Surveying with Odyssey

Surveying with Odyssey

Odyssey's mobile surveying application is built on the KoBoToolbox platform to allow developers to seamlessly conduct field surveys and visualize and analyze survey data in the Odyssey platform to inform project development. 

To use the Odyssey mobile surveying application, you'll first need build your surveying form using KoBoToolbox. A form is the list of questions/data you would like surveyors to collect in the field. You can select from many question types and add logic to your form to hide/display questions. For information on how to create your survey form, read the Getting Started Guide.


Download the Odyssey Mobile Survey Application

1. Get the Odyssey survey app

Download the Odyssey surveying application at:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1__6VfSCKcaCCQ9SU_cBi2OBxDe9trU3_

You will need to navigate to the link on the Android device that you plan on using to survey. 

2. Install and open app

The app is not available in the app store, you will need to share the app with all surveyors via email.  Contact Odyssey Support if you are having trouble accessing the app.


Create your Survey Form

1. Create a KoBoToolbox account

Create your account here: https://www.kobotoolbox.org/

2. Login to KoBo to build a new survey & form

It is possible to have multiple surveys per community, for example a developer might want to conduct 3 surveys per community site (Commercial, Residential and Community). it makes sense to name the survey based on the type of data you'll be collecting with that survey (ex: Household survey, Community survey, etc.) 

This section contains an overview on the basics of using KoboToolbox of how to create a survey form. For more detailed help on creating forms and surveys in KoboToolbox, read their Getting Started Guide.

3.  In your survey form, create a site question for linking data to Odyssey 

To enable integration with the Odyssey platform, each survey form must contain a question that matches the community being surveyed with a project in Odyssey.  

Choose Select One for question type

To create a dropdown list of Community/Project names in your form, click on “Select One” for the question type.



Add the names of your projects in Odyssey as answer options

For each community you would like to survey, add the name of the project as an answer response. The list of project names must match the project name in Odyssey exactly. You can easily create a project for each site you're planning on surveying by following these instructions, Create a Project.

Enter "Project_Name" into the Data Column Name field in Settings

In order for the question to pull into Odyssey correctly, you will need to click into the settings of the Project Name question and enter "Project_Name" into the Data Column Name field. 




Deploy your survey to the mobile app & share

After you have saved your questions and finalized your survey, you need to Deploy the survey so it is available in the mobile app.

1. Navigate to your survey & press Deploy

You can either click the ellipsis (...) next to the survey(s) you would like to deploy and select Deploy this project from the dropdown menu, or click into your survey and press DEPLOY.




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Once your survey is deployed, you can always edit it. Each time you modify the form, you need to redeploy it. 

2. Invite your surveyors

Within the survey, go to the SETTINGS tab and click “Sharing” on the left.



To invite a surveyor, enter the username under Invite Collaborators, in the dropdown select “ADD USER” and then “INVITE”. You'll need to check at least the following boxes to each surveyor: Add Submissions. 

Surveyors must be Kobo users to be invited to a survey.  If your surveyors are new to Kobo have them create an account.

Surveying Instructions

Surveyors must be connected to the internet to access the survey, as well as any updated surveys.
Once they have the app and have been granted access to your survey, they can choose Get Blank Form to use the app without internet access.  More details for how surveyors use the app is here: 

1. Take a survey

  1. At this point, you should be able to edit a saved form (even if offline). 
  2. Tap “Fill Blank Form”, select the correct survey (remember they are site-specific so select the form that corresponds with your site and survey type) and begin.
  3. You can go between questions by swiping to the right or left.
  4. You can see all questions by tap the arrow button at the top right.
  5. When finished, tap “Save Form and Exit”
  6. Take as many surveys as you like

2. Upload your responses

  1. Make sure your phone is online, then tap “Send Finalized Form”, tap “Select All” and then “Send Selected”.  This will send all responses into KoBoToolbox where they can be seen by administrator.
  2. Important note: The setting in Step 4(e) (“Auto send”) will automatically upload a finalized response when either in wifi or data access, depending on your setting. Once a response has been sent, you cannot edit it. If you may need to edit a survey response, you should either unclick “Mark form as finalized” at the end of the survey (which will keep it in saved forms and make it editable) or turn off Auto Send so that you can access the form and edit before it is sent. 



View Results/Analytics in Odyssey


1. Reach out to Odyssey support


In order to see your results in Odyssey, you need to email support@odysseyenergysolutions.com to have the results dashboard set up in your account. 



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