How do you bring an existing questionnaire in from another system?

Import the survey design rather than retyping it. Forms built as XLSForm, or in ODK, Kobo, SurveyCTO and similar tools, can be brought in so the questions, choice lists and logic come across together.

Video: Importing Survey Designs on YouTube

Why this matters

Ministries and programmes rarely start from a blank form. There is usually an approved national questionnaire, often already implemented in another tool, and rebuilding it by hand introduces exactly the small discrepancies that make old and new data incomparable. Importing keeps the approved instrument intact, which also shortens the approval conversation about whether the digital form matches the official one.

How to do it

  1. Get the existing design in a supported format, commonly an XLSForm workbook.
  2. Import it to create the survey, then check the question types came across as you intended.
  3. Review choice lists and codes, since these are what later analysis and comparison depend on.
  4. Re-check conditions and validation, which are the parts most likely to need adjustment.
  5. Preview the whole form and walk each branch before deploying it to any team.

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