A Year of Data Entry, Delivered in a Month
A nonprofit had collected tens of thousands of handwritten surveys from students. The data held answers. But first, someone had to get it off the paper.
Survey Data Processing
Batch #4821
Q1. How do you feel about school?
Q2. What's your favorite subject?
"I like math becuz its fun"
→ Captured as: "I like math because it's fun"
Q3. Select all that apply:
25,000+
Surveys Processed
4 Weeks
Turnaround
50%
Faster QA Review
1 Year
Saved
Challenge
Tens of thousands of surveys. Filled out by students. Checkboxes, multiple choice, and open-ended questions answered in every handwriting style imaginable. Neat print, messy scrawl, creative spelling, pencil and crayon.
Each one mattered. Together, they held insights that could shape how classrooms work. But getting that data out of the paper and into a format anyone could actually use? That was going to take a year. Maybe more.
Solution
They came to us not knowing exactly what they needed. Just that they couldn't do it alone. So we listened. We learned how they planned to analyze the data, what questions they were trying to answer, and what "done" needed to look like. Then we built something.
A system to scan, deduplicate, and assign unique IDs to every survey. Custom scripts to pull checkbox and multiple choice responses cleanly. Trained reviewers who could read a child's handwriting and capture what they meant, not just what they wrote. A QA process that cut review time in half. And a final deliverable dropped directly into their Box folder: formatted, organized, and ready.
Results
Four weeks later, they opened their laptops to find a year's worth of work, done. Clean spreadsheets, organized by region, ready for analysis.
“They asked the right questions, figured out what we actually needed, and just... handled it.”
Program Director
Services Used
Complex doesn't have to mean complicated
Sometimes it just takes the right partner. Let us help you turn your data challenges into actionable insights.