Response options appear on the Response Options tab of the Question Editor. This is where a question’s list of available responses are defined. The options available on this tab vary, depending on the type of question. For Text Field and Commentary questions, the only item on the response options tab will be the Data Type list.
This section focuses on configuring response options for ‘Select One’ and ‘Check all that apply’ type questions.
To set response options:
- Choose a data type. A data type can only be chosen if the question uses the ‘”Select One’ or ‘Text Field’ display type.
- If a numeric data type is chosen, add scale values, as described below. If the Yes/No data type is chosen, define the Yes/No values, as described below.
- If the response options for this question are to be ordered randomly for each participant, check Randomize Display Order.
Choosing a Data Type
The type of data chosen here is the type of data that will end up in the data set for this particular question. Generally, whole numbers are used for Select One type questions.
Illume Next recognizes the following data types:
- Whole Numbers Numbers without a decimal component. E.g., 21, 55000, -211
- Whole Numbers > 0 Positive whole numbers.
- Currency A decimal number representing a currency amount. The number of digits after the decimal point may vary by locale.
- Decimal Numbers Numbers with both whole and fractional component. E.g., 3.14, -299.173
- Date A valid calendar date, including day, month, and year. E.g. 12/11/2005. Dates that don’t exist, like 02/30/2004, are not valid.
- Time A valid time, including hour, minute and second. E.g. 12:51:17 pm.
- Date/Time A valid date and time, including year, month, day, hour, minute, and second. E.g. 12/11/2005 12:51;17 pm.
- Yes/No A simple 0 or 1 value. 0 traditionally represents No or False, while 1 represents Yes or True. Illume Next allows you to reverse the traditional meanings if you wish. All checkbox items are of this data type, since a checkbox can have only two states (checked or not checked).
Setting a Default Value
A default value can be set for a question by typing the value into the Default field. Default values are optional. The value entered in the default field will be pre-selected the first time the participant sees this question on the survey. The participant is free to change or accept the default selection. Use one of the following two methods to set the default value:
- Type in the value of the default response. In the screenshot above, the default is 3, which means that when the question first appears, the option whose value is 3 (I work full time) will be selected. If a default value is typed in that is not on the scale, Illume Next will ignore the value and will not set any default.
- Pipe in the value of an earlier question using the {Value:QuestionId} tag. For example, if a survey contained an earlier question called EMP6 that asked “What was your employment status 6 months ago?” and included the same response options, the participant’s EMP6 response could be made the default value of this question by setting the default to {Value:EMP6}.
- Pipe in data from the participant list, using the {UserData:FieldName} tag. For example, if a participant list includes a field called LASTNAME, the participant’s last name can be set as the default value by typing {UserData:LASTNAME} into the default field.
- Pipe in the value of a survey parameter. Set the default value to the value of any survey parameter by typing {ParamValue:ParameterName}, where ParameterName is the name of the parameter whose value is to be piped in.
See “Piping Data” for general information about piping, or “Setting Dynamic Defaults and Bounds” for more specific issues to consider when piping data into a question’s default value of response guides.
Adding/Editing Scale Values
Scale values are the options from which participants may choose when responding to a question. To add numeric scale values, follow these steps:
- Type the value in the small text box to the left of the equal sign.
- Press the Tab key to move the cursor into the display text field, then type the text the participants should see for this option.
- Press the Enter key. This adds the value to the list of scale values below, and returns the cursor to the value text box.
- Repeat steps 1-3 until all of the options wanted for this question have been added.
Note that for each response option, the value is what will be stored with the data set, while the display text is what participants will see when they are reading through the question’s available answers.
If a user does not want to type a value for each individual response option, and it is known that the values will be in sequential order, check the box labeled “Generate values automatically”, and indicate the number at which the values should begin. Then response options can be added by typing them into the display text field and pressing Enter.
Response Options for Check All That Apply Questions
For each checkbox in a “Check all that apply question,” a name must be supplied for the checkbox as well as the text that should appear next to the checkbox.
Choose a name for each checkbox that will be helpful during data analysis, so the data analyst can see instantly what the participant was saying yes to when they checked the box.
Mutually Exclusive Response Options for Check All That Apply Questions
A Check All That Apply question can include one or more mutually exclusive check box responses. Mutually exclusive check boxes allow survey designers to specify “Does not apply” or “Refuse to answer” type responses in Check All That Apply questions. When one of these responses is checked no other responses can be checked.
To make a response option mutually exclusive, click the Response Options tab in the question editor and then click the checkbox in the Exclusive column for the desired response option.
When JavaScript is enabled, the client web browser prevents having a mutually exclusive check box being checked when other check boxes are checked. If JavaScript is not enabled both types of check boxes (exclusive and non-exclusive) are able to be checked at the same time and this condition will be caught on the server and an error message will be displayed. The error message can be edited by clicking Edit Preferences and the Error Messages tab. In the drop-down menu select the error for: A mutually exclusive check box is checked when other check boxes are checked.
When a mutually exclusive checkbox is selected, the response guide for minimum # of responses is ignored if set to a value greater than 1.
Setting Show-if Conditions on Responses
A user may want to display response options only under certain conditions. To set show-if conditions on a response option:
- Click on the option in the list at the bottom of the Response Options tab.
- Click on the Show-if… button to get to the show-if editor.
In this image above, the circle to the left of the first option is yellow because this option includes a show-if condition. Once the Show-if button is clicked, the process is the same as setting a show-if condition for a question, which is described in detail in “Setting Show-if Conditions”.
Once a show-if condition is set for a response option, the Survey Designer displays a yellow control-type image next to the question to indicate that some response options have display conditions attached. In the image below, the question FREQ includes response options that display conditionally. For the other questions, all response options always appear.
Attaching a Text Field to a Scale Value
A text field may be attached to a scale value question to allow participants to explain their responses. For example, if one of the response options is “Other (please specify)”, participants should be given a place to specify what they mean by “other.” If the response option has not yet been added to the list, create the option as described above then check the “Attach text field” box and click the Add button to add the option to the list. In the list of response options, notice that when an item has an attached text field, the Text Field box next to that item is checked. To add a text field to an item that is already in the list of response options, simply check the “Text Field” box next to the item in the list. To delete the text field, uncheck the box.
Setting Properties for Attached Text Fields
After attaching a text field to a response option, the user may want to set some properties for the text field. To do so, follow these steps:
- In the list of available response options, click once on the option whose text field is to be configured.
- Click on the Text Field Properties button.
- Set the desired properties (described below).
- Click OK .
The General Tab of the Scale Text Question Editor enables you to configure the following properties:
- Name Prefix: The name prefix is the name of the question to which a text field is attached, followed by a period. You cannot change this.
- Unique Name: This name is attached to the Name Prefix to create the unique name for the attached text field. The unique name of the text field in the screenshot above is Q4.TEXT. This name must be known to pipe a response from this field into another part of the survey. (Hint: Use {Response:Q4.TEXT} to get the response.) When multiple text fields are attached to a question, Illume Next names the first field TEXT, and the following fields TEXT2, TEXT3, etc, in the order they were created. Thus, if Q4 had 3 attached text fields, they would be called Q4.TEXT, Q4.TEXT2, and Q4.TEXT3 by default.
- Data Type: The type of data a participant is expected to supply in the text box.
- Precision: This option appears only when Decimal Numbers are selected as the data type. Set this to the maximum number of digits that should appear after the decimal point. This can be a value between 0 and 4.
- Label: A text label to accompany the text box. This label will be displayed to the left of the text box, unless “Display label after” is checked. For example, a “$” label would precede a text box in which participants are expected to enter a dollar amount. A “%” label would follow a text box in which participants are expected to enter a percentage amount.
- Display Width: The width (measured in characters) of the text box.
- Description: A note to anyone who may be editing the survey providing information about this text box.
The Response Guides tab of the Scale Text Question Editor enables the following properties to be configured:
- The participant must respond to this item if applicable: Check this to require participants to type a response into the text box. The text box will require a response only if the scale value to which it is attached has been checked. That is, if this text box appears next to the “Other” option, it will require a response only if the participant selected the “Other” option. .
- Minimum length: The minimum length required for a valid response to this item.
- Maximum length: The maximum length allowed for a valid response to this item.
- Format (Meta-type): Check this option and select a meta-type from the accompanying list for participants’ responses to be of a particular type (such as email address, phone number, etc.)
- Lower Bound: The minimum allowable value for a numeric response. Note that it is possible to specify whether responses may not be less than (<) or may not be less than or equal to (<=) the minimum value.
- Upper Bound: The maximum allowable value for a numeric response. Note that it is possible to specify whether responses may not be greater than () or may not be greater than or equal to (=) the maximum value. A user can set both the Upper and Lower bounds to compare against values that a participant has entered in response to prior questions. That is, a user can say that the answer to the current question has to greater than (or less than) the answer to a previous question.
- Error Message: This is the message participants will see if 1) they fail to enter a response when the response is required, or 2) the response they enter does not meet validation requirements.
Attached Text Field Properties in Multilingual Surveys
If a survey includes multiple translations, the user will want to separate translations for any labels and error messages belonging to attached text fields. Generally, this is done by creating a Translation Package, but in some cases, these items may need to be edited individually.
To set the label, description, and error message for an attached text in a specific language:
- Open the question to which the text field is attached in the Question Editor.
- Click the Response Options tab.
- Choose the translation to work with from the list at the bottom of the Question Editor.
- Click on the scale value whose attached text field is being edited.
- Click Text Field Properties.
- Edit the label, description, and/or error message in the Scale Text Question Editor.
- Click OK to close the Scale Text Question Editor.
- Click OK in the Question Editor to save changes.
The changes made to attached text field properties affect only the language that was selected when the Scale Text Question Editor was opened.
Randomizing Display Order and Anchoring Options
By default, Illume Next presents response options to participants in the same order they appear in the Question Editor. If the Randomize Display Order box is checked, Illume Next will present the options in random order. Even when response options are presented in random order, a user may want to fix the location of certain options. For example, if a question includes an “Other” or “I choose not to answer” option, it may be appropriate for this option to always appear last. To ensure an option appears in a particular place within a randomized list, check the option’s Anchored box. In the screenshot above, the 4th option, “Other,” is anchored as the last item on the list. While the other three options are shuffled around, “Other” will always appear as the last option. Checking the Anchored box caused the corresponding option to appear on the survey in the same position in which it appears in the Question Editor. Thus, clicking the Anchored box next to the second option in the list, “I work part time,” would cause “I work part time” to always be displayed as the second option. Similarly, dragging “Other” to the top of the list of options, and leaving the Anchored box checked would cause “Other” to always be displayed as the first response option.
Editing an Existing Response Option
To edit an existing response option:
- In the list of existing response options, click once on the text of the option being edited.
- The option’s text and value will be loaded into the editable fields above the list. Edit these as necessary.
- (Optional) Check Attach text field to attach a text field.
- Click the Replace button. The old option details will be replaced by the new option details in the list of existing options.
Deleting a Response Option
To delete a response option:
- In the list of existing response options, click once on the text of the option to be deleted. The option should be highlighted after it has been clicked on.
- Click the Remove button.
Configuring Yes/No Response Options
The only available data type for Yes/No questions is Yes/No. Unless these values are redefined, “No” answers are stored as zero (0) and “Yes” answers are stored as one (1) in the survey results.
If desired, this can be changed by assigning scale values as described below. In some cases, a user may want the value 1 to represent No. For example, if there is a calculated variable that adds up all the No answers, you’ll need to set No to 1, or the calculated variable will just keep adding up zeros, which doesn’t do any good.
The text typed next to the No option (i.e. next to the zero) will not be displayed in the survey . It will appear in the data dictionary to describe what it means when a participant did not check the checkbox for this question.
The text typed next to the Yes option (i.e. next to the one) will appear next to the checkbox in the participant’s survey.
Setting the default state for a Yes/No item to “None” or to “0” leaves the checkbox unchecked by default. Setting the default to “1” leaves the box checked by default.
Date and Time Data
Text questions can be of virtually any data type, including Date, Time, and Date/Time. Illume Next uses Microsoft’s .NET DateTime object to store dates and times. The .NET DateTime object can represent dates between 12:00 a.m. January 1, 0001 CE and 11:59:59 p.m. on December 31, 9999. Illume Next considers dates outside of this range to be invalid. The range can be narrowed by setting minimum and/or maximum dates in a question’s Response Guides. Non-existent dates are also invalid. For example, February 29, 2005 is invalid because 2005 is not a leap year. A participant must enter dates or times in a format that .NET recognizes. In general, for the United States locale, dates in the following formats are valid:
- mm/dd/yyyy: This is a 2-digit month, followed by a slash, followed by a 2-digit day, followed by a 4-digit year. (e.g., 09/16/2006)
- Monthname Day, Year: (e.g. January 25, 2005)
Other date formats will also work in the US. It is best, however, to suggest a format that will work in either the question prompt or in the question label. For example, a prompt that suggests a valid format would be: Please enter your date of birth (mm/dd/yyyy).
Illume and .NET recognize both 12- and 24-hour time format, though Illume may ignore the seconds. The following time formats are valid in the US locale:
- hh:mm: This is a 24-hour time. (e.g. 23:15)
- hh:mm am/pm: This is a 12-hour time. (e.g. 11:15 pm)
.NET uses the same standard set of date and time formats that other Microsoft products use. This means that any Date, Time, or Date/Time format produced by an application like Microsoft Excel, Access, or SQL Server will work in Illume Next. Use the Date data type only for variables that must include a day, month, and year. If a variable requires only one of these values (day or month or year), choose the whole number or text data type. Choose Date/Time data type only for variables that require a day, month, and year value with an optional time value.
Dates, Times, and Localization
Illume Next and .NET use the locale settings of the Illume Next server to determine dates and times. This can cause some confusion if a survey is not designed correctly. For example, if a survey is being administered to participants in both the US and the UK, be aware that the two locales use different date formats. A US participant entering 06/12/2006 will mean June 12, 2006, while a British participant entering the same thing will mean December 6, 2006. If the survey is running on a server whose locale is set to EN-US (English, United States), the date will always be interpreted as June 12. If the server’s locale is set to EN-GB (English, Great Britain), the date will always be interpreted as December 6. This will be a problem if the question includes a minimum and/or maximum date. The British user or the US user may not be able to get past the date question simply because the participant and the server do not agree on what the date means.
One way to avoid date/time problems caused by local differences is to break dates and times into separate questions, each of which is of type whole number. For example, instead of asking for a participant’s birth date, ask for his or her year of birth, then month of birth, then day of birth.
Display of Date and Date/Time Datatype Questions
Questions of Date datatype automatically display to the participant with a calendar icon for easy selection of dates and times. The rendering of this calendar will appear differently depending on the type of device utilized to launch the survey.
Desktop rendering:
Mobile rendering:
