Using Branching Survey Questions

• iPad
• iPhone
• Browser

Branching survey questions guide users down conditional paths with questions based on previous answer choices. These surveys allow survey admins to collect valuable market and segmentation data available only with a customized set of questions while initially asking users a less generalized set of questions. When a user answers a parent question, a child question displays based on the answer to the parent question. Child questions help to gather more specific information.

Branching surveys are created by survey admins and completed by end users and coaches filling out Advanced Coaching Reports for employees.

For example, Colleen Smith, a survey admin, and her brand team need to determine how many of Sarah Jones’ accounts prefer prescribing Cholecap for noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM), but they also want to gather answers only from doctors who currently screen for NIDDM. Colleen creates a survey with a parent question and child questions based on the parent question answer. The child questions display to determine how many patients have NIDDM.

Branching surveys can contain one-to-many parent and child questions. Child questions are not numbered but count toward survey question limits. Only one level of child questions is supported; a question cannot be both a child and a parent.

Parent questions can be of type picklist or radio button. If a survey admin deletes a parent question, or deletes an answer choice on a parent question, or changes a parent question to a type other than Picklist or Radio button, the associated child questions are also deleted.

If a child question is marked as required, validation is enforced only if the question is visible when a user submits the survey.

The following record types are supported: One_Time_vod, Recurring_vod, Coaching_Report_vod, and User_Survey_vod.

The CRM channel is supported.

Branching surveys are supported for Suggestions only on the iPad platform, and they are not supported on Surveys in Approved Email.

Using Branching Surveys

There are four areas in branching surveys:

The illustrated example contains one main line question and one parent question. The parent question has two branches and four child questions. Main line questions all display when a user initially loads a survey. Child questions display once the related answer to a parent question is selected.

Child questions display for end users when they select the corresponding answer choice from a parent question.

Child questions are indented underneath parent questions and do not display a question number. Only parent and main line questions are numbered.

If a child question is marked as required, the validation to ensure the questions is answered is performed only if the question is visible to the end user at the time the survey is submitted.

Child questions that are not visible to the end user when a survey target account is saved or submitted, have their answer blanked out.

Survey Results

When viewing results of a branching survey on the Survey Management page, only the questions visible to the end user during submission are included in the calculations.

Branching and Cloning a Survey

Branching logic is preserved when cloning surveys.

Branching and Translating a Survey

Branching logic is copied to translated surveys. If the question is also added to the Question Bank, the branching logic is not preserved in the Question Bank.