There are three survey and data collection tools supported by NYU IT: Qualtrics, Google Forms, and REDCap. Use the chart below to determine which one is best for your needs.

  Qualtrics Google Forms REDCap
Access/Availability to the NYU Community Available to the NYU community
 Available to the NYU community Available as a special service to approved applicants  
Support Resources Tutorials and one-on-one consultation support through NYU Data Services

Additional support via Qualtrics 		Limited support through Data Services and NYU IT

Refer to Google's support pages 		Tutorials and one-on-one consultation support through Research and Instructional Technology

Additional information via REDCap community website
Import/Export Options Import from other Qualtrics projects, .QSF files, and copies of surveys

Export survey to Word, pdf, qsf

Export data to csv, tsv, Excel, SPSS, and Tableau. 		Unable to import survey, but can build a survey from an organization-specific or publically available template

Export to Google Sheets or download as a csv 		Import data from csv file

Export data to Excel, SPSS, R, and SAS.
Collaboration Surveys can only have one owner, but the owner can adjust collaboration permissions for easy teamwork Identical to sharing in other Google tools All collaborators must have an NYU REDCap account

Special accounts can be created by the REDCap administrator for non-NYU collaborators

New collaborators with accounts can be added to projects with custom rights, roles, and access to data
Analytics and Visualization Options are available in Qualtrics; however, exporting data to other analysis and visualization software often yields the best results Review of responses is possible within Google Forms

Detailed analysis and visualization are available through Google Sheets or by exporting data to a separate program 		Create custom reports as well as utilize the Stats & Charts functionality

Data can also be exported to other analysis and visualization software
Distribution Options Multi-use links

Personalized links

Qualtrics distribution mailer

SMS text message

QR code

Offline app. 		Multi-use links

Direct mailer

HTML embed

Social Media distributions 		Survey Distribution Tools: public survey URL with Google reCAPTCHA functionality, and private survey options where surveys can be distributed via email from within REDCap, with or without identifiers
Back-up Data is backed up by Qualtrics using two methods: automatic propagation across servers and daily off-site encrypted backups.

Users should back up their data in case of accidental deletion/modification, and for their own archive/data retention.

Qualtrics backs up data for disaster recovery purposes only. 		The same back-up as Google Drive REDCap database is backed up daily
Security Qualtrics has a number of security measures and policies The same security as Google Drive. The NYU REDCap service has been secured and approved for the collection of High Risk data as per the NYU Data Classification Policy
Strengths Highly customizable for most use cases

Freely available through NYU

Professional look and feel options

Translates data well for outside analysis and visualization

Large community of users and troubleshooting documentation 		Free and available through NYU

Easy to learn and use

Helpful for low-stakes data collection 		Robust and customizable and can be used for research requiring multiple time points of data collection

Freely available through NYU, and data is backed up regularly

Supports research involving High-Risk Data

Provides easy exports to other data analysis packages for further analysis
Considerations Steep learning curve
A large number of options can make decisions more difficult
 Fewer question types

Fewer opportunities for customization 		Moderate learning curve

Complex user interface

Limited to approved users