Your Qualtrics survey was a good questionnaire. A clinical study also needs visits, site-entered data, consent and an audit trail. Here is how to map blocks to forms, rebuild the logic and keep the responses you already have.
Free sandbox · No credit card · 21 CFR Part 11 aligned
| Maps directly | Rebuild | Not carried over | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Questions and choices | |||
| Blocks | |||
| Display and skip logic | |||
| Embedded data and piped text | |||
| Distributions and contact lists | |||
| Dashboards and workflows |
What to know first
When to move
Qualtrics is a strong survey platform and many universities license it. Teams outgrow it as a study database when the project starts to need things a survey does not model: the same person answering at week 0, 4 and 12; a coordinator entering a blood pressure or a lab value that must sit next to the questionnaire; consent that can be shown to an inspector; and a record of who changed which value and why.
Typical workarounds are a participant ID passed as embedded data, one survey per wave, response edits made in the dashboard and a second spreadsheet for site data. Each works until someone asks for the full history of one participant. If that describes your project, read REDCap vs Qualtrics for the academic framing and HIPAA-compliant survey tools for research for the privacy questions, then use this page to plan the move.
If the project really is a one-off anonymous survey, stay where you are. The migration is worth it for studies with participants, visits and regulated or publishable clinical data.
The path
Suited to a study that has not started recruiting, or to the next wave or cohort of one that has.
List every survey, the blocks in each, the embedded-data fields, the contact lists and distribution schedules, the automated emails and any exports pulled by scripts. The inventory is your migration scope.
Download a printable version of each survey (Word or PDF) and a spreadsheet of the questions, and export the response data as CSV with choice text and numeric codes. Keep both with the study documents, dated.
Upload the questionnaire file to a draft form. The AI reads CSV, XLSX, PDF and DOCX and proposes questions and answer choices. Review each field; nothing is saved until you approve it.
Turn each block into a form, attach forms to visits (baseline, week 4, week 12) and decide which are completed by participants and which by site staff. Add the clinical forms the survey never had.
Re-create display logic as skip logic, add required flags and range checks, and use edit checks that raise auto-queries for site-entered values. Piped text and embedded-data tricks need a plain replacement, such as a baseline field that sits on the same participant record.
In the free sandbox, open the questionnaire from the participant link on a phone, submit, trigger a reminder, and watch the audit trail record each change. Add a consent step if the study needs it.
Choose a date after which new responses go only to Capture. Keep the Qualtrics export as the record of earlier responses and join both on the participant identifier using a variable map.
Data mapping
| In Qualtrics | In Capture | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Survey | A study with scheduled forms | A single survey may become several forms |
| Block | A form attached to a visit | Group questions by when and by whom they are completed |
| Question types: text, multiple choice, slider, scale, date | Short text, long text, single and multiple choice, dropdown, slider, linear scale, numeric, date and time | Capture has 10 question types plus table sections |
| Matrix and rank-order questions | Rebuild as a table section or separate items | Neither is among the 10 question types; test the replacement |
| Display logic and skip logic | Skip logic and conditional branching in the visual builder | Simplify very nested conditions |
| Embedded data such as participant ID or arm | Participant record, site and study fields | Randomization arm is held in randomization, with blinded roles |
| Quotas and block randomizers | Stratified randomization | A different purpose; design it from the protocol |
| Distributions, contact lists, panels | Not carried over | Capture invites enrolled participants, not open panels |
| Response data | Stays in the original CSV; merged at analysis | Not imported |
Try it in the free sandbox with sample data. Nothing is saved until you approve it.
What a survey could not do
The structural gain is that the schedule belongs to the participant record. Baseline, week 4 and week 12 are visits with windows; a missed questionnaire creates a task rather than a gap you notice at analysis, and reminders go by email or SMS.
| Assessment | Baseline | Week 4 | Week 12 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eligibility checklist | |||
| Wellbeing questionnaire (participant) | |||
| Blood pressure (site) | |||
| Adverse event review | |||
| Daily mood diary | D | D |
x = completed at visit · D = diary between visits
Be realistic
Responses. They are not imported. The Qualtrics CSV is the record of earlier waves. Capture exports are wide-format CSV or Excel with an automatic data dictionary, so the merge is a join on participant ID, but you own the variable map.
Distribution and panels. Capture sends questionnaires to participants enrolled in a study, with reminders. It is not a mass-mailing or panel tool, so anonymous public links, quota-managed samples and panel vendors stay in Qualtrics or another survey tool.
Survey analytics. Cross-tabs, text analysis and dashboards in Qualtrics have no equivalent here. Capture gives you the data export and study monitoring views; plan your analysis in your statistical software.
Workflows and integrations. Automated emails, ticket workflows and API scripts built around the survey need to be redesigned. This page claims no connector to any external tool.
Some question formats. Matrix tables, rank order, heat maps and similar formats are not among the 10 question types, so the instrument needs a deliberate redesign, which matters if it is a validated scale. Check the instrument licence conditions before you change wording or layout.
Validation and cutover
Questionnaire printout, question spreadsheet and response CSV with codes, dated and stored.
Validated scales keep their wording and licence terms; the licence stays with the study documents.
Qualtrics question IDs mapped to Capture field names and codes.
New system, new consent flow and data location (EU or US hosting).
The same ID in both systems so one person is never counted twice.
Phone submission, reminder, query on an out-of-range value, audit trail check.
Old survey closed on a named date and the link retired.
What changes
There is no direct import. Export the questionnaire as a printable file or spreadsheet, upload it to a draft form, and the AI drafts the questions and choices for your review.
They stay in the Qualtrics CSV export and are merged with the Capture export at analysis using a documented variable map. They are not imported.
The comparison explains when a survey tool or a study platform fits. This guide is for a team that has decided to move and needs the practical steps.
Yes. Many teams keep it for open or anonymous surveys and use Capture for participants who are enrolled, consented and followed over visits.
They are not among the 10 question types. Rebuild them as table sections or separate items, and test the result, especially for validated scales.
Yes. Questionnaires open from a secure link on any phone, with no app, and reminders go by email or SMS.
Yes. eConsent is part of the same platform and audit trail, with OTP-verified participant signatures and investigator countersignature.
Yes. The free sandbox has every feature with sample data, no credit card and no time limit. You pay only once you go live.
Keep exploring
Capture vs Qualtrics
The head-to-head comparison.
REDCap vs Qualtrics
The academic comparison.
HIPAA-compliant survey tools
What to check for health data.
ePRO software
Participant questionnaires on any phone.
Patient diary software
Scheduled diaries and reminders.
Google Forms for clinical research
Another common tool.
Upload the questionnaire to the free sandbox, add visits and test as a participant. No credit card, and you pay only once you go live.