Data processing: database and file management or data structures – Database design – Data structure types
Reexamination Certificate
2001-04-23
2004-04-13
Amsbury, Wayne (Department: 2171)
Data processing: database and file management or data structures
Database design
Data structure types
C707S793000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06721756
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device, method, system, and program for executing a questionnaire process for a client (a client company).
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in terms of a questionnaire process, human users have done various processes, such as selecting of target people to be provided with a questionnaire, sending of the questionnaire to each of the target people, summing up of returned questionnaires, etc.
In different questionnaire processes, operations have separately been done. Hence, the more the number of cases, the more the number of human operators and the longer the time necessary for performing the questionnaire process. Under such circumstances, the contents of the questionnaire and the target people may not fairly be set by the human operators. This fails in a reliable survey of the target people's behavior.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is according an object of the present invention to provide a device, system, method and program for reliably executing a questionnaire process for a client in a short period of time.
In order to accomplish the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an agent device, for executing a questionnaire process for a client, comprising:
a setting unit which sets target people to be provided with a questionnaire, in accordance with contents of the questionnaire which are requested by the client and sent through a network;
a question maker which makes at least one question toward the target people set by the setting unit, in accordance with the contents of the questionnaire;
a questioner which sends the at least one question made by the question maker to the target people through the network;
a summing unit which sums up completed questionnaires sent from the respective target people through the network; and
a provider which provides the client with a sum result of the completed questionnaires through the network.
According to this invention, a questionnaire process can be achieved in a short period of time.
The setting unit may include:
a condition determiner which determines at least one condition for setting the target people to be provided with the questionnaires, in accordance with the contents of the questionnaire; and
a target-people determiner which determines the target people, in accordance with the at least one condition determined by the condition determiner.
The target-people determiner may set a code, for identifying each of the determined target people, to each of the target people; and
the summing unit may perform accurate summing of the completed questionnaires, by checking, with the code, whether there is a person having done an improper act.
The agent device may further comprise a memory which stores, as data, at least one attribute of a person to be set as one of the target people, and
the condition determiner may determine, as a condition, the at least one attribute of the target people, in accordance with the contents of the questionnaire, and
the target-people determiner may determine a predetermined number of people as the target people, of people corresponding to the condition determined by the condition determiner, using the data stored in the memory.
In order to accomplish the above object, according to the second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for executing a questionnaire process for a client, the method comprising:
setting target people to be provided with a questionnaire, in accordance with contents of the questionnaire which are requested by the client and sent through a network;
obtaining at least one question corresponding to the contents of questionnaire, from a plurality of questions stored in advance in a memory;
sending data representing the obtained question to a predetermined terminal through a network, thereby to question the set target people;
summing up completed questionnaires using data representing the completed questionnaires sent from the target people through a network; and
sending data representing a summed result of the completed questionnaires to a predetermined terminal through a network, thereby to provide the summed result to the client.
The setting may include:
determining at least one attribute, as a condition, of the set target people, in accordance with the contents of the questionnaire; and
sampling a predetermined number of people, as the target people, from a plurality of people having an attribute corresponding to the condition, using attribute information representing attributes of the plurality of people and stored in advance in a memory.
The sampling may include setting a code, for identifying each of the target people, to each of the target people; and
the summing may include performing accurate summing of the completed questionnaires, by checking, with the code, whether there is a person having done an improper act.
In order to accomplish the above object, according to the third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an agent system for executing a questionnaire process for a client, comprising:
an agent device which serves as an agent for executing the questionnaire process for the client; and
a request device which sends a request signal representing contents of a questionnaire which are requested by the client to the agent device, and
wherein the agent device includes
a setting unit which sets target people to be provided with a questionnaire, in accordance with contents of the questionnaire represented by a request signal sent from the request device through a network;
a question maker which makes at least one question toward the target people set by the setting unit, in accordance with the contents of the questionnaire;
a questioner which sends the at least one question made by the question maker to the target people set by the setting unit through the network;
a summing unit which sums up completed questionnaires sent from the target people through a network; and
a provider which provides the request device with a summed result of the completed questionnaires through the network.
The system may further comprise a controller which controls an account of the client and an account of an agent which owns the agent device, and wherein:
the request device includes a sending unit which sends a transfer signal for instructing to transfer rates for the questionnaire process to the controller from the account of the client to the account of the agent, in response to the summed result sent from the provider; and
the controller transfers the rates from the account of the client to the account of the agent, in accordance with the transfer signal sent from the sending unit.
In order to accomplish the above object, according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program for controlling a computer to function as an agent device, for executing a questionnaire process for a client, comprising:
a setting unit which sets target people to be provided with a questionnaire, in accordance with contents of the questionnaire which are requested by the client through a network;
a question maker which makes at least one question toward the target people set by the setting unit, in accordance with the contents of the questionnaire;
a questioner which sends the question made by the question maker to the target people set by the setting unit through the network;
a summing unit which sums up completed questionnaires sent respectively from the target people through the network; and
a provider which provides the client with a summed result obtained by the summing unit through a network.
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patent: H8-292937 (1996-11-01), None
patent: H11-282828 (1999-10-0
Satou Shun-ichi
Yagihashi Toshio
Amsbury Wayne
NEC Infrontia Corporation
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