How to detect respondent location?

When a survey is completed in the field, the answers may tell only part of the story. For retail audits, on-site research and other location-dependent projects, knowing where a response was recorded can provide useful context. Porsline’s online questionnaire builder includes Respondent Location for projects where location needs to be collected alongside the response.

This video introduces the feature and shows why location can become an important part of field data rather than an unrelated piece of respondent information.

What Respondent Location Adds to Your Data

After watching this video, you will understand how Respondent Location can help you:

• Capture location information alongside a submitted response.
• Connect field responses with the place where data was collected.
• Review location as part of the context surrounding a response.
• Use geographic information in workflows where the collection point matters.

The feature is most useful when location directly supports the purpose of the form or research project. If the survey can be analysed without geographic context, collecting location may add information that the project does not actually need.

When Location Becomes Part of the Research Question

Respondent Location is useful when where an answer is submitted affects its interpretation. Unlike asking for a city or region, it captures the location as part of the data-collection context itself.

Verify Where Retail Audits Take Place

A retail research team may ask field staff to inspect different branches, outlets or points of sale. In market research surveys, location information can provide additional context for each submitted audit, helping analysts distinguish field observations collected at different sites.

This is useful when the physical location of the observation is relevant to comparing stores, regions or market conditions.

Add Geographic Context to Field Research

Researchers conducting observations or surveys in physical locations may need to know where each data point was collected. With academic research surveys, location can accompany the response so researchers can interpret findings in relation to the study area or collection site.

This can be particularly useful when the same questionnaire is used across several locations and geography is part of the research design.

Check Location Access Before Field Deployment

Location collection depends on the respondent’s browser and its permission settings. It may also be limited when a Porsline form is embedded in another website.

Before starting a field project, test the experience on the same devices and distribution method you plan to use to ensure location works as expected.

Create a small test project and submit a response from the device type your participants or field staff will use.