Guide to even distribution templates (Power Surveys)

Tip: Random distribution and Least Filled concept testing are available for surveys! Both of these methods allow you to achieve even distribution without scripting. For more information, see Quick comparison: Random distribution, Least Filled concept testing, even distribution scripts.

Our even distribution templates are used to distribute respondents among questions sets or concepts. Depending on the workflow required, the template used will vary. Below outlines the templates available and the usage for each one.

Please bear in mind, even distribution will only account for Completes; therefore, if you wish to test your distribution manually, ensure to complete your tests. 

Details

Basic Requirement	Detail	Direct Links To Templates
Assign one concept to each respondent Please click here for more detailed steps.	This template is used to assign a single concept to each respondent. The single concept will be assigned randomly to the least filled quota and piped into one set of questions. You can expect an even distribution across all concepts once the study is out of field. There are 3 separate templates within this article you can choose from, depending on your study requirements. Piping technique is used in these templates. It is the preferred way because only one set of questions is authored and tested instead of having a copy of them per concept. You can also run crosstab using the concept hidden question as banner to compare results across all concepts in one table.	Template 1 - Assign 1 of up to 5 concepts to each respondent. Template 2 - Assign 1 of up to 15 concepts to each respondent. Template 3 - Assign 1 of up to 40 concepts to each respondent.
Assign multiple concepts to each respondent Please click here for more detailed steps.	This template is used to evenly distribute your respondents across multiple sets of questions placed in blocks. There are 3 separate templates within this article you can choose from, depending on your study requirements.	Template 1 - Assign up to 5 concepts to each respondent. Template 2 - Assign up to 15 concepts to each respondent. Template 3 - Assign up to 40 concepts to each respondent.

 

Notes

• All templates have been updated with shorter question names.
• Default templates have been simplified to only have 1 set. We created separate templates for multiple sets of even distribution in one study.
• There is a pop up that comes up when you drag any even distribution blocks between surveys in our latest release. Please disregard this message. A defect has been logged to our development team for this.
  

 

Additional Requirements

Setting up Multiple Even Distribution Templates In One Study

To set up multiple even distribution sets in one survey, you cannot simply duplicate an existing even distribution block. This is because the application automatically adds 'Copy1' to duplicated questions, and many question names are referenced in scripts, which must be updated manually. To simplify this, we have a set of templates that contain multiple even distribution setups that are already renamed for you.

Please click here for more detailed steps.

Even Distribution With Qualifications and/or with Exclusions

There may be times you want to even assign one or more concepts to a respondent based on his/her selection in a previous question. We call this even distribution with qualifications. When assigning 2+ concepts to a respondent, you may want to evenly assign concepts but exclude certain combinations. (e.g. never assign concept 1 and concept 2 together to one respondent.) We call this even distribution with exclusions. We have a set of templates for assigning one or assigning multiple concepts along with these actions.

Please click here for more detailed steps.

 

Testing

1. Automated Test Results (ATR):
   In the Sampling/Deployments tab, in your deployment (Anonymous, Panel Sample, or External Sample), run the ATR by clicking the Run Automated Test button and specifying a number of test completes. For more information about ATR, please click here.

 

More Information

Read this Knowledge Base article to learn more about Even Distribution Troubleshooting & FAQs (Power Surveys)

• In the Quotas tab, you will see how the application distributed the test completes under Test Count. You can check to see if the proportions are correct to what you've intended to setup for distribution (see image below).