Lime Survey is (probably) the world’s most popular open source survey package and R is the world’s most popular open source statistical and data analysis software (probably). So it seems only natural that there should be a bridge between the two: where the limitations of Lime Survey begin, R can take over and vice-versa.

Thankfully the bridge has been laid by an R package called limer. limer uses the API functionality that is built into Lime Survey to make calls to a Lime Survey instance. The most useful of these is probably the ability to get survey responses. But there is a wealth of other options too, including copying and deleting surveys, getting survey statistics, etc.

The github page of limer provides instructions on how to install it and how to make some basic calls. You also need to enable the API in your Lime Survey installation, which you can do under Settings –> Global Settings –> Interfaces. Be sure to set it to “JSON-RPC” and you will also see the URL to access the API (see image below)

Details on the Lime Survey API are available, although admittedly the documentation is a bit thin.

Assuming you have configured your Lime Survey instance with an SSL certificate (giving the https:// URL), the connection between R and Lime Survey is also encrypted and therefore any personal or sensitive data being exchanged between Lime Survey and R, is secured.

limer coding examples are to follow in a later post.