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Round 1 questionnaire

Write the Round 1 questionnaire while the round is being prepared, have the principal investigator approve it, then open the round so the enrolled panel is fixed.

Who can open this: Principal investigator, Steering committee (full access), Coder, Biostatistics, Coordinator

Who this is for​

The principal investigator writes the questionnaire, approves the round, and can open it. The coordinator can open a round that already has a valid approval, and can close collection. Either of them sees the move button. A teammate who can open the round page and cannot take the next move sees "The next step, open this round, is taken by the principal investigator or the coordinator." Starting a planned round is separate: "The next step, start preparing this round, is taken by the principal investigator."

The coordinator, Steering committee (full access), Coder, and Biostatistics can open the Questionnaire stage and read it. The page then says "Your role can read the questionnaire but not change it." and the save line reads "Read only". Approving stays with the principal investigator: "Only the principal investigator approves a round."

Adjudicator and Steering confirmer do not open this stage. The round page says "Questionnaire is not part of your role" and "You are on this study's team, but your role does not open this stage."

Steps​

  1. On Review & launch, at the end of Setup, use "Launch study". The dialog title is "Launch this study?" and the confirm control is "Launch". The card says: "Launching creates the rounds of your plan and locks the parts of Setup that cannot change once a study is running. No invitation is sent."
  2. Open Round 1. If it is still planned, the principal investigator uses "Start preparing this round". The note beside that move is "This round becomes the one being built. Only one round can be in progress at a time."
  3. Open Round 1 under Rounds and go to its Questionnaire tab. The heading is "Round 1 questionnaire". The introduction says: "The preliminary questionnaire. It is separate from the Item bank and does not use the consensus rating rules." If Rating & consensus has not been saved, the page stops at the card "Rating and consensus is not saved yet" with "The questionnaire is written against the study's scale, which is set in Setup, Rating and consensus." Set that on Setup, Round design, Rating & consensus and return.
  4. Under "Instructions and scale", edit "Instructions panelists see first" and "Meaning of the scale zones". The scale numbers themselves stay where Rating & consensus set them: "The scale itself ({min} to {max}) is set in Rating and consensus."
  5. Under "Questions", edit each "Section {n} title". Add a block with "Text", "Scale", "Note", or "Repeating block". A repeating block is badged "Repeat". The page says "Choose a question to edit it. Repeating blocks ask the same questions for every term." There is no Save button. The save line reads "Changes save as you work", then "Saving…", then "All changes saved".
  6. In the round controls, read the approval line. It is "Not approved yet.", "The approval is out of date.", or "Approved by {name} on {date}." The principal investigator uses "Approve this round", or "Approve again" when the approval is out of date. The dialog title is "Approve this round?" and it says: "Approving records your decision as principal investigator: this content, these rules, the consent form and this schedule. It does not open the round. Changing any of them cancels the approval and the round cannot open until you approve again."
  7. Use "Open this round". The dialog title is "Open this round?" and the note is: "Opening fixes this round's panel from the people enrolled and eligible right now, and that cannot be changed afterwards. Panelists are emailed that the round is open only if the Round open message has been saved under Invitations." If no Round open message is saved, the dialog offers "Save this default wording as version 1 before continuing. It will apply to future rounds too." and the link "Review or edit the message wording", which opens that message under Invitations, Messages. Ticking the checkbox changes the confirm control to "Save default wording and open this round".
  8. If Round 1 is below its minimum and the study uses "Nobody joins an open round", the controls ask you to type "open anyway" and to give a "Reason for opening below the minimum (10–500 characters)". The page also says "Opening below this minimum requires a recorded reason. A scheduled opening waits until the minimum is met or someone opens it by hand with a reason." Leaving either field short shows "Type “open anyway” and give a reason of 10 to 500 characters."
  9. After the round has opened, the questionnaire is locked: "Round {n} has opened, so these are the questions panelists received. They cannot be changed here." A viewer who can open Responses may use "Preview as panelist", which shows the round as a panelist sees it.
  10. Collection is watched on the round's Responses tab. The principal investigator or the coordinator uses "Close collection". The note is "Collection ends for this round. It moves on to review." Someone else sees "The next step, close collection, is taken by the principal investigator or the coordinator."
  11. A questionnaire round that is not the last round uses a Decision tab, the last tab of the round. The later round is started on its own page with "Start preparing this round". A last questionnaire round's Decide tab is "Wrap up", not "Decision".

Table: what the approval line means before the round opens.

LineWhat it means
Not approved yet.The principal investigator has not approved this content.
The approval is out of date.Something that was approved has changed. The principal investigator uses "Approve again".
Approved by {name} on {date}.The approval is valid. Opening is a separate button.

What the app will not do​

Launching creates the rounds and sends no invitation. Opening the round emails panelists only when a Round open message has already been saved, or when you tick the offer to save the default wording in the open dialog. Questions stay as panelists received them once the round has opened. A questionnaire round has Questionnaire, Responses, Review, and Decision. It has no Results stage, and this questionnaire does not use the consensus rating rules. A round that is still planned says "Round {n} is not being built yet. Its questionnaire opens for editing when the round before it is done."

Checked against the app on 2026-10-31.