Survey scanning and OMR data capture

Read by the scanner, checked by people, and imaged in full.

How it reads. Closed responses, including ticks, filled boxes, rating scales and multiple choice, are read by optical mark recognition on Scantron equipment from forms built to its specification. Respondents can use pen or pencil; either reads.

Where people look. Before any data is released, three kinds of field are clipped as images and shown to an operator on screen for visual confirmation:

• Critical fields you've nominated, such as a respondent ID, a consent question or anything where a misread would matter more than usual
• Blanks, so a skipped question is recorded as skipped, not as a scanner miss
• Double marks, meaning single-answer questions with more than one mark, resolved by a person rather than a rule

Open-ended answers. Each is clipped as an image and keyed by our operators, then delivered alongside the closed data. Spelling is corrected by default, or entered exactly as written if you prefer. The more closed questions your form has, the faster and cheaper this step runs.

Images. Every returned form is captured as a full-page PDF, one file per form, and linked from that form's row in your data file. This puts the original page, including handwriting, one click from any value.

Set-up. Every scannable form gets its own scanning application in ScanTools. It records where each response area is, whether it's closed or open, what value each answer carries, and which fields go to an operator: every field, blanks only or multiple marks. The printed form is test-scanned in-house before mail-out, and the application is checked again on the first real batch of returns before the run proceeds.

Small runs. Setting up a scannable form has a fixed cost: artwork compliance, the scanning application and testing. Below a certain volume, depending on the form and how many closed responses each page carries, it's cheaper for our operators to key the forms by hand. For a small run keyed that way, your existing form can be used as it stands. We quote whichever costs you less.

What you get. A data file that a person has checked where it matters, and an image of every form behind it.