Qualtrics is the dominant research survey platform at US universities - virtually every AAU institution has an institutional licence. The bottleneck is not access; it is the time required to rebuild an IRB-approved Word instrument in the Qualtrics Survey Builder. A 40-item validated scale takes 4-6 hours to build manually with consistent risk of transcription errors. Pirai AI converts the Word instrument to a Qualtrics QSF file in under 15 minutes, with verbatim text from the IRB-approved document preserved in every question label.
Word and PDF to Qualtrics QSF
Pirai AI generates a Qualtrics Survey Format (.qsf) file - the native Qualtrics import format. Upload your Word, PDF, or Excel document at platform.piraiai.com. Review extracted questions in the workspace. Select Qualtrics and download the QSF. Import via Survey tab > Tools > Import/Export > Import Survey. All questions, answer options, and block structure are created in Qualtrics. Configure display logic, Survey Flow, and embedded data in the Qualtrics editor after import.
US Research Use Cases
- NSF-funded psychology and social science: Validated instruments (Big Five, PCL-5, Beck Depression Inventory) converted from published PDFs to Qualtrics QSF for online study deployment
- NIH-funded population health surveys: Patient experience and quality of life scales (PROMIS, SF-36, EQ-5D) converted from sponsor PDFs to Qualtrics for non-clinical CTSA-affiliated studies
- Dissertation research: Graduate student survey instruments drafted in Word for IRB submission converted to Qualtrics after IRB approval
- MR agency programming: Client Word questionnaire scripts converted to Qualtrics QSF, replacing the manual programming phase for US survey research firms
- Multi-site studies: The same instrument converted to Qualtrics QSF and distributed to multiple consortium sites for consistent deployment across institutions
Why Verbatim Text Matters for US Research
IRB-approved protocols in the US specify the exact wording of survey instruments. Any deviation from the approved wording constitutes a protocol modification requiring IRB amendment. Pirai AI extracts verbatim text from the source document without paraphrasing. The Qualtrics question text matches the IRB-approved Word instrument exactly. Any changes are made in the Pirai AI workspace before the QSF is generated - with the source document text visible alongside the extracted version for direct comparison.
Getting Qualtrics Access at US Universities
Most US universities with Qualtrics institutional licences access the platform via SSO at [youruni].qualtrics.com. Graduate students typically need their supervisor or PI to request survey creation rights. Contact your library, IT services, or research computing team. Some institutions (particularly those where Qualtrics is managed by the library) provide self-service access with a research purpose declaration.
Frequently Asked Questions
Pirai AI converts Word (.docx), PDF (native and scanned), and Excel (.xlsx) documents to Qualtrics Survey Format (.qsf) files. Upload at platform.piraiai.com, select Qualtrics, download the QSF, and import via Survey tab > Tools > Import/Export > Import Survey. Verbatim text from IRB-approved instruments is preserved.
Upload and processing: 1-3 minutes. Review in the workspace: 5-10 minutes for a 40-item instrument. Qualtrics import: under 1 minute. Total: 15-20 minutes versus 4-6 hours of manual entry in the Qualtrics Survey Builder.
Yes. Pirai AI extracts verbatim text from the source document without paraphrasing. Question text and answer options in the Qualtrics QSF match the source Word document exactly - important for IRB compliance where protocol wording must match the deployed instrument.
Yes. Upload the PDF (native digital or scanned) to Pirai AI. Select Qualtrics. Download the QSF and import into Qualtrics. For scanned PDFs, enable Advanced PDF Processing for OCR extraction. Verbatim text from the source PDF is preserved.
Convert Your IRB-Approved Instrument to Qualtrics
Upload Word or PDF. Pirai AI generates a Qualtrics QSF. Import via Tools > Import Survey. Verbatim wording preserved. Free daily credits.
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