Geolocation

Note:
1) To capture this data, a minimum of Internet Explorer 9, Firefox 3 or any WebKit-based browser is needed.
2) For respondents using Internet Explorer, the survey layout must use the newest available version of Internet Explorer rendering. Existing layouts will be rendered as Internet Explorer 7 compatible HTML, and in this mode geolocation functionality is not available. To avoid the Internet Explorer 7 compatibility checkbox, the “Use newest available version of IE rendering” should be checked in the Survey Layout’s theme property (in SurveyPageMasterSheet).

The Geolocation node is used to capture the longitude and latitude values (the global location) of the respondent's browser.

The question details page for this item includes a number of fields and options. All the properties available for this question type are described in Accessing Question Properties.

The location data is retrieved from the respondent's browser client geolocator item. When the respondent passes the geolocation item in the survey, the respondent will normally be requested to confirm that the web page is allowed to access this location data (this request is beyond Forsta's control and it cannot be disabled). The respondent must confirm the access before the data can be copied. If the respondent refuses access, or if JavaScript is disabled, the geolocation data value for this respondent will be blank.

1:  How the Geolocation Item Works

The Geolocation item acts basically in the same way as a "hidden" question, but in this case the item must go to the respondent's browser to gather the information (normal hidden questions do not do this). The item will be "carried" to the browser by attaching itself to the next interactive question that is sent (that is, the next question collecting interactive data, for example a single, multi, numeric etc...). The location data will therefore only be submitted to the server when the page carrying the next interactive question is posted back to the server. In the event the next interactive page is some distance later in the survey, the respondent may have left the survey, been screened for some reason etc. before the location data is returned, and the data will then be lost. It is therefore recommended that a Geolocation item is placed on the same page as the next interactive question.

You can add a question text to a Geolocation item. Then, if the Geolocation item is followed by something that results in a page break appearing before the next interactive question, the item will act as an "Info" node and will display the item's question text along with the Confirm and Deny buttons.

In the Random Data Generator, Geolocation items will be assigned random data within the valid geopoint coordinate range. Reporting and Rapid Results will treat this item as if it were an Open Text node.

1.1:  Geolocation Accuracy

When using the Geolocation item in surveys using CAPI or AskMe App, it is possible to obtain the accuracy reported by the mobile device operating system. Use the GetOfflineInfo().LastGeoAccuracy function to acquire the accuracy report.

2: Limitations & Considerations

The Geolocation item has the following limitations:

• It is not supported by Panels.
• It is not supported by the Doc2Survey functionality.

A geolocation item value for a respondent cannot be edited in Authoring, and the item will not be visible in the left tree view under Survey Data > Edit(see Forsta Professional Authoring: Geolocation Object for further details). The value can however be viewed in the Edit page's lower-right frame once the respondent has been selected.