Survey Platform - Multiple Choice

What's on this page:

Introduction

The Multiple Choice question type allows the respondent to choose one or multiple options from a list of possible answers. This is the most common question type due to its simplicity and ease of use for both the survey creator and the survey taker.

Variations

There are five main variations for the Multiple Choice question. These variations can be selected from the Answers option list in the question Editing Pane, located to the right of the question. Each variation may have additional settings.

Single Answer

The Single Answer format allows a respondent to select one, and only one, answer choice.

Multiple Answer

The Multiple Answer format allows a respondent to select multiple answer choices.

Dropdown List

The Dropdown List format displays answer choices as a dropdown list; respondents can only pick one answer choice.

Qtip: Have a long list of choices? No need to type them in one at a time! If you have the list in a spreadsheet, or even in a Word document, you can simply copy the entire list and paste it into the first choice in Qualtrics. Qualtrics will populate the list for you.

Select Box

The Select Box format displays answer choices in a list respondents can scroll through. Respondents can select only one answer choice.

Multi Select Box

The Multi Select Box format displays answer choices in a list respondents can scroll through. Respondents can easily select multiple answer choices through several methods. To select options in a row, they can click and drag their mouse or hold down Shift when selecting. To select non-sequential options, they can hold down Ctrl (on a PC) or Cmd (on a Mac) when clicking.

More Variations

Each of the five formats have other options that can be adjusted, such as Position and Validation. The available settings depend on which format is selected.

In addition, the Multiple Choice question type has other pre-built styles. You can access these by clicking on the green box under Change Question Type, mousing over the Multiple Choice question type, and then clicking on the dropdown arrow on the right.

Data Analysis

Once your responses have been collected, Qualtrics offers various methods to create reports both in and out of the platform. From the Reports module, you can view aggregate data with pre-made reports as well as create your own. From the Data & Analysis module, you can view and manipulate your survey responses on an individual basis.

Visualizations

There are five visualization types available for Multiple Choice questions: Simple Table, Bar Chart, Line Chart, Pie Chart, and Breakdown Bar. For more information on these visualizations please visit the linked visualization support pages.

Note that when a question is formatted with the Multiple Select setting, many visualizations for that question will display total answers chosen, which may a higher number than the total number of respondents.

Downloaded Data Format

For single-select variations, you’ll find one column in your dataset for the Multiple Choice question. Each choice in your question has a “coded value,”, or number associated with the choice. The number for the selected choice is displayed in each participant’s row.

Qtip: For a refresher on how to check or change these coded values, refer to our Recode Values page.

For multiple-select variations, each choice will include its own column in the dataset. On each participant’s row, there will be a “1” in the columns of the choices they selected.