Randomizer question

What is a randomizer question?

A randomizer question type allows you to present a set of questions to your respondents randomly. Survey creators can use it to eliminate possible order bias from your respondent group.

Asking questions randomly in surveys

With QuestionPro surveys, you can present questions randomly by using an advanced question type - Randomizer - in your research. There are two ways you can display items randomly.

Randomly choose one question and display it: This option is used when you want to randomly show 1 question out of 'N' questions.

For instance, let's say you have 5 questions in the questionnaire. If all of them have been selected to be displayed randomly, the survey software will ask these five questions in any order.

Learn more: How to display one question randomly from a group of questions

Randomize the order of the list of questions: Use this option to display selected questions in random order.Here, a section or block of questions is considered to be a group of questions and not the 'survey blocks'.

Add questions to your survey and place the randomizer question just before the first question of the first section.

For instance, let's say you have three sections - Section A, Section B, Section C. With this option configured, all sections will be displayed in random order. The respondents might see them in the sequence A-B-C, C-A-B, B-C-A, A-C-B, etc.

Select the block termination question to indicate where the randomization logic will stop. Respondents will see this question after all the question groups are displayed. To complete the randomization process, set up default branching for each of the last items in the blocks to the termination question.

Learn more: How to display a group of questions randomly in a survey

Instead of randomizing sections, you can also rotate the order of all questions in a given list. In this case, our random question survey software will consider every question as a section. Select all the items to be displayed in random order. It should be after the randomization logic question and before the block termination question. Set up branching on each question in the list to jump to the block termination question.

You can also set up advanced randomization of answer choices to prevent bias occuring due to the sequence of the options.

Note:

• QuestionPro uses an advanced algorithm that displays the sections in random order. Thus, we cannot control the order of questions presented or track the order of questions dynamically.
• You can have multiple randomization logic questions in the survey, but they shouldn't overlap.
• This feature will be available in selected surveys only. For more information, please contact the support team.

Example of a randomizer question

Consider the following scenario:

Questions Q1 and Q2 are common questions to be displayed in order. Then there are three blocks of questions to be randomized and presented to the respondents. After respondents answer all three blocks, they continue with Q12.

In this case, the questions Q3, Q6, and Q10 mark the beginning of the block and so check them in the questions list. Configure logic on Q5, Q9, and Q11 to jump to Q12 as the default destination.

Respondents will see the below order of questions.

Uses of a randomizer question

Market researchers can use randomizer question for experimenting with new ideas or when a sequence of question items matters. Question rotation is particularly useful when an order of things can influence the choices and decisions of respondents.

For instance, an automobile company can ask questions related to cars that exist in the market. Then they should randomly display the images of proposed models of cars and ask its participants to select their favorite design. In such situations, the order of the questions can influence the decisions of the respondents, and so block randomization can remove the order bias.

Advantages of displaying questions randomly

• Eliminate bias: Survey-creators should design the questionnaire such that the sequence of questions does not affect their answers. Randomizer question achieves this quite easily with minimum configuration.
• Collect an honest opinion: Respondents share their honest opinion when they select answer options with a fresh mindset. They will tend to share their real choices and experiences if they aren't under any effect of the past questions.
• Accurate data: Unbiased answers lead to reliable data and hence, accurate reports. Market researchers rely heavily on the survey reports, and so the data must be clean and precise.

How to randomize the order of questions in your surveys?

Learn how to set up and use this feature with our help file on the Randomizer question.