We recommend you download your data often while a survey is fielding (at low traffic times, as these operations take up computing power and respondents taking the survey could experience a decrease in performance). Downloading the data moves any completed records from the /data directory into the /admin directory and accumulates it into a single data file. Also, it is good practice to download data and back it up on your local hard drive periodically.
You can also download data using Field | Download Data from within the SSI Web interface. Specify the URL for your studynameadmin.html file, and provide settings regarding which data to download (All Data, Finished Surveys Only). Each time you download data, all data are downloaded from the server to your study directory on your hard drive. By default, SSI Web backs up your previous data stored locally, but you can change this behavior by de-selecting Backup Local Data.
Downloading data makes a copy of the data file in the destination directory you specify; it doesn't move/delete the data from your server. In other words, whenever you download data, you are downloading a copy of all records every time (a cumulative process). For example, if on day one, 100 respondents complete the survey and you download the data, then on day two 75 more respondents complete the survey and you again download the data, 175 records will be downloaded on day two.
Click the Download Data link from the main menu and the following is displayed:
When you choose Download Finished Surveys Only, your browser asks you to supply a destination drive and directory. In most cases, you will probably specify the study directory on your hard drive. The accumulated data file, named STUDYNAMEdat.dat, is copied to your hard drive (note that this is a renamed copy of the STUDYNAMEdat.cgi file, that is the master data file that stays in your /admin directory).
If you prefer, you can download the data file directly using your FTP software: just make sure to rename the data file from STUDYNAMEdat.cgi to STUDYNAMEdat.dat and place it in your study directory on your hard drive.
If you Download All Data, both completed and incomplete records are copied into a file that is downloaded (downloading data never removes/deletes data from the server). Incomplete records always remain in the /data directory until completed. Downloading incompletes is useful if you want to analyze why they are incomplete.
