The Challenge
The Stanford GSB Behavioral Lab serves as a research resource for all faculty and PhD students at the Graduate School of Business, supporting a wide variety of longitudinal research projects. When researchers needed to conduct a one-week daily diary study examining workplace dynamics—including feelings of being monitored, self-censorship, and stress—they faced significant logistical challenges that threatened both data quality and retention rates.
The longitudinal study required participants to complete three mini-surveys per day (morning, afternoon, and evening) across five working days, plus an initial baseline survey. This meant coordinating 16 separate survey waves with different launch times and durations—a complexity that typically leads to participant fatigue and declining retention rates.
The traditional approach would have required:
- Creating and managing 16 individual project postings manually
- Repetitive editing and modifications across each posting
- Navigating a cluttered dashboard to locate specific longitudinal waves
- Increased risk of configuration errors that could compromise data quality
- Manual monitoring to pause data collection at precise times across time zones
The Solution
The Behavioral Lab used Connect Waves to consolidate all 16 longitudinal survey waves into a single, centralized project. The feature transformed what would have been a complex, error-prone process into a streamlined workflow optimized for high retention rates.
Centralized Longitudinal Study Management
Instead of creating 16 separate postings, the team configured the entire longitudinal study in one location. The timeline view displayed all waves, payments, and launch times at a glance—enabling the team to verify every detail before launch and eliminate configuration errors that typically hurt retention rates.
Fully Automated Cross-Timezone Scheduling
The longitudinal study targeted East Coast participants, which meant the morning survey opened and closed before the West Coast research team even started their workday. Connect Waves handled the automated launch and pause of data collection entirely, eliminating manual intervention and ensuring participants received surveys at optimal times—a key factor in maintaining strong retention rates.
Flexible Wave Configuration for Daily Diary Studies
Different surveys required different availability windows: the afternoon survey was open for 3 hours, while the morning and evening surveys were open for 4 hours. The team easily configured each wave individually while keeping global settings consistent—maintaining the reliability that drives participant trust and retention rates in longitudinal research.
Intelligent Participant Eligibility Tracking
Rather than manually downloading participant IDs and sorting through qualifications for each longitudinal wave, the team used built-in eligibility controls. Participants only needed to complete the baseline survey to access any subsequent wave—a configuration that took just a button press instead of manual data management, reducing friction and supporting higher retention rates.
"Having everything centralized in one location was so easy for our team. Instead of having to go in and out of every posting on your dashboard and get really confused about what posting you're looking at, you could follow along this timeline and it was super easy."
Results
The Stanford team recruited 100 participants in the baseline survey and achieved an average 75% retention rate throughout the week-long longitudinal study—a strong outcome for daily diary research requiring multiple touchpoints per day. After launching the series, the research coordinator required zero ongoing manual management.
Dramatic Time Savings
- Consolidated 16 separate postings into one unified longitudinal project
- Eliminated repetitive setup and manual edits across waves
- Fully automated data collection with zero manual launch or pause actions
Superior Data Quality & Retention Rates
- Achieved 75% retention rate across a demanding 16-wave longitudinal design
- Eliminated configuration errors that typically compromise longitudinal data
- Ensured zero missed launches or timing errors across all waves
- Automated participant eligibility tracking maintained study integrity
Seamless Team Collaboration
- Single shared project view eliminated juggling multiple postings
- Complete longitudinal timeline visible to all team members
- Live updates on participant engagement, retention, and drop-offs in one place
"Once I launched the series, I did not have to do any sort of admin work afterwards. I simply would check in every now and then to see how the project was going, which everything was going very smoothly because the setup was so easy."
What's Next
Building on their success, the Stanford Behavioral Lab is expanding this study into a two-week longitudinal version—doubling the complexity while maintaining confidence in their retention rates thanks to Connect Waves.
About the Stanford GSB Behavioral Lab
The GSB Behavioral Lab functions as a research resource for faculty and PhD students at Stanford's Graduate School of Business. The lab supports a wide variety of longitudinal research projects across behavioral science disciplines, helping researchers design and execute studies that advance understanding of human behavior in organizational and business contexts.