WebSurvey System

Working with Page Conditions

Page conditions allow you to guide respondents through your survey based on their selections/answers on a previous page. Page conditions determine whether a page will be shown or hidden to respondents, based on an answer on a previous page. This feature is also known as branching or skip logic.

EXAMPLE:
Question 1 asks “Did you attend the 2007 Fall Conference?” The possible responses are Yes or No. Respondents who answer yes are taken to page 2, which asks about the sessions they attended and how valuable they thought the conference was. Respondents who answered no are taken to page 3, which asks why they did not attend. Finally, all respondents answer the last two questions on page 4 as to whether they will attend in 2008 and if they have any comments or suggestions for the conference committee.

This document discusses some best practices for the use of page conditions and how to set page conditions in your survey.

Best Practices
Question Types to Use
Setting Page Conditions

Best Practices

Your survey must have more than one page
Answers are carried forward to be tested against the logic in the page condition(s). Therefore, there is no INSERT PAGE CONDITIONS button on the first page of your survey.
You cannot direct a respondent backward in your survey with Page Conditions
Since answers are carried forward to be tested against the logic in the page condition(s), you will not see the option to use a question on a page forward of the one you are currently setting conditions on (e.g., when setting conditions on page 3 you will not be able to select questions from page 4).
Questions that will be used as a basis for page conditions should be mandatory
If a respondent can and does elect to not answer such a question, their response cannot be tested against the logic in the page condition(s).
Questions that will be used as a basis for page conditions should be the last one on the page
This makes for a logical flow in the survey, especially from the respondent’s point of view.
Create all of the questions and pages in your survey. Map out the routes you want to accomplish through the page conditions.
This will save you time and help you to set the conditions more accurately.
Test all possible scenarios you set with the page conditions
Before launching your survey, test each possibility. This will guarantee that you get accurate data.

Question Types to Use

While page conditions can be based on any question, the Choice questions are good candidates for use with page conditions. For more information on question types in the WebSurvey System, refer to About Survey Question Types.

Choice – One Answer (Bullets)
Choice – One Answer (Drop Down)
Choice – Multiple Answer (Bullets)
Choice - Yes/No
Choice - True/False

Setting Page Conditions

The following steps show you how to set page conditions and refer to this example:

EXAMPLE: Question 1 asks “Did you attend the 2007 Fall Conference?” The possible responses are Yes or No. Respondents who answer yes are taken to page 2, which asks about the sessions they attended and how valuable they thought the conference was. Respondents who answered no are taken to page 3, which asks why they did not attend. Finally, all respondents answer the last two questions on page 4 as to whether they will attend in 2008 and if they have any comments or suggestions for the conference committee.

From the My Surveys page, for the survey you want to add page conditions, click DESIGN
The Modify Survey page appears.
On the page you want add a condition to, click INSERT PAGE CONDITIONS
HINT: The question you are basing the conditions on may be located on a prior page.
EXAMPLE: On page 2, click INSERT PAGE CONDITIONS
The Page Conditions page appears.
In the Insert a Page Condition section, from the Question pull-down list, select the question on which the condition will be based
EXAMPLE: Since this is page 2 and there was only one question on page 1, the option shown is my only option.
From the Operator pull-down list, select the desired operator
EXAMPLE: Select Equal To
From the Answer pull-down list, select answer for the operator to be applied to
HINT: If you are not using a Choice question, there may be no options available.
EXAMPLE: Select Yes
Click SAVE
The condition appears in the Existing Page Conditions section.
To set more conditions, repeat steps 2 – 6
EXAMPLE:
On page 3, set a condition for Question 1, an operator of Equal To, and the Answer No.
Do not set page conditions on page 4; all respondents will be shown that page.
Click DONE
You are returned to the Modify Survey page. Your page conditions are set.
To test the conditions, click PREVIEW