SURVEY CREATOR - DROPDOWN QUESTIONS

Summary & Best Practices

In Survey Creator, the Dropdown question is a clean, space-saving component found in your Toolbox. It presents a list of multiple-choice options hidden inside a single select box. The user clicks the field to reveal the full list, scrolls through, and selects exactly one option.

When to Use It

• Long Lists of Choices: Best used when you have 7 or more predefined options (e.g., selecting a state of residence or a study site from a list of options).
• Conserving Screen Space: Ideal for keeping your survey pages clean, compact, and uncluttered, especially when multiple choice questions are stacked on the same page.
• Predictable Datasets: Perfect for clean categorical inputs where the user knows exactly what they are looking for before they open the list.

When NOT to Use It

• Very Short Lists: If you only have 2 to 4 choices (like a simple "Yes / No / Maybe"), do not use a Dropdown. Hiding these options behind an extra click adds unnecessary friction. Use a Radio Button Group instead so all options are instantly visible.
• Multi-Choice Selection: If a respondent needs to choose more than one answer from the list, a standard dropdown won't work. Instead, use a Multi-Select Dropdown or use Checkboxes.
• Frequent Numerical Scales: For standard evaluation scales (like 1 to 5 satisfaction scales), use the dedicated Rating Scale tool rather than putting numbers in a dropdown menu.

Property Grid

The General properties define the question’s identity, content, behavior, and data connections. You can specify the question name (backend value), title (survey label), and description; control whether the question is visible, read-only, or required; and add a comment box for additional respondent feedback. These settings also allow you to connect the question to a Single Select Custom Variable or one of the following Study Variables:

• Ethnicity
• Race
• Recruitment Site
• Recruitment Strategy
• Sex
• Status

The Choice Options properties control the answer choices available in the question. You can add, edit, remove, reorder, or randomize choices, and manage their underlying values and respondent-facing text separately. These settings also allow you to copy choices from another question, add special options such as Other or None, and include a Clear button so respondents can remove their selection.

Layout properties control how the question appears on the survey page. They let you place the question on a new line, hide its number, and determine whether it is collapsed or expanded. You can also adjust the alignment of the question title, description, and error messages, as well as control the question’s indentation and width. The settings also include the number of columns used to display the answer choices, allowing you to present them vertically or across multiple columns.

The Conditions properties control the question’s behavior based on survey responses or other conditions. You can determine when the question becomes visible, read-only, or required; set or reset its value; and define default values using expressions. These settings also allow you to hide the question when no choices are available and control when individual choices are visible or selectable.

Data properties manage how the question stores and uses response data. You can specify a Join identifier to connect related data, set or change the correct answer for evaluation purposes, and clear the answer when needed. The section also lets you choose whether display values should appear in dynamic text and determine whether answers to questions hidden by conditional logic should be cleared.

The Validation properties ensure that respondents provide acceptable answers. You can add validation rules to check whether responses meet specific requirements, such as a required format or value range. This section also allows you to customize the error message displayed when a required question is left unanswered.