Multi-wave reporting lets you combine results from multiple surveys within the same project into a single report. This is ideal for tracking changes over time, running longitudinal studies, or simply consolidating data for easier analysis.
Rather than looking at each survey individually, multi-wave reporting gives you a unified dataset with statistical testing run across all waves combined, while still allowing you to see results for each wave separately.
Key Features
- Cross-survey reporting - Pull data from multiple surveys in the same project into one report.
- Custom wave labels - Assign labels like "Wave 1," "Wave 2," etc., or stick with the survey names.
- Flexible filtering - Add the wave label as a column, row, or filter in your report.
- Statistical testing on combined data - All testing is run against the aggregated dataset.
- Automatic code frame matching - Any open-ended question repeated across surveys in the same project uses the same code frame automatically.
Creating a Multi-Wave Report
1. Navigate to the Projects Page
From your main dashboard, open the project containing the surveys you want to combine and select the Reports tab:
2. Create a New Multi-Wave Report
Click Create Report
Add the surveys you want to include. You can:
- Keep the default survey name as the label, or
- Enter a custom label (e.g., "Wave 1," "Wave 2").
3. Choose Respondent Handling
When setting up a multi-wave report, the Consistent Respondent toggle controls how respondents who appear in more than one wave are treated:
- On - Treats the same respondent across waves as a single individual for longitudinal analysis.
- Off - Treats responses in different waves as independent entries.
You can set this when creating the report, or later in the Scope step of the report editor:
4. Build and Analyze Your Report
Once your surveys are added, you can insert the wave label as:
- A column
- A row
- A filter
Your analysis will automatically apply statistical testing across the combined dataset.
Adding a New Wave to an Existing Report
When the next wave of a tracker is fielded as a new survey in the same project, you don't need to rebuild your multi-wave reports — add the survey to the reports you already have.
- Open the project and select the Reports tab.
- Click Configure in the report toolbar.
- The Configure Reports dialog shows a matrix: your project reports run down the left, the project's surveys run across the top, and each cell is a checkbox.
- Check the new survey's box on every report that should include the new wave. Unchecking a box removes that survey from that report.
- Click Save.
Because a multi-wave report needs waves to compare, every report must keep at least two surveys — if a change would leave fewer, the platform shows an error and does not save that report. Once saved, the report refreshes with the new wave included in the combined dataset and statistical testing.
Best Practices
- Use clear wave labels (especially if you have more than two waves) to make reporting more straightforward to interpret.
- When running longitudinal studies, always enable the Consistent Respondent option.
- Remember that open-ended code frames are already unified for repeated questions, so no manual alignment is needed.