How To Use Dummy Questions

Overview

If you want to be able to store values/answers in questions for internal use but you do not want those questions to be visible to the surveyor/respondent, you can use Dummy Questions. 

Dummy Questions are questions that:

1. Not visible to the surveyors (their rules and scripts do not get executed)
2. Get the value assigned based on a calculation done on other questions' answers
3. The stored Value is later used for example for:

• Categorizations
• Classifications
• Storing calculated values required during script execution
• Quota Management
• Storing Calculated values that need to get exported

This article uses an example survey that first asks 2 general questions in order to classify the respondent

• 1^st question asks the gender
• 2^nd question asks the age

Dummy Question as the age groups

One of the most common examples of dummy questions, is storing an Age-Group of the respondent according to the numeric age the respondent has mentioned.

Add a Dummy question with the Answers representing the ranges

Set it as Hidden

Set the question value based on the age question

Then, this data can be used also for recruitment, further scripting logic and even for quota management

For example you can use it for quota definition

You can define it to get exported if required by the data processing team

Summary

Dummy questions are hidden questions that can assist you with storing calculated values/answers that are required for the script logic creation.

Learning to use them will make your scripting work more efficient and enable you to implement in a simple way complex tasks.  

Best Practices

Scenario 1: Consolidating Answers Across Multiple Questions

Suppose Questions Q1–Q4 use the same answer scale, and Q5 is located inside a loop chapter. The requirement is to iterate only over answers that were selected in any of Q1–Q4.

Instead of creating a complex iteration entrance rule that references all four questions individually, a simpler and more maintainable approach is recommended.

Recommended approach:

1. Create a dummy multiple-selection question after Q4 that uses the same answer scale.

2. Automatically populate the dummy question with all answers selected in Q1–Q4.

3. Place the answer-setting logic in an Expression Question so it is executed once from a single location.

4. In the loop entrance rule, reference only the dummy question using functions such as Contains().

Benefits:

• Simpler iteration rules

• Easier maintenance

• Centralized logic

• Improved readability

Scenario 2: Randomly Selecting Answers for Follow-Up Questions

Suppose Q1 is a multiple-selection question, and Q2–Q5 use the same answer scale. The requirement is to randomly select up to five of the answers chosen in Q1 and display only those answers in Q2–Q5.

In addition, the selected answers should be stored so they can be reviewed later in the exported data.

Recommended approach:

1. Create a dummy multiple-selection question immediately after Q1.

2. In Q1's End Script, randomly select up to five coded answers from Q1.

3. Store the selected answers in the dummy question.

4. Use the dummy question as the source for answer filtering in Q2–Q5.

Once the random answers have been saved in the dummy question:

• The selected answers are visible in the collected data.

• The selection process occurs only once.

• The same set of answers can be reused consistently across multiple questions.

To display only the selected answers in Q2–Q5, use the FilterAnswersByAnswers() function and filter the answers based on the values stored in the dummy question.

Benefits:

• Consistent answer set across follow-up questions

• Clear audit trail in exported data

• Simpler filtering logic

• Easier debugging and maintenance