Add date question

Add a date question to the research consent form asking When did you first experience the symptom? Use date-only input (no time), allow the respondent to type or pick a date, and make the field required. Include helper text: If unsure, give your best estimate and choose the first day you noticed symptoms.

Before I publish the consent form, make the date question clear: instruct participants whether to use MM/DD/YYYY, allow approximate dates with a checkbox for 'approximate', and surface the format example in the helper text. Flag potential timezone confusion if any responses will be linked to timestamps elsewhere.

I added When did you first experience the symptom? as a required date field, but volunteers are entering different formats and some type text like 'early June'. I can't edit the live responses easily. What's the most likely explanation for the messy dates and the best immediate fix to improve incoming data without reopening the study?

Across multiple surveys, date answers arrive inconsistent or vague, making analysis slow. Is the recurring failure caused by question design, lack of examples, or respondent literacy, and what single change to my protocol will standardize date responses and speed up analysis?