WebQ Source Document

  1. What is WebQ?

WebQ is a web-based software tool that facilitates online surveys and collection of data from research participants. Investigators use WebQ as a method of data collection in their research. Investigators must submit their own human subjects’ application outlining and detailing their data collection and participants.

The questions participants answer in a WebQ implementation is completely dependent on how Investigators set up the WebQ survey and what questions they chose to ask. Therefore it is very important that HSD reviews each individual Investigator application to determine what types of questions are being asked of participants, as well as security options.

Each use of WebQ is different, and determined by the number, type, and content of questions posed by the WebQ "owner" (designer). Any UW-affiliated individual can own a WebQ questionnaire by logging onto WebQ with their individual username and password (UW NetID), and then creating the survey. Only owners (and collaborators, if any are specified) have access to the questionnaires created with their UW NetIDs. An owner creates a survey by going through the WebQ survey building process, entering each question, and determining the sequence and structure of the survey.

  1. What are some of the features of WebQ?
  2. “Skip logic”: Investigators have the option to allow subjects to skip over an irrelevant question and go to the next relevant question, based on the answers they give to the preceding question.
  3. Printable views of results
  4. Investigators may collaborate with other researchers using a UWNetID. Because specific levels of access may be set by the designer of the survey, collaborators can be give access to some, rather than all, survey components
  5. The WebQ survey designer may specify the following:
  6. Question text
  7. Style of question text (bold, italic, bulleted, etc.)
  8. Possible answer choices (for multiple choice questions)
  9. Suggested answer text (for short and long text response questions)
  10. Required or optional response
  11. Length of the answer fields (for short and long text response questions)
  12. Minimum and maximum number of answers accepted (for “select all that apply” questions)
  13. Format of the accepted answer (character length, data type, etc)
  14. Associated graphics
  15. What documents must the Investigator provide to HSD?
  16. Printed copy of the survey and the link to the online survey
  17. Information statement
  18. Email announcement and email reminders (if the Investigator chooses to have WebQ send these out to participants).
  19. Justification for waiver of documentation of consent , if a waiver is being requested
  20. Demographic questions (if applicable)
  21. If the Investigator is planning to direct participants to a thank you or custom confirmation web page, a copy of this web page or content of the page needs to be provided
  22. Printout of the survey summary page, showing whether the survey has been created as confidential or anonymous
  23. Printout of the group membership and privileges pages, showing who has been listed in the collaborator groups associated with the survey, and what privileges the groups have
  24. What information must the Investigator provide to HSD?
  25. Description of how the information statement will be provided to participants.
  26. Whether the survey is confidential or anonymous
  27. If a pre-determined email list is to be used and if so, how these addresses will be obtained
  28. If participants have the option of skipping questions or if all or certain questions be required; because of the basic principle that all aspects of research participation are voluntary, any exception (i.e., having any mandatory items) will require a clear and convincing justification, which should be provided with the application
  29. Who will have access to the survey data
  30. If survey results may be viewed by participant and question
  31. What options are available in WebQ?
  32. WebQ can be configured to capture the UW NetID of a subject
  33. Investigators may control who has access to the questionnaire data
  34. Investigators may specify if the survey will be confidential or anonymous. Specifying this affects what identifying information about participants is collected, and how it is stored.
  35. Confidential: Identifying information can be collected but will be stored separately from responses. The Investigator can view a code translation table to see the identifying information of each participant, and correlate it with their responses (i.e., coded data). Identifying information (i.e., UWNetID or email address) will not be displayed in the same view as the participant responses.
  36. Anonymous: No identifying information will be collected. With this setting, participants will not be able to save a survey and come back to finish it later, change their responses after they have submitted the survey, or view their responses again at a later date. However, participants will be able to submit the survey multiple times. The Investigator will have no way of tracking who has completed the survey. If the Investigator selects the option of sending out reminders, they will go out to everyone on the email list that is provided to WebQ, even if they have completed the survey.
  37. Investigators can set up a confidential survey, but download the data or response table(s) and at that time delete all data (including the code translation table) from WebQ, thus effectively de-identifying the survey data after some short, specified period. This would allow a more controlled survey that at the same time did not present an ongoing risk of breach of confidentiality.
  38. Investigators can link two surveys, one confidential and one anonymous, if it is necessary to collect identifiers from participants, but the responses themselves do not need to be identifiable. This can be done by building an anonymous survey that links to a separate survey asking for identifiers; it is also possible to build a survey asking for identifiers that then links to an anonymous survey. However, while neither method allows the researcher to link the confidential and anonymous surveys, the latter method would allow such a link to be reconstructed from Catalyst administrative records, which are potentially subject to legal demands for disclosure. In studies in which this is a concern, the IRB will assess whether using the second method presents a substantive increase in risk to the subjects.
  39. Security documentation for WebQ
  40. Where are the data stored?

Question information is stored in a SQL database on a server administered by UW Technology staff and by the Catalyst group programming staff. The Catalyst group has limited access to this server.

A completed survey is stored in a database until requested by a subject for completion. When a subject requests a questionnaire (by entering a specific URL into their Web browser) the WebQ software dynamically builds the questionnaire and displays the information in the subject’s browser. In the anonymous setting, WebQ collects no identifying information from the subject. Any and all questions are created by the questionnaire owner (“designer”).

Upon completion of the questionnaire a subject clicks the “Next” button to submit his/her answers via a secure Internet connection. The subject’s answers are stored in the aforementioned database, where they are assigned a unique number. This number alone is used to identify the answers, and any identifying information about the subject, such as UW NetID, are not recorded as part of the answer data set. Upon submission, a display of the subject’s answers appears in the browser for the subject to view.

Data submitted by subjects can be viewed and downloaded by the owner in the form of a text file or a Microsoft Excel file. In the case that a supplemental account owns the survey, any members of the supplemental account can also download these data. This download is completed using an Internet browser.

  • Who has access to these data?

The ‘designer’ of the WebQ questionnaire as well as any member of the supplemental account can download data as Investigators may collaborate with other researchers using an UWNetID. Levels of access may be specified by the designer of the survey rather than sharing access to all survey components

  • Who has physical access to the secure server?

UW Technology Distributed Systems staff.

  • Is the data backed up? If so, where and who has access to that computer?

Yes, using the UW Technology tape back up system. The UW Technology Distributed Systems staff has access.

  • What human subjects training have the System Administrators who maintain the server had? What assurances of confidentiality have they given?

They are governed by the Federal, State, and UW computing standards as per and The Distributed Systems staff has also had a training course on HIPAA.

  • What other uses does the server have beyond the storage of the Investigator’s survey data?

Storing data for all the Catalyst Tools.

  • What platform is the server running?

RedHat Enterprise Linux

  • What measures have been taken to secure the server from remote attacks?

IP restrictions, high-quality username/password rules, high-grade encryption for all data transmissions.

  • How secure are the desktop computers that access the server?

No desktop computers access the server.

  • Does the WebQ server record any identifiable information from those who complete questionnaires?

No. As with any page on the Internet, the WebQ web server records a “page access” in the log file each time a WebQ page is accessed. For security, these log files contain the IP address (a unique identifying number) of the machine used during the access. IP addresses identify only the machine used and not the individual using the machine. Log files are kept on a separate server machine from the database server where the subject’s answers are kept. These records are maintained in accordance with the standard University of Washington and WashingtonState retention requirements.

Even records not accessible to investigators are nonetheless retrievable, and constitute records that could be obtained through legally compelled disclosure; IRB reviewers are obliged to take this into consideration when reviewing studies proposing to collect information that would pose a high degree of risk to subjects if it were to be disclosed.

  1. How will updates to the WebQ application be maintained?

There are no scheduled updates for WebQ. Generally, updates that are performed are either to fix bugs or to make minor adjustments to the aesthetic of the program.

The Catalyst group has assured HSD that any and all changes made to WebQ will be reported to HSD within 10 working days of when the change is made. The content of the change will be analyzed and changes to the WebQ Source Document will be made accordingly.

version 12/02/08