Compare
How DataFlow compares.
Most teams check field data with Stata do-files, Excel, or their survey platform's own tools. Here's what changes with DataFlow, and what doesn't.
Stata do-files and ipacheck
ipacheck and hand-written do-files are how many teams run high-frequency checks, and they work. They also depend on someone who can maintain them, run when someone remembers to run them, and leave fixes spread through code. DataFlow sets the checks up from your form, runs them on every sync, keeps each correction in a log with Undo, and still gives you a do-file that replays everything in Stata.
Excel
Filtering a spreadsheet finds the errors you think to look for. DataFlow runs the same checks every time, ranks the problems, links several surveys, and leaves the raw data untouched.
Your survey platform's own monitoring
SurveyCTO and ODK let you review submissions on their servers. DataFlow works across SurveyLoopr, SurveyCTO and ODK, checks across linked surveys (back-checks included), keeps the data on your computer, encrypted, and gives your client a report they can open.
What stays the same
Your survey platform, your form, and Stata if you use it. DataFlow reads from the server and never writes to it.