Understanding missions, activities, and entries for researchers

Missions, activities, and entries are the key structural elements of a dscout Diary mission.

A mission is a series of research activities that you ask scouts to complete. Most research projects consist of one mission.

dscout Diary missions usually consist of multiple activities (formerly known as "parts"); you can think of activities as distinct tasks you want your participants to complete. Each activity in your mission has its own instructions, unique set of questions, and timeframe.

Scouts complete each activity in your mission by submitting entries. Entries are the bundles of data that scouts send you each time they answer all the questions in an activity. Each time scouts answer the set of questions you've written for your part, they create a unique entry – just like in a diary study. 

Some activities require multiple entries, which means scouts are answering the same set of questions multiple times. Other activities may just require a single entry.

In each entry, scouts will answer a combination of open- and closed-ended questions, and can submit up to 5 photos plus 1 video or screen recording response.

• Single entry activities
• Multiple entry activities

Activities that require a single entry (interview-style)

If you have a specific set of questions you'd like scouts to answer (like a survey or interview guide) you can set up an activity in your mission to accommodate this. Just set the minimum entry requirement to one. In the following example of a mission activity, scouts like David have been asked to submit only 1 entry to answer this set of 5 questions. 

Activities that require multiple entries (Diary style)

You can also design a mission activity so scouts answer ONE set of questions multiple times - they do this by submitting multiple entries. In the following example, scouts have been asked to submit a minimum of 3 entries in order to capture different snacking moments. Scouts will answer the same set of questions each time they share a snacking moment in a new entry.

Q1 [VIDEO PROMPT]
Take a 30 second video of the snack you're eating right now! (Please make sure you’re in a well-lit and quiet space so we can see & hear you clearly!)

Q2 [OPEN END]
What is this snack you just showed us?

Q3 [SINGLE SELECT]
Which of the following best describes why you chose this snack on this occasion?

• healthiness
• cost
• taste
• convenience
• other (tap to type)

Q4 [SINGLE SELECT]
Where are you right now?

• home
• someone else's home
• work/school
• on the go/in transit 
• in another public space
• other (tap to type)