submissions uploaded from devices. However, there are some submissions that were completed on devices that are not even listed under “Send Finalized Forms” and so seem to have disappeared from the devices themselves before they could be uploaded. Please click here to go to the next step to resolve this problem.
Server <> Exported CSV record mismatch: #
Are you:
(A) exporting data directly from the server console’s Export tab?
(B) Or Using our desktop software, SurveyCTO Desktop, to export your data?
From the server console
If (A) >> When you run the export, please carefully note any warnings or error messages that you see during the export process. Please take a screenshot of this error message if necessary. And then create a support request to the support team via the My requests link in the top right, giving details about your situation and attaching the text or screenshot of the error message.
Using SurveyCTO Desktop #
| Note: As of SurveyCTO 2.60, released on September 3rd, 2019, SurveyCTO Desktop replaced SurveyCTO Sync. Read about SurveyCTO Desktop here. |
If (B) >> After you run your data export using SurveyCTO Desktop, did it finish with a message that says COMPLETED? Or did it finish with a message that reads COMPLETED WITH ERRORS? Click on VIEW DETAILS to reveal a log of events.
Also note the VIEW SYNC HISTORY button in the top right of SurveyCTO Desktop to consult a history of past runs. There’s no need to run SurveyCTO Desktop just to check the details log.
There are two common types of errors:
- You are experiencing Internet connectivity issues. You may still be able to browse the Internet but the connection may not be stable enough to download and export all submissions in one go. If the errors indicate an internet connectivity issue (e.g. messages like the connection “timed out”) please just run SurveyCTO Desktop again a few times. Each time SurveyCTO Desktop will download some additional data that it was unable to retrieve in the prior attempts and will continue where it left off. It would also be most ideal to run SurveyCTO Desktop over a better Internet connection in this case. Keep re-running SurveyCTO Desktop until the number of records in the CSV match the number of records on the server.
- Internet connectivity is OK but certain individual submissions are not being exported. This is usually because the raw files for those submissions stored on your computer are corrupted. If this appears to be the case:
(A) Make sure SurveyCTO Desktop’s Local storage location folder is not in a syncing folder like Dropbox, Google Drive, or Box. A synced folder location can corrupt submissions or create read/write conflicts during export. You can fix this by changing the internal storage directory to a non-syncing location by going into Desktop settings in SurveyCTO Desktop, into GENERAL options. See Local storage location, and Browse to pick a new folder location. Then run SurveyCTO Desktop again. This will download everything afresh from the server so will be slow, but all submissions will be fixed and exported.
(B) If you are sure that SurveyCTO Desktop’s Local storage location folder is not in a syncing folder, there might have been other issues on your computer hard drive that caused certain downloaded submissions to become corrupted. If you have not purged any data from your server, re-download the data from the server by going into SurveyCTO Desktop’s Local storage menu, selecting the form/s in question, then selecting either local storage clean up option (either Delete definition and data or Delete data only should work), and click on CLEAN UP NOW... Then re-download and export data for this form again. Do all submissions now export?
If you followed the above steps but the problem persists, please open a support request with our support team by clicking the My requests link in the top right of this support center. When you do so, attach a text file that contains the full details logs from SurveyCTO Desktop (from clicking on VIEW DETAILS and SAVE TO DISK).
Server <> Device mismatch, #
or submissions not even in Send Finalized Forms on devices:
(A) Check for incomplete submissions on the server. This help topic explains in detail what incomplete submissions are and how to include them in your data exports.
Do you see any incomplete submissions? Does following the steps in the above help topic and successfully exporting those submissions account for all submissions that were missing?
If no >>
(B) Where do you see the missing submissions on your device(s):
(iii) Nowhere; but can see them under Delete Saved Form
(iv) Don’t see them anywhere, not even Delete Saved Form
If (Bi) #
Those submissions just need to be selected and submitted to the server. They have not been submitted.
If (Bii) #
Those forms have not been completed and so cannot be uploaded. Please resume those forms, complete and finalize them, then send them to the server via Send Finalized Form.
If (Biii) #
Please do the following:
- Go into Send Finalized Form.
- Then click the 3-dot menu icon in the top right and select Change View from the drop down.
- In the pop up that appears, choose to change view to Show Sent And Unsent Forms.
- Now, you will see all submissions finalized on that device appear in the Send Finalized Form list again. Toggle All and Send Selected. Do not worry about duplicates – the server is smart and will only accept those submissions from the list that are not already on the server.
Does doing the above change the record count on the server?
If no >> Do you now see any incomplete submissions indicated in the top bar of your server console? If so, follow step (A) above again.
If no >> Have you exported and inspected data for every individual record? If not, please do so to confirm that the uploaded surveys are not in fact already in your CSV data. Do not just look for a particular household or respondent ID. Sometimes, surveyors will enter those incorrectly. Look at other variables. Do you see any submissions that may not have the right household ID or name but look like they were done at the same time and by the same surveyor as the missing survey(s)? Are there any duplicate household IDs? Could any of those surveys be surveys done on the household you believe is unaccounted for?
If no >> Have you exported CSV data for other forms on your server? Please check those CSVs in case the records were done using a different form definition and are under a different form.
If (Biv) #
Have you inspected the devices yourself or are you relying on reports from remote fieldworkers? You need to inspect devices yourself – if not possible, please have your team send you the following screenshots from every device:
- A screenshot of the Send Finalized Form list.
- A screenshot of the Edit Saved Form list.
Do you see any of your missing submissions in those screenshots?
If no >> Please do the following on all your devices (even ones you do not believe were used for the missing surveys – trust us!):
- From the main screen of SurveyCTO Collect, click the 3-dot icon in the top right.
- From the drop down that appears, select Resume Crashed Form.
- Does the device indicate you have any crashed forms on the device? If so, please resume them, complete those surveys, finalize and submit them.
Did the above step account for all the missing submissions? If there were no crashed forms to resume or not all missing submissions found, please try the following on all your devices:
- From the main screen of Collect SurveyCTO, click the 3-dot icon in the top right.
- Select Admin Settings and, under the section USERS CAN ACCESS MAIN MENU ITEMS scroll down to Restore Data and check that option to make it visible.
- Hit the back button on your device to go back to the main screen of SurveyCTO Collect.
- Now again click the 3-dot icon in the top right.
- From the drop down that appears, you can now select Restore Data.
- Now, you will see all restored submissions on that device appear in the Send Finalized Form list again. Select all and hit send. Do not worry about duplicates – the server is smart and will only accept those submissions from the list that are not already on the server.
If you still have unaccounted for submissions >> How did you confirm that they were done in the first place?
- Surveyors reported surveys but you don’t see them anywhere.
- You don’t see them anywhere but have independently verified (e.g. by calling up respondents) that they were done.
If (1) please verify independently. Surveyor self-reported counts are highly unreliable as they often mis-estimate how many surveys they have done.
If you have independently verified that surveys were done and have followed all steps above but the issue persists, please create a support request by clicking the My requests link in the top right above. In your request outline:
- How you independently verified that the missing submissions were done.
- Exactly how many submissions are unaccounted for and whether there are patterns in the missing data (e.g. all of one surveyor’s surveys, or all surveys from a particular date?).
- How long ago the missing submissions were completed (e.g. “missing submissions were completed between 10 and 15 days ago” or “missing submissions were completed more than 30 days ago”).
- What steps from the trouble shooting guide you have already followed (so that we don’t ask you to re-do them!).
Getting help
If you have eliminated the above as causes of missing values or fields, open a support ticket to get direct support from our professional team.
