Verify ArcGIS Survey123 survey submissions before data analysis

Summary

Accurate survey data is essential for informed decision-making and effective reporting. Before survey data can be used for statistical analysis or integrated into ArcGIS web apps, it is crucial to verify the data validity and integrity. This article outlines the workflow to verify data collected in ArcGIS Survey123 before incorporating it for analysis.

Procedure

Use the ArcGIS Survey123 field app inbox

1. Add a hidden question for the verification status in the survey's XLSForm.
1. In ArcGIS Survey123 Connect, open the survey’s XLSForm.
2. In the survey worksheet, in the type column, click the drop-down menu and select select_one list_name.
3. Change list_name to a desired choice list name. In this example, the list name is 'approval'.
4. In the name and label column, specify the values. In this example, the question is named 'approval' and labeled 'Approval status'.
5. In the appearance column, select hidden from the drop-down menu.
6. In the default column, type the default value. In this example, the default value is 'pending'. This ensures all submitted surveys are assigned a 'pending' status before proceeding with data verification.

The XLSForm below shows the configuration on the survey worksheet for the hidden question.

2. Configure the answer choices.
1. Navigate to the bottom of the worksheet and click the choices worksheet.
2. In the list_name column, specify the choice list name created in Step 1(c).
3. In the name column, specify the name of the list. In this example, 'pending', 'incomplete', and 'approved' are specified.
4. In the label column, specify the value to be displayed in the survey. In this example, 'Pending', 'Incomplete', and 'Approved' are specified.

The XLSForm below shows the configuration on the choices worksheet for the hidden question.

3. Press Ctrl + S to save the XSLForm.
4. Click Publish to publish the survey.
5. Create a new survey referencing the first survey's feature layer to verify the collected data.

Note:
Creating a new survey from an existing feature layer (created from a survey without any geometry question) autopopulates a geopoint question. Delete the geopoint question from the XLSForm if it is not required.

6. For the unhidden questions in the first survey, in the readonly column, select yes. This ensures the data collected in the first survey cannot be edited during verification.
7. For the hidden select_one question, in the default column, specify the default value similar to the first survey.
8. Enable the inbox for the survey. Refer to Learn ArcGIS: Enable the inbox for instructions. For Step 5 in the documentation, specify the expression below. In this example, the expression is approval='pending'.

<the verification question's name in Step 1(d)>='<the default value configured in Step 1(f)>'

9. Click Publish to publish the survey.
10. In the ArcGIS Survey123 field app, load the second survey in the Inbox folder to display the answer recorded from the first survey. Refer to Steps 1 through 9 in the Learn ArcGIS: Test the inbox functionality documentation.

The survey inbox below shows the submissions pending verification.

11. To verify the submissions, click the record in the inbox and change the verification answer from the default value. The questions are read-only except for the verification question to be edited. In this example, changing the verification status to 'Approved' verifies the data.

Use ArcGIS Dashboards

1. Repeat Steps 1 through 3 from the first solution's workflow.
2. In ArcGIS Online, create a hosted feature layer view from the survey's hosted feature layer. Refer to ArcGIS Online: Create a hosted feature layer view for instructions. For Step 6 in the documentation, select Add filter and define the filter expression. In this example, the expression is 'Approval status is Pending'.

3. Enable editing for the hosted feature layer view for attribute editing in ArcGIS Dashboards.
4. Disable editing for fields completed in the first survey to ensure collected data is not editable during verification.
5. In ArcGIS Dashboards, create a dashboard.
6. Add and configure the Map or Table element.

Note: 
When using the Map element, ensure the hosted feature layer view is saved as a web map.

• Map element
1. Click Add element and select Map from the menu.
2. In the Select a map window, select the map with the hosted feature layer view.
3. In the map window, on the Layer actions tab, under Editing, toggle Allow attribute updating on.
4. Click Done.
• Table element
1. Click Add element and select Table from the menu.
2. In the Select a layer window, click Browse all layers and select the layer with the hosted feature layer view.
3. In the Table window, on the Data tab, select Features for Table type.
4. For Value fields, click Add Field and select fields containing data to be displayed in the table.
5. On the General tab, toggle Allow attribute updating on.
6. Click Done.

7. Click Save to save the dashboard.

The map's pop-up and table below show the Edit buttons for attribute editing of features to be verified.

8. Click the Edit button to open the form for verification.

The verification form below shows the read-only fields except for the verification question. In this example, clicking 'Approved' verifies the data.