Research projects involving multiple parties, different countries and/or high numbers of CAPI field agents present various challenges when it comes to access. How do you give each individual the right permissions for smooth collaboration, without compromising security or creating excessive administration?
Nfield has it all covered via a range of access controls and options. So, you can strike the perfect balance between collaboration, security, privacy and compliance, whatever kind of set up you’re managing.
Live overview only: Fieldwork Progress report
Not all stakeholders need access to a survey’s inner workings. For some, their only interest is staying up to date with progress.
Nfield enables this via the Fieldwork Progress report, a live online overview of survey performance and fieldwork status that includes response counts, quota progress and key metrics.
Benefits include:
- Does not require Nfield login.
- Easy sharing through a secure URL.
- Access can be revoked at any time.
Nfield’s Fieldwork Progress report is suitable for internal stakeholders, clients and external fieldwork partners alike. In many cases, it’s the easiest way to keep multiple parties informed without granting unnecessary access.
Learn more: Real-time knowledge of survey progression: Fieldwork reporting and data repository
Relevance-restricted access: Survey groups and role-based permissions
When external partners need to work inside your Nfield environment, you can maintain control of what they can see and do via a combination of survey groups and role-based permissions.
This duo of Nfield user settings lets you:
- Limit what users can see within your domain (via survey groups).
- Control access so users can only enter the projects they are actively working in (via survey groups).
- Control every user’s permissions based on their role (e.g. scripter / quota manager / supervisor).
Survey groups and role-based permissions are easily configured through the Nfield Manager.
They can be used for both internal and external users to enable collaboration, while maintaining full control over what each individual can know and do within your Nfield domain.
Learn more: See our article on Survey Access Management and Academy #49 – Survey access.
Large numbers of (external) CAPI field workers: Device login
CAPI projects often involve large numbers of field workers, who may rotate in and out of your workforce. Over time, the total number of individuals can easily get out of hand, especially if deploying external agencies.
When this happens, creating separate Nfield accounts for every interviewer can be quite an overhead. But with device login, you don’t have to.
This is because device login lets you configure authorized devices to access relevant surveys directly through the Nfield CAPI app.
It’s a neat solution when working with large fieldwork teams or those provided by external agencies.
Learn more: Academy #59 – Nfield CAPI app logon
Separation when needed: Additional Nfield domains
There are some situations where granting access to your primary Nfield domain isn’t a satisfactory solution.
For example:
- You need stronger separation between projects.
- Different organizations require independent administration.
- Internal security policies prohibit third-party access.
- Compliance dictates a different domain setup (e.g. with local data storage).
In these cases, Nfield can provide additional (temporary) domains where external partners can manage fieldwork independently.
Benefits include:
- Complete separation from your main domain.
- Independent user administration.
- Separate survey management.
- Improved governance and security.
- Reduced risk of accidental access to unrelated projects.
This setup is particularly valuable for long-running partnerships, multi-company projects, or situations where multiple organizations need operational independence.
Learn more: To request an additional Nfield domain or discuss your requirements, contact [email protected].
Collaborate with ease
Every research project is different, and Nfield offers multiple ways to ease and support both collaboration and compliance for best effect.
Whether you’re coordinating a multi-country study, working with local fieldwork agencies, or partnering with external research companies, Nfield lets you set things up for maximum practicality, security and operational efficiency.
