Using the Bristol Online Survey tool

The related links at the end of this page provide access to information about using the Bristol Online Survey tool.

When you register to use BOS, you can also request access to an exemplar survey, which you can use as an editable template to help you create your own surveys. This has examples of the various question types available in the survey tool. We suggest that you familiarise yourself with the software by spending some time exploring the survey by editing it to meet your needs.

Take a tour

You may find it useful to follow the brief slide tour to see the sorts of questions, and the data analysis available. Note the University license covers all normal uses of the tool by staff.

Take a tour of the Bristol Online Survey tool

There is also a growing wiki knowledgebase available from the BOS homepage, with information and tips on how to use the tool. Again, please note that questions about the availability of options at Edinburgh should be addressed in the first instance to IS.Helpline@ed.ac.uk.

Tutorials

We have created these short animations to help you get started using the Bristol Online Survey tool. The animations have audio descriptions, and you can use the playback controls to pause, start and move through the animation. Alternatively you can download a PDF version.

Introduction

A quick introduction to the main features of the Bristol Online Survey tool:

Creating a survey

Formatting and question types.

Controlling who can complete your BOS survey

By default your surveys are open to any respondent who knows the URL. However, there are two ways to control access and avoid multiple submissions from the same person:

If you are seeking to automate access to a group of users already defined in another system (such as a course in WebCT), please contact the IS Helpline for advice. Some frequently asked questions on access controls are available from the BOS website:

Frequently asked questions on survey access control

Embedding a video within a survey

It is possible to embed a video within a BOS survey. As with images, a video file cannot be hosted within BOS. However, you can use video hosted on an external service.