Questionnaire routing

Question routing lets you ask only the questions that are relevant to a respondent, and skip any that are not relevant. This helps keep the questionnaire short and engaging, which helps improve response rates. Routing is also known as skip logic or branch logic.

Routing rules are used to set up routing. There are three types of routing rules.

• Conditionally Ask Question where the question is only asked if a specific answer or answers have been given to a previous question.
• Goto On Answer which forwards the respondent to the next question based on the answer they have selected.
• Goto After Question which forwards the respondent onto the next relevant question regardless of the answer given.

Viewing the routing rules

All routing rules are created using the routing rules dialog, which opens when you click Routing Rules on the Questionnaire window toolbar. You can also use the right-click to select Routing Rules from the pop-up menu.

The Routing Rules pane shows a summary of all the routing rules for the selected question. They are grouped by the type of routing rule.

The default view shows only active fields that have routing. You can clear the View only active fields checkbox to show all the available routing options for the selected question.

There are three actions available

• Add which creates a new routing rule.
• Remove which deletes a routing rule.
• Details which toggles the display to show or hide the rule details.

4. Click OK to add the routing rule.

Add a Conditionally Ask Question routing rule

The Conditionally Ask Question rule determines whether the respondent should be shown the question, based on the conditions set in the routing rule. If the conditions of the rule are met the question is shown, otherwise the question is skipped and the respondent moves to the next question.

Add a routing rule

1. In the Routing Rules dialog, click on the Add button to create a new routing instruction.
2. In Type, select the type of routing rule as Conditionally Ask Question.
3. Click OK.

4. The Routing Rules dialog expands, showing the routing rule information. You can show or hide the details sections by clicking Details.

5. In If, enter the routing condition. In this example, “Q3=1”. The “1” refers to code 1 of Q3, which is the first answer “yes”. You can find further information about routing rules in Routing rules expressions.
6. In Text, enter the text that describes the routing. You can opt to show this text in the questionnaire.
7. Click OK to save your rule.

The rule is set up:

• when the If condition is true (the respondent selects yes in Q3), the respondent is shown question Q4
• when the If condition is false, question Q4 is skipped and a response of Not Asked will be recorded

Routing in questionnaire

The question text for Q4 now starts with an arrow highlighted in blue followed by the routing rule text. Double clicking anywhere within the highlighted text allows you to edit the routing rule.

Restrictions

There are some restrictions for this routing rule:

• one condition is allowed per question
• the condition can reference more than one question
• the questions referenced must be from previously asked questions in the questionnaire

If you create an invalid condition, such as, referring to a later question, the rule is highlighted in red.

Add a Goto on Answer routing rule

The Goto on answer rule is set up within the codes or answers to the question. This routing directs a respondent to a target question within the questionnaire if they select a particular answer. Goto on answer rules are usually used with closed questions where the respondent chooses one or more answers from a selection of answers.

Add a routing rule

1. Click on the Add button to create a new routing instruction.
2. In Type, select the type of routing rule as Goto on answer.
3. The On field is only available for the Goto on answer routing type. Select the answer code from the list that determines the next question. For example, select Answer 1 (Yes)

4. Click OK. The Routing Rules dialog expands, showing the routing rule information. You can show or hide the details sections by clicking Details.

5. Select Q2 (For how long have you been a member?) in the Goto list. This is the question that you want the respondent to go if Answer 1 (Yes) has been ticked.
6. The text Go to Q2 appears in the Text box. You can edit the text by clicking and typing inside the box. Q2 is highlighted in blue, which means you can change the information that appears by double clicking on it to open the Goto Target’s Name dialog.

7. You can select from Full Name, Display Name and Grid Name. Display Name is the default and will display the name of the question as shown on the questionnaire. Full Name will display the full name of the question even if not shown on the questionnaire. Grid Name will display the full grid name as specified in the numbering topic.
8. The Style section lets you alter the number of columns the codes display in. This is useful if there is not enough space for the text and Goto instructions.
9. Click OK to return to the Routing Rules dialog.
10. Click OK to save the routing rule.

If a multiple response question has Goto on answer rules on several codes going to different question numbers, the routing goes to the question furthest down the questionnaire.

Add a Goto After Question routing rule

The Goto After Question routing rule forwards the respondent onto the next relevant question regardless of the answer given.

1. Click on the Add button to create a new routing instruction.
2. In Type, select the type of routing rule as Goto After Question.

3. Click OK. The Routing Rules dialog expands, showing the routing rule information. You can show or hide the details sections by clicking Details.
4. The next step is to select where you want the respondent to go from the Goto box. In this example, select Q5 “Do you have any comments you would like to make?”

6. In the If box enter the routing rule condition, if required. If you want all respondents to move to the Goto question, leave this blank. Further details on routing rules can be found in Routing rules expressions.
7. In Text, enter the routing rule description or any instructions for the respondent. This text will be placed in a footnote at the end of the question.
8. Click OK to save the routing rule.

Modifying a routing rule

Using the Questionnaire window for adding routing is a very easy way to add and modify routing rules.

You can move a routing rule within the questionnaire by clicking and dragging on the highlighted text.

1. Click and drag to move the rule and drop once positioned in the right place within the questionnaire.

2. To edit the rule, double-click anywhere within the blue shaded area.
3. This display the routing rules dialog. You can edit the rule by clicking Details>>, delete it by clicking Remove, or create a new rule by clicking Add.

4. If you move or copy questions in the questionnaire, the routing expression that refers to that variable automatically updates.

To help you track the routing rules in the questionnaire, you can view a summary of this information in the Variables window.

Deleting a routing rule

• Select the routing rule in the Routing Rules dialog
• Click Remove.
• Click Yes to confirm that you want to delete the routing rule.
• Click OK to save the changes. Click Cancel, if you do not want to delete the routing rule.

You cannot delete a routing rule if its definition refers to another variable as there is a dependency. You will need to view the dependencies to help resolve the conflict before you can delete the rule.

Showing routing in the Variables window

The procedure described below will give you an overview of which variables contain routing. The Not asked column in the Variables window refers to a Conditionally Ask Question routing rule. The Goto column refers to the Go To On Answer routing rule, and the Skipped by column refers to the Go To After Question routing rules.

1. In the Variables window click on

   

   to access the Variable Tailoring dialog box.
2. In Show Overview Columns, select the Routing and Masking checkbox

3. The Not Asked, Goto and Skipped By columns show the routing for a variable.

Showing Routing on the questionnaire

You can choose to show or hide the routing in the questionnaire during interviewing or when printed on paper. This setting located in the Routing Rules dialog.

The 3 options available are:

• Paper only – routing is visible on paper questionnaires, but not other publication methods.
• Always show – routing is always visible on the questionnaire in all publication methods.
• Never show – routing is not visible on the questionnaire in any form of publication method.

If you change the questions order after creating the routing rules, the routing will automatically update with the new question numbers.

Routing Rules Summary Table

The following table explains where the rules of each type appear in a question and how they relate to other questions in the questionnaire.

Routing Rule:	Appears in:	Question(s) referred to in ‘If’ condition:	Target ‘Goto’ question:
Conditionally ask question	Start of question text	Any question before the host	NA
Goto on answer	Code ‘Go to’	NA	Any question after the host or end of questionnaire
Goto after question	Anywhere in the footnote	Any question before the host or the host itself	Any question after the host or end of questionnaire or end of section

If a question includes a combination of rules, each rule triggers in the order that it appears in the question. This means the routing rules execute in the order Conditionally Ask Question, followed by Goto On Answer, then Goto After Question. Respondents that meet the condition of the first routing rule will see the next relevant question. The next routing rule then applies to any remaining respondents and this continues until the last routing rule.