Diary studies

Run longitudinal research with scheduled survey waves, participant tracking, and compliance monitoring.

Diary studies let you schedule repeating survey waves over days or weeks, enroll participants with unique smart links, and track completion compliance in a visual grid. Ideal for longitudinal research, daily journaling studies, and multi-wave experience sampling.

researchdiary-studieslongitudinaladvanced15-30 minutes to set upIntermediateResearchersAcademicsUX teamsProduct teams

Steps

Create a diary study
Open a survey in the editor and go to Settings > Availability & Limits. Under Repeat as a diary study, click Set up to create a new diary study. Enter a title and select surveys for each phase: a Wave survey (required — repeated each wave), an optional Intake survey (asked once before the first wave), and an optional Exit survey (asked once after the last wave). Each must be a different survey. Once created, the study dashboard opens in a dedicated view.
Configure the schedule
Set the cadence (daily or weekly), number of waves (up to 60), start date, send time, optional deadline time, and study timezone. If you leave the start date blank, waves can be opened manually. Choose a late-entry mode: Flag as late (accept late responses with a marker) or Reject after deadline (block submissions past the deadline).
Share the intake or wave survey link
Share the intake survey link (or the wave survey link if there is no intake). Participants are automatically enrolled when they complete the intake survey — or the first wave survey if no intake is configured. There is no manual enrollment step.
Use smart links for subsequent waves
Once a participant completes the intake (or first wave), a unique smart link (/d/<token>) is generated for them. Copy it from the compliance grid and share it. The smart link stays the same for the entire study and automatically routes to the current wave, the exit survey, or a "between waves" message as appropriate.
Monitor compliance
The compliance grid shows a participant-by-wave matrix. Each cell shows a status: completed (green), late (amber), in progress (blue), missed (red), or pending (gray). A completion rate column shows each participant's overall compliance. Wave statuses — scheduled, open, and closed — appear as colored badges, and you can manually open or close any wave.
Review participant compliance
From the study detail page, review each participant's completion history across all waves. The compliance grid shows who completed which wave and their overall completion rate.

Diary studies are ideal for longitudinal research: daily journaling, experience sampling, habit tracking, and multi-wave evaluations where the same participants respond over time. Set up a diary study from the survey editor's Settings > Availability & Limits > Repeat as a diary study.

Three survey phases structure each study: an optional intake survey (baseline data, demographics, or consent), the wave survey (repeated on each scheduled wave), and an optional exit survey (final reflections, overall assessment). Each phase uses a separate survey that you create independently.

Participants are automatically enrolled when they complete the intake survey (or the first wave if there is no intake). Once enrolled, each participant gets a unique smart link (/d/<token>) that stays the same for the rest of the study. The link routes to the current wave, exit survey, or a waiting page between waves — so participants never need a new link after enrollment.

The compliance grid provides an at-a-glance view of who completed which wave. Color-coded cells make it easy to spot patterns of non-compliance, and the completion rate column shows each participant's track record.

Wave scheduling supports daily or weekly cadence with timezone-aware timing. Set a send time and optional deadline to define each wave's collection window. The study detail page polls every 30 seconds to keep statuses current.

Completion bonus tracking: Set an optional per-study bonus amount (in USD) to reward participants who complete every wave. The compliance grid tracks eligibility automatically — each participant shows as Eligible, Not eligible, or On track. Pay the bonus through your panel provider or however you normally compensate participants; QuestionPunk tracks who earned it but does not disburse payments directly.