Qualtrics Instructor Guide

Qualtrics logo
Qualtrics is UBC’s primary tool for running surveys and analyzing survey data.​ You can build custom surveys that are tailored to your pedagogical needs, for use with students or others. Your survey can include many question types and incorporate advanced features such as branching, where answers to earlier questions dynamically change what later questions are asked.
Access Immediate
Cost Yes Free.
Bandwidth Yes Low demand on internet connections.
Canvas Integration No None.
Privacy Yes Verified by UBC’s Privacy Impact Assessment process.
Similar UBC-Supported Tools N Qualtrics is the only centrally-supported tool for robust survey collection and analysis. However, the built-in quizzes in Canvas can also be used to survey students.

What can I use it for?

You can use Qualtrics for several surveying purposes:

  • Having students gather and analyze data for course projects
  • Soliciting student opinions or feedback
  • Managing consent forms or sign-ups for activities
  • Running pre- and post-surveys to gauge changes in course metrics over time

We do not recommend using Qualtrics for assessments, as it is not designed for grading purposes.

This tool guide was last reviewed in August 2023.

How are other faculty using Qualtrics?

Catherine Rawn profile Catherine Rawn uses Qualtrics to collect student feedback and to design studies in Psychology

I use Qualtrics in many different ways in my courses. On Canvas, I currently have an anonymous survey link that allows students to send me feedback at any time. Throughout the term, I use Qualtrics for demos (e.g., surveys, code small experiments, etc.) and for in-class exercises. In the Psychology department broadly, we use Qualtrics as a tool for students to use in their experiment development studies. Read more »

What do I need to use Qualtrics?

A supported web browser

Qualtrics runs in your web browser and supports using Chrome, Edge, Firefox, or Safari. We recommend that you use the most up-to-date version of your browser for the best experience.

Tips

  • You and your students will log in to Qualtrics at ubc.qualtrics.com to manage surveys. You will use your UBC CWL (Campus-Wide Login) to log in, but note that logging in is not required to take a survey.

How do I use Qualtrics?

To use a Qualtrics survey in your course, you will need to create a survey, add questions to it, then distribute the survey and analyze the results.

Click any bar below for instructions and tips for using Qualtrics.

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Create a Qualtrics survey

Surveys in Qualtrics are called projects, so you will begin by setting up a new project.

  1. Log in to ubc.qualtrics.com using your UBC CWL. This action will open your Qualtrics homepage.
    • If this is your first time logging into Qualtrics, follow the prompts to allow access and accept the Terms of Service.
  2. Click the main menu icon (the three stripes on the top left) and select Projects from the drop-down.
  3. On your projects page, you will find a listing of all the surveys that you either own or have been added to as a collaborator. To create a new survey, click Create project.
  4. Select how you would like to create your survey:
    • Create from scratch by clicking Survey.
    • Create from a template for a head start on a particular kind of survey by selecting a project template.
  5. Click Get Started.
  6. Give your project a name and click Create Project to create the survey.
  7. Qualtrics by default collects information on people’s IP address when they take a survey. For anonymous surveys, you need to enable the “Anonymize responses” feature to make your survey completely anonymous:
    • Click the “Survey options” slider icon in the left sidebar.
    • Click the Security option.
    • Scroll down to the bottom of the page, turn on Anonymize responses, and click Publish on the top right.
    • In the pop-up, add a description for your version history, and then click Publish again to activate your survey.

Tips

  • You also have the option of copying an existing survey when you create a new survey. Copying can be helpful if you want to re-use an existing set of questions. From the projects page, click the “Project options” icon (the three horizontal dots) next to your project and select “Copy project”. Adjust the settings, and click "Copy project" to create the copy.
  • You can add collaborators to your project to give them viewing or management access to the survey. Collaborators can include people from outside of UBC, and you can give them different levels of access for each survey. From the projects page, click the "Project options" icon (the three horizontal dots) next to your project, then select "Collaborate". You can add people by using their Qualtrics username or email address and then set what access they should have.

Build the questions in your Qualtrics survey

After you've created a new survey, you can begin adding questions to it.

In Qualtrics, question blocks are used to organize your survey questions into groups. By default, one question block is provided to build questions in, but you can add more. Each block of questions will be shown to respondents on a separate page.

  1. Log in to ubc.qualtrics.com using your UBC CWL.
  2. Click the main menu icon (the three stripes on the top left), select Projects from the drop-down, and click the project name you want to edit.
  3. Click Add new question at the bottom right of the question block, and choose which type of question you want to add.
  4. A panel of customizable options for the question will open on the left-hand side. You can modify many aspects of the question in the panel, including the question type.
  5. Build out your survey questions:
    • To change the text of a question or its answers, click the text directly and begin editing.
    • To move a question, click the question and drag it to your desired location.
    • To add a new question block, click Add Block at the bottom of the survey.
    • Click Preview at any point to test your survey as a respondent.
  6. When you are finished building your survey questions, click Publish on the top right.
  7. In the pop-up, add a description for your version history, and then click Publish again.
    • To distribute your survey, you can either copy the anonymous link from the pop-up that appears after you publish (if applicable) and/or follow the instructions in the distribution section of this guide.

Tips

  • Qualtrics provides more than 100 question types to choose from in building your survey. You can learn more about the available question types in the Qualtrics documentation.
  • Once you add a question to your survey, you can insert new questions before or after it. Hover over the question and click the blue plus icon that appears on the left-hand side.
  • You have options in Qualtrics to ensure that respondents answer questions as intended. You can make responses to certain questions mandatory or add content validation to ensure that respondents provide answers in a specific format. Click any question to see the response requirements options in the left-hand panel.
  • You can prepare your questions outside of Qualtrics and then import them into your survey. Creating questions outside of Qualtrics can be useful if you intend to add large amounts of questions at once. Qualtrics lets you import questions using text or Word files.

Customize options in your Qualtrics survey

Qualtrics offers many ways of customizing your survey. The following are a few of the commonly used options that may be helpful to add, once you've created your survey and built your questions.

Survey logic

Survey logic is what you can use to control which questions are shown to respondents. The logic will hide or show questions depending on specific conditions you set. You can use "display logic" to set the conditions in which a question will appear and "skip logic" to set the conditions in which a question will not appear.

You can use these logic options to create survey branching, where answers to earlier questions dynamically change what later questions are asked.

Custom end-of-survey message

You can set up a custom message to display, once respondents complete a survey. You can use this feature to reveal new information after respondents have completed the survey. For example, you could show next steps to follow or give other links to explore.

Post-survey email

You can trigger an email to be sent, once respondents complete a survey. This email is useful if you have or are collecting respondent emails and would like to send a confirmation of survey completion, reveal information after the survey is submitted, or give respondents their own copy of responses to reference.

Timer

You can add a timer to your survey. Qualtrics timers can be used to:

a) force respondents to continue to the next part of a survey after a certain amount of time has passed, or
b) prevent respondents from continuing to the next part until a certain amount of time has passed.

Note that this timer only affects questions in the same question block. To apply a timer to the entire survey, make sure your questions are all contained within the same question block.

Survey look

The look and feel of your survey can be modified by using different themes. Some themes allow customization of areas like the layout, background, and motion effects when moving between pages.

Distribute your Qualtrics survey

Once you've created your survey, built your questions, and customized your options, you're ready to distribute your survey to respondents.

  1. First, if your survey is intended for broad distribution (e.g., surveys that are not course-based, for classroom projects, or Faculty-specific), determine whether your survey requires guidance by the UBC Survey Governance Committee. Look at the linked page under the "Scope" section.
  2. Log in to ubc.qualtrics.com using your UBC CWL.
  3. Click the main menu icon (the three stripes on the top left), select Projects from the drop-down, and click the project name you want to edit.
  4. Click Distributions tab to find options for releasing your survey to respondents, including the two of the commonly used options:
    • Anonymous Link: Use this option to create a link to your survey that respondents can take anonymously, provided that you are not collecting personally identifying information and have turned on the "Anonymize responses" option in the survey options.
    • Personal Link: Use this option to create unique links to your survey for each respondent. By using unique links, you will be able to track who has responded and how.
  5. After you pick which option to use, follow the prompts to complete the distribution steps and share the access point with respondents.

Tips

  • The UBC Survey Governance Committee aims to reduce survey fatigue and increase response rates by coordinating the surveys sent to the UBC community. To learn more about the Survey Governance Committee, please visit the UBC survey governance page.
  • Surveys that require an ethics review (e.g., some surveys done for research purposes) require additional steps. You must also submit these surveys for approval from a UBC Research Ethics Board before they can be distributed.
  • To use personal links, you will need to add respondents to your Qualtrics contacts using their name and email. You can also import contacts from another survey. Click the main menu icon (the three stripes on the top left), and select "Directories" from the drop-down to see options for managing your Qualtrics contacts.

Analyze your Qualtrics survey data

Once you've collected responses to your survey, you can use Qualtrics to analyze and visualize the outcomes.

  1. Log in to ubc.qualtrics.com using your UBC CWL.
  2. Click the main menu icon (the three stripes on the top left), select Projects from the drop-down, and click the project name you want to review.
  3. Click the Data & Analysis tab to find options for reviewing your survey responses, including three of the commonly used features:
    • Data: Use the data page to view your raw data. In the table, you can filter the responses and add/remove fields to customize the view. If you prefer to work offline, you can export the data into several different formats.
    • Text iQ: Use the text page to assign topics to the text-based responses of open-ended survey questions. This process is useful for surfacing topics from qualitative feedback that can be reported on. Additionally, you can use Text iQ's artificial-intelligence features to find recurring patterns within large qualitative datasets. You can learn more about text analysis options in the Qualtrics documentation.
    • Crosstabs iQ: Use the crosstabs page to have Qualtrics analyze relationships between variables you set and determine if there is statistical significance. You can learn how to set up crosstabs in the Qualtrics documentation.
  4. Click the Results tab to view a pre-made display of your results that can also be shared online or as a downloadable file. You can adjust the visualizations and include filters at the top to view the data in different ways.

Tips

  • When viewing your raw data, you can save layouts for your data table. Saving layouts lets you switch between different views of your raw data quickly. Once you've set the view of the table, click "Tools" from the right-hand side, then select "Save Layouts". You will select your saved layouts from this same location.
  • To receive data reports without logging in to Qualtrics, schedule an emailed report to send you updates automatically. You can learn how to set up email reports in the Qualtrics documentation.
  • The "Reports" tab allows you to build a report from scratch to view your results with more advanced options than the "Results" tab offers. You can use options such as applying global filters and customizing the entire page layout.

Where can I get more support with Qualtrics?

Technical support

If you have technical trouble with Qualtrics:

  • Contact Qualtrics: 1 800 340 9194 (24/7) or use the Qualtrics support site:
    • Ignore the initial login fields, and click Sign in with SSO.
    • Type ubc in the “Organization ID” field, and click Continue.
    • Log in with your UBC CWL, if prompted, and complete the steps to send a support request.

If you want help learning and using Qualtrics:

Note that not all features available in Qualtrics are available at UBC, often due to UBC’s privacy restrictions. If you can’t find a feature you’re interested in (e.g., XM Directory), please contact us at the LT Hub for more information on its current status.


Pedagogical support

  • Qualtrics surveys can be used to collect mid-term feedback to hear from students near the middle of a course, so you can make adjustments and improvements before the term is over. Read about approaches and strategies for mid-course feedback (Module 9) in the UBC Online Teaching Program.

Learn more

  • For more how-to instructions, explore Qualtric’s support documentation.
  • For UBC-specific information, check UBC IT’s Qualtrics FAQ page for commonly asked questions.
  • Join a Qualtrics studio session to explore this tool with hands-on support and guidance. Check for any upcoming UBC Qualtrics sessions on the CTLT events page.
  • For more on how to build good surveys in Qualtrics, complete the self-paced Qualtrics Platform Essentials training. To start any course, click “Log In” and choose “Qualtrics Credentials”. On the login page, choose the “Sign in with SSO” option, type “ubc” as the Organization ID, and click “Continue”. Use your UBC CWL to log in and begin.

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