# Diary studies Canonical page: https://www.questionpunk.com/support/diary-studies Run longitudinal research with scheduled survey waves, participant tracking, and compliance monitoring. Time: 15-30 minutes to set up Level: Intermediate Audience: Researchers, Academics, UX teams, Product teams ## Steps ### 1. 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. Lay out the study day by day: set the number of days (up to 60) and pick which survey each day asks — a new day defaults to whatever the previous day asks, so one pick can fill the whole calendar and you only override the days that should ask something different. Add an optional **Intake survey** (asked once before day 1) and an optional **Exit survey** (asked once after the last day); both must be different from each other and from every day's survey. Once created, the study dashboard opens in a dedicated view. ### 2. 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). ### 3. 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. ### 4. Use smart links for subsequent waves Once a participant completes the intake (or first wave), a unique smart link (`/d/`) 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. ### 5. 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. ### 6. 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. ## Details 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**. Each day of the study gets its own survey assignment, chosen from a day-by-day calendar (up to 60 days). Repeating the same instrument every day is the ordinary case — pick once and it fills the rest of the calendar — but a study can ask something different on any day by choosing a different survey for that slot. An optional **intake survey** (baseline data, demographics, or consent) runs once before day 1, and an optional **exit survey** (final reflections, overall assessment) runs once after the last day; both must be different from each other and from every day's survey. 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/`) 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. By default, each participant gets their own wave calendar anchored to when they enrolled, so staggered or batched recruitment still gives every participant the full study — a person who joins a week late is not scored against the wave dates of someone who joined on day one. Switch to a shared calendar instead to put every participant on the same wave dates regardless of when they joined (a late joiner then picks up at whichever wave is current and misses the earlier ones). **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. ## Related articles - [Create your first survey](https://www.questionpunk.com/support/create-your-first-survey.md) - [Audiences and respondent management](https://www.questionpunk.com/support/audiences.md) - [Share and distribute your survey](https://www.questionpunk.com/support/embed-and-share.md) - [Respondent incentives](https://www.questionpunk.com/support/respondent-incentives.md)