The validation available in Snap XMP includes:

• making a question mandatory, where the participant must answer it
• setting a response type
• setting the maximum length for a free format text answer
• adding a pattern, such as a date or email address, that the answer needs to match
• setting a minimum number of answers for multiple response questions
• setting a maximum number of answers for multiple response questions
• setting an initial value for a question
• making a question read only

Setting up validation in Snap XMP Desktop

1. Each variable has a set of individual properties. The properties depend on the type of question. You can examine and change the properties when you are in Design mode   in the Questionnaire window.
2. Select one or more questions and click Variable Properties   on the Questionnaire toolbar. This opens the Variable Properties dialog.

3. Edit the property values by entering or selecting a value for the required property. If you have selected several questions of the same type, you can change any properties they share.

More information about the variable properties can be found at Variable properties.

There is also a video available that includes a section on response validation in Snap XMP Desktop at Snap XMP – Survey Logic in Snap XMP Desktop from Snap Surveys on Vimeo.

Setting up validation in Snap XMP Online

In Snap XMP Online open the survey in the Build tab to edit the questionnaire. The Validation & Masking menu is in the Build side menu.

The validation properties shown depend on the question that is selected.

More information about the validation options in Snap XMP Online can be found at Validation.

Some properties such as the response type or pattern are set in the question toolbar.

More information about the question toolbar can be found at Inserting questions.

There is also a video available that includes a section on response validation in Snap XMP Online at Snap XMP – Survey Logic in Snap XMP Online from Snap Surveys on Vimeo.

Making a question mandatory

When you want to make sure that a respondent answers a question, set the Must answer to Yes in Snap XMP Desktop or select the Mandatory box in Snap XMP Online. The respondent needs to answer the question before they can progress through the questionnaire. The mandatory option is useful when questions further on in the questionnaire rely on an answer to an earlier question.

Setting the response type

When you create a question, it has the default response type for the pre-defined question style. You can change the response type according to the question style and the requirements of the questionnaire.

The response types for Single Choice, Multi-choice and Grid questions are

• Single for a Single choice, Multi choice or Grid question when the respondent only selects one answer. For example, Yes/No or Age group questions
• Multiple for a Single Choice, Multi choice or Grid question when the respondent can select one or more answers

The response types for Open Ended, Open Series questions are

• Quantity which allows only numbers.
• Literal which allows any free format text, such as names and comments.
• Date which allows a range of date formats.
• Time which allows a range of time formats.

More information about setting the response type can be found at Setting the response type.

Initial value

A question can have an initial value. This value initially shows or selects the initial answer in the question, when a respondent is completing the questionnaire. You can set the initial value to select a code, or show a literal constant or expression using values from the preceding questions.

More information about setting the initial value can be found at Setting an initial value.

Read only

Setting a question as Read only prevents the respondent from answering or overwriting that question during an interview.

Use the read only property where:

• the question contains seeded values from a participant database that you do not want the participant to change
• the question contains an initial value that is based on answers to previous questions in the survey that you do not want the participant to change

More information about read only questions can be found at Creating a read only question.

Setting the minimum and maximum number of answers

You can set the minimum and/or maximum number of answers required for multiple response questions. When the minimum number of answers is set to a value greater than 0, the question automatically becomes mandatory. The maximum number of answers required cannot be greater than the code count.

Rating Check

Often you would like to ask the respondents of your survey to rank a number of options in a given order. You can use a grid question to achieve this by setting the Rating Check property. This property ensures respondents answer the question with only one ranking in each aspect or row.

More information about rating check can be found at Using Rating Check to ensure ranking

Setting an exclusive response

When you create a multiple choice question containing a list of items, it is unlikely that the list will contain all available options. You may provide one or more addition codes such as Other, Don’t know or None of the above. When these are selected, none of the other responses are applicable and should not be selected.

In the Exclusive property, enter the list of the codes that are not available in combination with the other responses. When any of these codes are selected, any other responses to the question are cleared.

Maximum length or number of characters

You can set the maximum length or number of characters entered in a free format text question, such as an Open Ended question. The answer cannot exceed the maximum length.

Valid ranges

You can add an expression in the Valid field of a variable so that the respondent can only enter data which matches the expression. For complex expressions it is better to use patterns.

The expression must be a list or range of possible values.

These can be

• limited range e.g., 1 TO 5 or 1~5
• unlimited range using relational operators such as > (greater than) e.g., >10 would include all values greater than 10
• ranges defined by variables in the questionnaire e.g., <Q9 would include all values less than the response to Q9
• a list e.g., 1,2,3

More information about setting valid ranges can be found at Setting valid ranges on a question

Setting the response format using Patterns

Patterns define the format of the data that a respondent should enter when completing the questionnaire. Open ended questions use them to check that the entered data is in the correct format.

In data entry, patterns help to

• Ensure that respondents or data entry personnel enter the correct format for information such as postcodes, zip codes or National Insurance numbers. Pattern matching checks whether the answer is a possible match in the pattern.
• Convert the data into a standard form, such as adding currency symbols in quantity data.

Snap XMP contains a library of pre-defined patterns. You can also create your own using the Patterns dialog in Snap XMP Desktop.

More information about patterns can be found at Introduction to patterns.

Scanning validation

Patterns can also help validate responses from scanned questionnaires.

There are two types of scanning validation:

• Spelling validation checks a response against a stored dictionary of words and tries to match responses to words in the dictionary.
• Pattern validation attempts to match a response against the expected pattern of characters. This is often used to validate responses such as dates, telephone number and zip or post codes.

More information about patterns can be found at Using scanning validation patterns

The post Setting up response validation appeared first on SnapSurveys.

• asking how many hours a week respondents spend doing different things
• asking how much money respondents spent on different activities during a visit
• asking respondents to share a fixed amount or percentage between a set of options

The amount allocated to each option gives the relative importance of each. This gives good numeric data for analysis, but is quite difficult for respondents.

This worksheet shows you how to calculate a running total as the respondent completes the answers. It explains how to create a set of Open Series First and Open Series Next questions for quantity responses and put a running total into the final response. It also shows you how to set a valid range on the total, so that respondents cannot move to the next page if the total has overrun.

Please note: The Open Series First and Open Series Next question styles are new in Snap XMP Desktop. If you are using a survey that has been upgraded from Snap 11 Professional then the equivalent question style is Open Grid First and Open Grid Next.

Step 1: Create your set of questions

The first step is to create the group of questions that need to be totalled. These must be quantity questions.

1. In Snap XMP Desktop, open the survey in the Questionnaire window.
2. Click New Question to create a new question.
3. Select Open Series First as the question style
4. Select Response in the next dropdown then select Quantity as the response type.

5. Enter the question text, for example “How did you spend your day at the activity centre? Please allocate hours to the activities up to a maximum of 8 hours.”
6. Enter the first activity in the grid label.
7. Press Tab to create the next question in the list. By default, the next question added is an Open Series Next question with a Quantity response. Enter another activity in the grid label. Repeat until you have entered all the activities.
8. Add an extra grid question to display the running total.

9. Click Save to save the questionnaire.

Step 2: Display the total in the calculated field and set the valid range

1. Select the open series question that will display the total.
2. Click Variable Properties to open the Variable Properties dialog.
3. In this example, the total hours have a valid range of 0 to 8. Scroll to the Valid property and enter 0 to 8.

4. Scroll to the Initial Value property and enter the total: Q1a+Q1b+Q1c+Q1d+Q1e. When the open series entries change the value of the total field is updated when the respondent moves to the next entry. The questions used in the total calculation must always be asked earlier in the questionnaire.

5. By default, the Read Only property is set to No. This allows the respondent to edit the total field. In this example, the total should not be edited so set the Read Only property to Yes. This renames the Initial Value property to the Calculation property.

6. Click OK.
7. Click Save to save the questionnaire.
8. When the questionnaire is complete. Publish the survey in Snap XMP Desktop or Snap XMP Online.

If there is a topic you would like a worksheet on, email to snapideas@snapsurveys.com

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Routing allows you to select which is the next question in the questionnaire based on previous answers. There are three types of routing:

• Conditionally Ask Question. The respondent sees the question when certain conditions are met. For example, if the respondent answers a previous questions giving a particular answer.
• Goto On Answer. The respondent moves through the questionnaire depending which answer they select. It’s normally used to skip sections of a questionnaire according to the response to a single-response question.
• Goto After Question. The respondent moves through the questionnaire after a question has been answered. It’s normally used to jump irrelevant sections of a questionnaire.

This worksheet describes how to set up Conditionally Ask routing so that only the appropriate elements in a grid question are displayed based on responses from previous questions and also displaying question based on responses in a grid.

Display a grid based on the response to a question

In this example, a questionnaire starts with a multi-choice question asking which means of transport the respondent uses to go to work. Several sets of grid questions display depending upon the answer to the first question. For example, the grid asking about travelling to work by car only shows if the respondent answers Car (code 1). Routing only shows the grid when it is relevant.

1. Select the first row of the grid, (Q3.a) I choose to travel by car because….
2. Click Routing Rules to open the Routing Rules dialog for that question.

3. Click Add to create a routing rule.

4. Set the type to be Conditionally Ask Question and click OK. This opens the Routing Rules dialog.
5. In the If field, enter Q1=1. This will display the first grid row if the respondent has selected code 1 (Car) in response to question 1.

6. Click OK. A small arrow is added to the start of the question to show that there is routing applied to it. You can double-click this arrow to open the Routing Rules details.

7. This Routing Rule need to be applied to all the rows in the grid. This can be done using in the Variable Properties. Select the grid question containing routing and click Variable Properties to display the Variable Properties window. The routing condition is shown in the Not Asked property.
8. Copy the Not Asked property then select all the grid rows and any associated titles, sub titles or instructions. Click Variable Properties and paste the Not Asked property.

Display a question based on the responses in a grid

A further question (Q4) asks respondents why they do not find public transport convenient. It only makes sense to ask this question if the respondent has indicated that they do find public transport inconvenient.

This means that you need to set routing on this section so it is only asked if they have selected the Strongly agree or Agree responses to the question …public transport is not convenient (Q3.b).

1. Select question 4, and click Routing Rules  to open the Routing Rules dialog.
2. Click Add to create a new routing rule with the type set to Conditionally Ask Question and click OK.
3. In the If field, enter Q3.b=(1,2). This will display question 4 if the respondent selects Strongly agree (code 1) or Agree (code 2) in response to question 3.b.

4. Click Variable Properties to display the Variable Properties window and copy the text in the Not Asked field (unless( q3.b=(1,2))).
5. Select all the grid rows and any associated titles, sub titles or instructions. Click Variable Properties and paste the Not Asked property. This page should now only appear if the respondent finds public transport inconvenient.

Display specific rows in a grid based on the response to a question

This example uses a multi-choice question for respondents to select the facilities they have used.

The survey then offers a rating scale for the facilities. Routing is applied that shows the row for each facility that the respondent has used.

1. Select the first line of the first grid section, (Q2.a) Rowing machine
2. Click Routing Rules  to open the Routing Rules dialog for that question.
3. Click Add to create a new routing rule with the type set to Conditionally Ask Question and click OK.
4. In the If field, enter Q1=1. This displays the first question of the grid if the respondent has selected code 1 (Rowing machine) in response to question 1.

5. Click OK. A small arrow is added to the start of the question to show that there is routing applied to it. You can double-click this arrow to open the Routing Rules dialog.
6. Repeat this for each question in the grid, using the required code.
7. Click Save to save the questionnaire.
8. Test the routing works by publishing the questionnaire and launching the preview.
9. Select the facilities in the multi-choice question.

10. Click Next and confirm that the correct elements of the grid appear.

Further information on routing is available at Adding routing and Routing rule expressions.

If there is a topic you would like a tutorial on, email to snapideas@snapsurveys.com

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Static masking is used to hide a response option in all conditions of the survey. Meaning, once applied to a question the response option will always be hidden. This might be useful for grid questions where one option is not applicable for a specific row within the grid. When used, the response option that is desired to be hidden is referenced and prefaced with the word “not” (i.e. “not 5”).

Dynamic masking is used to conditionally show response options based on a response to a previous question. This type of masking can be used to customize a survey’s response options based on how a respondent is answering questions.

Below are two examples of dynamic masking. Static masking will not be covered directly in this work sheet.

Example One: Masking follow-up questions with the response options

1. First, there will need to be two questions with identical response options. The best way to do this is by cloning the first question to make the second. To clone a question, select it in the Questionnaire Design window .

2. Click Clone to clone the selected question which will appear just below the selected question. The text of the cloned question should be edited appropriately and the response type can be changed to single:

3. The masking feature should be applied to the cloned question; in this example that’s Q2. To apply masking, right click the question and select Variable Properties. This opens the Variable Properties window where you can set the Mask property.
4. To Mask the cloned question so that only the options selected in a previous question are shown, the following syntax should be applied: “Question Name” (i.e. Q1)

5. If the opposite masking is desired (show response options that were not selected), the syntax should be as follows: “not Question Name” (i.e. not Q1)
6. Once the masking is applied, click Save to save the questionnaire.
7. To preview the masking feature, publish the survey in preview mode .

Example Two: Conditionally masking using derived variables.

In this example respondents will first pick the location where they work. Then, based on the location they picked, the response options of a latter question will only show the options available at that location. This would be useful in situations where response options for a question need to be grouped together and filtered out based on previous responses.

1. Create a question that will represent each group of masked options. In this example there will be three office locations:

2. Now create the question that will contain masking. This question should contain all of the possible response options. For example:

3. Next, the derived variable that determines the logic of the applied masking should be created. Click Variables and select the question being masked from the variables list, Q2.
4. Click Clone to create a new variable based on the selected question, Q2.
5. Edit the new variable so that the Type is set to Derived and Response is set to Multiple.
6. Set the code values for each response option in the derived variable. Each code value response references the masking question, for example Q1=(1,2,3)
7. The following shows the values for the departments at each office location:
   • London has Customer Services and Training
   • New York has Accounting, Customer Services, Human Resources, IT Support, Research, Sales and Training
   • Paris has Accounting, Customer Services, Data Center, Development, Human Resources, IT Support, Research, Sales and Training.

8. Click Save to save the derived variable.
9. In the Questionnaire window, select the masked question, right click and select Variable Properties .
10. In the Mask property enter the name of the derived variable, V1, as the masking value:

12. Click OK to save the masking value.
13. Once the masking is applied, click Save to save the survey.
14. To preview the masking feature in action, publish the survey in preview mode .

Alternative masking derived variable definition

There is an alternative way to define the derived variable used for masking. When the Toggle Definition is selected the definition fields are shown, including the Initial Value field. The Initial Value field can be used to enter a calculation that provides the basis for the values in the code list. This simplifies the code values when using a long calculation. The diagram shows the equivalent derived variables; one with an initial value and one without. Both these derived variables will behave in the same way.

If there is a topic you would like a tutorial on, email to snapideas@snapsurveys.com

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