Step 7: Question Types
There are many types of question formats that you may use:
- Binary: allows you to specify two choices, such as male/female, true/false,
yes/no, etc. The Option Label is the text that will appear to the user. The
Option Data is how that selection will appear in the data file.
- Short Answer: allows you to provide a single text field for the user to enter a
brief response.
- Essay: allows you to provide a large text area for the user to enter a lengthy
response. Important: If you are using a multipage survey with essay
questions for which you expect a lengthy response (more than 3,000
characters) it is best to have those essay questions on their own page if
possible. There is a maximum amount of data that can be transferred
between pages of a multipage survey. If you have a single page survey,
or if the essay questions are on the last page of the survey, there is no
concern.
- Mult. Choice (Choose 1): creates a multiple choice question. You determine the
number of allowable responses and the user may select only one choice. To create
options, enter your choices separated by an asterisk (*) in the field provided.
You may create as many choices as you like.
- Mult. Choice (choose many): creates a multiple choice question. It is identical
to the (Choose 1) variation, but the user may select as many choices as they
wish. The answers will appear next to checkboxes on the webpage.
(Please see the Importing Data section for information
about importing data from this type of question.)
- Likert scales: There are many different types of Likert scale
Question Types. These scales are frequently used in psychology and opinion surveys. Using a Likert scale asks the user to provide a rating on a fixed scale, such as 1 to 7,
in response to the question. In many cases the end points are labeled to provide
a spectrum of responses with the end points as the extremes (for example
"Strongly Disagree" and "Strongly Agree"). This spreadsheet allows you to choose
from a variety of Likert scale formats with a different number of options. For
the ones with fewer options (4-7), you may specify a different label for each
point on the scale. You may also leave some of these labels blank or simply
provide numbers. For the scales with more choices (8-11), you may only label the
endpoints, but each option will be labeled with a number automatically.For all Likert scales, you must provide a starting value. This is the number
that will be used as the lowest number of the scale when the user's answer is
being recorded. For example, on a Likert 9 scale, a starting point of 1 would
result in the scale 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. A starting point of -4 would
result in the scale -4, -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4. The left-most option on the
webpage for that question will correspond with the starting point value.
Reverse
Scoring: When using a Likert scale, you may choose to enable Reverse
Scoring. Items that are reverse scored will invert the numeric scale when
the data is stored; however, it will not be possible for your participants to
see the difference between reverse scored questions and regular questions.
For example, a question would present the scale in ascending order 1, 2, 3, 4,
5, 6, 7. However, if the participant chooses option 7, the data will be
stored as a 1. A 6 would be scored as a 2, etc. This feature allows
you to recreate psychology measures which frequently use reverse scored items in
order to prevent the participants from determining the intent of the survey.
When filling in the Starting Value for a reverse-scored item, use the lowest
number that would appear on the scale. On a normal scale this number will
correspond with the left-most data option. On a reversed scale, this
number will correspond with the right-most data option.
- Instruction Paragraph: allows you to insert a block of text between questions.
You may also provide a Title, which will appear as a larger text header to
separate sections. Since instruction paragraphs do not solicit a response from
the user, this is the only option that does not have a data name.
- Image: allows you to insert an image in your questionnaire.
Type the filename of your image file including the extension (.bmp, .gif,
.jpg, etc.) in the File Name field. After you generate the HTML files,
you must place the image file in the same location on your web server.
(See What do I do with these files? for more information.)
- Embed HTML: This allows you to type or paste HTML code which will
be transferred with no alteration into the HTML code for your web survey.
One common use of this feature is to paste "embed video" code from youtube
or similar sites. Doing so will display the selected video within your
survey.
- Color Section: A color section allows you to alter the background
color for a section of your survey. This can be useful for creating a
visual distinction between different sections of your survey. The
color change will apply from the point in your survey where you create a
Color Section until another Color Section is applied or until the end of
that page. Use Excel's cell formatting options to change the background
color, such as the paint bucket icon on the formatting toolbar or the
Format: Cells: Patterns dialog. You may also right-click on the cell
and choose Format Cells. Note: Unlike the Page Colors feature on the
Finish tab, altering the text color of this cell
doesn't affect your survey, so be sure that the header and body text colors
that you define on your Finish page are compatible with all Color Sections
that you use in your survey.
- Page Break: Entering a page break will break your questionnaire
into multiple pages. Each page will end with a button for the
participant to submit their responses and proceed to the next page.
All data across all pages will be stored to a single results file, which is
created when the participant completes the last page.