Add a conditional sequence

A conditional sequence is a question container that skips questions or branches the survey based on specified conditions.

If the condition is true, the questions contained in the conditional sequence are shown to the participant. If the condition is false, these same questions are not shown to the participant.

Example

Your survey asks participants Do you own any pets? For participants who answer Yes, you create a conditional sequence containing a question that asks what type of pet or pets they own.

1. In Power Survey Authoring, click the Questionnaire tab.
2. On the Authoring Navigation Bar, hover over Folder, and then select Conditional Sequence.
3. In the New Conditional Sequence dialog, type a name for the sequence, and then click OK.
   The conditional sequence is added in the Question tree.
4. On the Questions tab, add the questions that you want to base the conditional sequence on by doing one of the following:
   • Double-click the question.
   • Right-click the question, and then select Add.
   • Drag the question from the Quick Select section to the box on the right side.
5. On the Include tab, add the conditions.
   1. Click the gear icon, and then select Add Condition or Insert Condition.
      Note:

      • To insert a new condition below an existing one, click the gear icon for the existing condition, and then select Add Condition.
      • To insert a new condition above an existing one, click the gear icon for the existing condition, and then select Insert Condition.
      • To add a condition to a condition group, click the gear icon for the group, and then select Insert Condition.

        

      • Using a recode as the basis for a conditional sequence is not recommended. Saved changes to recodes are immediate and do not require publishing if the survey is live. Therefore, your survey logic may be affected.
   2. Select the question and the answer that must be true for the questions in this sequence to appear to participants.
      
   3. Click Save.
6. Add the questions that you want to show to participants who match the condition.
   • To add an existing question, drag the question in the Question tree into the conditional sequence.

     

   • To create a question, select the conditional sequence in the Question tree, and then create the question from the Authoring Navigation Bar.

     For more information, see Question types.

   Note: You can use conditional sequences with Open End questions. However, participants' answers must match the text string in the condition statement. Keep these considerations in mind:

   • Matches do not need to be case-sensitive.
   • Trailing spaces are acceptable.
   • Pluralizations and additional words will not trigger a match.

   You can add variations of the expected answer as alternative condition statements.

   
   
   

Parent topic: Survey behavior