A data collection tool for your master's or PhD thesis
Build your forms and questionnaires, collect consent, enter data and export a clean dataset for your analysis, with a record of every change your examiners can trust. Start in the free sandbox: no credit card, and you pay only if you go live with real participants.
- Free sandbox, every feature
- Clean CSV or Excel export with codebook
- Audit trail on every record
Free sandbox · No credit card · 21 CFR Part 11 aligned
What a thesis project needs from a data tool
- Structured forms that match your protocol or study plan, with ranges, skip logic and required fields so errors are caught at entry, not in month nine.
- Questionnaires participants can fill in on their phone through a link or a QR code, with no app to install.
- Consent and a record of changes: electronic consent with signatures, and a field-level audit trail that shows who changed what, when and why.
- An export you can analyse: CSV or Excel with an automatic data dictionary (codebook), filtered by date range or site.
- A free place to build first: the sandbox has every feature and no time limit, so you can pilot the whole study before a single real participant is involved.
The problem
Why thesis data collection goes wrong, and when
Most thesis data problems are decided in the first month, not at analysis. A spreadsheet with free-text columns, a survey tool that lets people skip items and a folder of consent PDFs all work until your supervisor asks how you know the data are what participants actually entered. At that point you need a record, and reconstructing one afterwards is slow and rarely convincing.
A clinical-grade data capture system answers those questions by design. Every field has a type and, where you want one, a range. Every change is logged with the old value, the new value, the user and the reason. Consent is a signed document, not an email. That is the same standard a clinical trial is held to, and it costs a thesis student nothing extra in effort once the form is built, because the controls are part of the tool. If your institution already offers a research database such as REDCap, the REDCap comparison and the page on REDCap alternatives explain where a clinical-grade tool adds controls such as electronic signatures and a hash-chained audit trail.
A thesis also has constraints a trial team does not: one researcher, a fixed deadline, an ethics committee that meets monthly and a supervisor who wants to see progress. The workflow below is built around those.
Which thesis designs fit
The tool suits any design where you collect structured data from people: clinical and pilot studies, cross-sectional and longitudinal questionnaire studies, observational cohorts and registries, repeated diaries and mixed-methods projects where the quantitative part needs a proper dataset. Qualitative interview transcripts belong in your qualitative analysis software; Capture holds the structured side, such as demographics, scales and follow-up measures.
Evening diary
Question 3 of 8
How would you rate your fatigue today?
0 = no fatigue, 10 = worst imaginable
Workflow
From study plan to analysis-ready dataset
A realistic sequence for a thesis, in the order your ethics committee and supervisor will expect it.
- 1
Draft forms from your protocol
Upload your protocol or study plan and let the AI propose the visits and forms, or build them yourself from the 10 question types. Nothing is saved until you review it. Start from a template such as demographics or medical history if your design is standard.
- 2
Test in the free sandbox
Enter sample data, break your own skip logic, trigger your edit checks and read the audit trail. Show your supervisor the working forms before you submit to ethics.
- 3
Export the blank forms for ethics
A blank eCRF PDF with a cover page, form index and every approved form printed empty is what committees usually ask for. See the IRB submission checklist.
- 4
Approve and go live
Forms move from draft to approved, and approved forms are locked for live use. This is the point at which you start collecting from real participants and the free sandbox becomes a paid live study.
- 5
Collect, check, export
Participants answer on their phone or you enter data yourself. Edit checks raise queries automatically. Export CSV or Excel with the codebook and open it in your statistics package.
Choosing
Spreadsheet, survey tool, institutional database or Capture
A neutral way to compare what a thesis needs. Check your own institution's offer first; many universities provide something free.
| Need | Spreadsheet | General survey tool | Capture |
|---|---|---|---|
| Typed fields with ranges | Manual validation | Per question | Per field, with edit checks and auto-queries |
| Record of every change | Version history at best | Usually none per answer | Field-level audit trail with reason |
| Electronic consent with signature | No | Checkbox at most | On-screen signature, email OTP, countersignature |
| Repeated measures over weeks | Manual | Awkward | Visit schedule, reminders and windows |
| Export with codebook | You write it | Variable | Automatic data dictionary |
| Cost while building | Free | Often free | Free sandbox, no time limit |
Build your whole thesis study before you submit to ethics
Create forms, enter practice data and export a codebook in the free sandbox. No credit card, no sales call.
Ethics and data protection
What your ethics committee and supervisor will ask
Committees want to know where data are stored, who can see them and how participants consent. Capture hosts data in the EU (Frankfurt) or the USA (N. Virginia), encrypts it at rest (AES-256) and in transit, and uses role-based access: researchers see coded participant IDs, while names stay with site coordinator roles. That separation is useful when a thesis student and a supervisor have different needs. Our GDPR page describes the controls in detail, and the HIPAA-ready survey tools article covers the US view.
Be precise in your methods chapter. Describe the system as providing controls aligned with 21 CFR Part 11 and GDPR requirements, not as certifying your study. Compliance depends on how you use the tool, your institution's data policy and your approval. Your supervisor and data protection officer decide what applies to your project; the tool gives you the documentation to support it.
Using real participants
The sandbox is for building and testing with made-up data. When you start recruiting real participants, the study goes live and a paid plan applies. We do not publish prices on the site; you pay only from that point, and you can confirm the details before you commit.
Write-up
Making the data chapter easy to write
Plan for the write-up while you design the forms. Name variables so the exported codebook reads like a methods appendix, keep one form per measurement occasion, and use calculated fields for derived values such as BMI or age from date of birth so the derivation is documented and identical for every participant. The export has one row per submission in wide format, which most statistics packages read directly, and you can filter by date range if your analysis uses a cut-off.
Keep a short log of every change you make to a form after you start collecting, with the date and reason. That log, plus the audit trail, answers the examiner who asks whether anything changed mid-study. For forms already collecting data, read protocol amendments without change orders and the guidance on mid-study eCRF changes.
If your design includes a power calculation, the free sample size calculator is a sensible first step, and the glossary entry on sample size calculation explains the inputs. For a first small study, how to run a pilot study is a good companion.
Before you start
Thesis data collection checklist
Supervisor agrees the data plan
Variables, measurement occasions, sample size and who has access.
Ethics approval and consent text
Include the blank forms and the consent wording in your submission.
Institutional policy checked
Data storage, retention and any institutional database you are expected to use.
Forms tested in the sandbox
Skip logic, ranges and calculated fields with practice data.
Roles assigned
You, your supervisor and any research assistant, each with the access they need.
Export tested
Open the CSV and codebook in your analysis software before collecting for real.
Is Capture free for students?
The sandbox is free with every feature, no credit card and no time limit, so you can build and test your thesis study at no cost. A live study with real participants is paid; the site does not publish prices, so ask before you go live.
Can participants answer on their phone?
Yes. Questionnaires open in the phone browser through a secure link or a QR code, with no app to install and no password.
Can I get my data into SPSS, R or Stata?
Capture exports CSV and Excel with an automatic data dictionary, in wide format with one row per submission, which statistics packages read directly.
Do I need electronic consent for a thesis?
It depends on your ethics approval. If your committee requires signed consent, participants can sign on screen with an email one-time code, and the signed form exports as a PDF.
Where is my data stored?
In the EU (Frankfurt) or the USA (N. Virginia), encrypted at rest and in transit. Choose the region your institution requires.
Can my supervisor see my data?
Yes. Add them with a role that fits, for example read access to coded data. Role-based access keeps names with the site coordinator role.
Can I use it for a questionnaire-only study?
Yes. A cross-sectional or longitudinal questionnaire study works with the 10 question types, reminders and completion windows.
What about my institution's REDCap?
Use whatever your institution requires. If you have a choice and need electronic signatures or a stronger audit trail, compare the two on the REDCap comparison page.
Keep exploring
Related pages
REDCap comparison
Side by side with the common academic tool.
REDCap alternatives
When a thesis needs more controls.
EDC for academic clinical trials
The wider academic view.
Research data capture for academic studies
Beyond clinical trials.
ePRO for academic studies
Questionnaires on a phone.
Data management plan template
A starting point for your plan.
Collect your thesis data with confidence
Free sandbox with every feature. No credit card, and you pay only when you go live.