Workflow leaderboard / General / Data collection

Collect research surveys with a privacy-aware workflow

用隐私审慎流程收集科研问卷

General / 通用 Data collection / 数据收集 curated verified 2026-08-02

Design, pilot, collect and export survey responses with stable variable names, consent controls and a frozen analysis dictionary.

Variants

Free & local / 免费本地 ~90 min setup

Requires a maintained web server, database, TLS and backups. A local laptop instance is suitable only for design and piloting, not public collection.

ComponentRolePriceLink
LimeSurvey Community Edition current Community Edition; pin the deployed commit or release self-hosted survey design and response collection Free / 免费GPL-2.0-or-later source; hosting, email, administration and backups are separatechecked 2026-08-02 https://github.com/LimeSurvey/LimeSurvey

Survey release manifest

survey_id: study_wave_01
consent_version: 1.0
freeze_before_launch:
  - question_codes
  - answer_codes
  - branching_logic
  - required_fields
  - withdrawal_text
  - retention_period
pilot:
  minimum_complete_runs: 5
  include_mobile: true
  include_screen_reader: true
export:
  format: CSV
  include_response_id: true
  direct_identifiers: separate_encrypted_export
  timezone: UTC
rule: Never rename variables after launch; map labels in a separate data dictionary.

Hash every collection snapshot

mkdir -p exports
# Export responses and the survey structure from the LimeSurvey admin interface.
sha256sum exports/responses_2026-08-02.csv exports/survey_structure.lss > exports/SHA256SUMS
chmod 600 exports/responses_2026-08-02.csv
rg -n 'email|phone|address|name' exports/data_dictionary.csv

Known pitfalls

  • Self-hosting transfers security, patching and backup responsibility to the research team.
  • Changing question or answer codes after launch can corrupt longitudinal merges.
  • IP addresses, free text and metadata may identify participants.
  • Ethics approval and consent language must be settled before collection.

Evidence