In the TELER project as well as in the Datamed project, both projects funded in the fourth framework programme for R&D of the European Commission, the use of EDI in the data collection process of business and household surveys has been experienced. At the end of both projects, recommendations were made concerning functional and technological requirements. During the TELER project the Internet technology was not a real option for the data capture process. In the Datamed project a part of the trials has been very successfully carried out by a WEB survey.
In most of the EU-countries, enterprises are equipped to use Internet as a carrier of messages and/or as a direct communication medium between companies.
Using the experiences and conclusions of the TELER and the Datamed project, taking into account the new technological possibilities, a concept has been invented for a data capture system using the Internet. The so called SuperCollect system itself runs on an Internet computer and can be connected with the internal systems of the data collectors by XML interfaces. The system covers the following functions:
Creation of an Electronic questionnaire and the maintenance of the questionnaire (compare Datamed, with the additional required functionality). Using XML, combined with Excel functionality, a wide range of metadata goes with the questions. The designer of the questionnaire, not being a programmer but a statistician, can define these checks on the values to be filled in by the data provider.
Assigning the Electronic questionnaire to the data providers / observation units selected for the survey.
A program for the data provider to manage the questionnaires sent by the data collector(s): to download the Electronic questionnaires, select it, send the results and check the status.
The Electronic questionnaire itself with possibilities to link administrative (bookkeeping) data to the questions so that after the first time the electronic questionnaire can be filled in automatically (compare TELER, with additional functionality).
A secure system with the database containing the observation units, the assignments, the questionnaires and classifications (with batch functions to import via XML-links data from Business Register, Classification server and/or a database with questions) as well as the answers sent by the data providers. Of course, the highest security measures should be taken to avoid unauthorised access to the data.
The system of SuperCollect can be used in all environments where the Internet is available for the communication between the data provider and the data collector. In household surveys, the interviewers can be considered as data providers and the households as observation units.
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