This article covers what to do with your QuestionPro export before it's used to build or populate the survey in Qualtrics. It walks through verifying the export against the QuestionPro dashboard, removing identifying columns such as IP address and location, saving the file only to VT-approved storage, retaining and transferring data ownership as required, and archiving with a codebook. Completing these steps now keeps identifying or unverified data from carrying into Qualtrics, and protects the QuestionPro data until the migration is confirmed.

1. Verify the export. Open the file and confirm that it includes all expected variables and that the number of responses matches the QuestionPro dashboard for the status you filtered on (for example, Completed). Check that there is a single header row, that multi-select columns contain 1 or blank, and that a few respondents' coded answers match the labels in your labeled (Answer Values) copy. If the export arrived as a zip of several files, combine them and confirm the headers are identical.

2. Remove identifying columns before importing into Qualtrics or archiving. QuestionPro captures respondents' IP addresses and IP-derived location (country, region, latitude, longitude) by default and includes them in raw data exports. Delete the IP Address and location columns, plus any other identifiers your IRB protocol doesn't permit you to keep, such as email address, External Reference, or custom variables. Location data already collected can't be removed inside QuestionPro, so do the removal in the export file. For future studies, you can turn off location capture before collection at the survey, account, or organization level. Alternatively, for surveys distributed through QuestionPro Email Management, Respondent Anonymity Assurance always hides respondent email and can also mask IP address, country code, and region. It is available only on some license types and, once enabled, cannot be turned off, so confirm it fits your IRB protocol first.

3. Save raw data only to secure VT-approved storage, including VT-owned computing devices (local files) and OneDrive, Google Drive, or SharePoint folders with VT SSO belonging to the PI (the faculty supervisor if the investigator is a student). Then delete temporary copies: the file in your Downloads folder and the emailed download link. QuestionPro emails the download link to the account address, and the file also stays available in the Download Center.

For better understanding and guidance about the data retention policy for Virginia Tech, please refer to the following KB article:

QuestionPro to Qualtrics Migration: Data Retention Guidance

4. Retain data for the period required by the IRB, funder, or other requirements, and transfer ownership of the data files securely before the PI (data file owner) leaves the university for any reason. Keep your QuestionPro data and original exports until the Qualtrics import is verified and the archive copy is stored, because responses deleted in QuestionPro can't be retrieved. Export everything before your QuestionPro account or contract closes.

Navigate to the next article in this series:

• Creating and Importing Survey in Qualtrics

Navigate to other relevant articles in this series:

• QuestionPro to Qualtrics Migration Guide
• Pre migration
• Importing survey response data to Qualtrics survey

Additional information about the migration project

To stay updated about the migration project, please visit the "University Survey Tools" website.

Getting Help

For any query related to the migration or Qualtrics in general, please use the following RITM to create a request:
Survey Platform (Qualtrics)