Answer piping

In multi-question surveys, it's sometimes convenient to quote a user's answer to an earlier question. This is called answer piping.

You can use this feature by including a word in the format of QX_ANSWER in the text of a later question. For example, when we display that question to the user, we'll replace Q1_ANSWER with the full text of that user's answer to Question 1. Similarly, Q2_ANSWER refers to the user's answer for Question 2, and so on. In the case of the survey with a screening question, Q1_ANSWER would refer to the screening answer selected.

Example survey with piping

• Question 1: Which of these colors do you prefer?
  • red
  • blue
  • green

• Question 2: Which of these colors do you prefer?
  • white
  • black
  • silver

• Question 3: Which of these would you be more likely to buy?
  • a Q1_ANSWER car
  • a Q2_ANSWER car

• Question 4: Are you wearing any Q1_ANSWER clothing now?
  • yes
  • no

A user who chooses "red" for Question 1 and "silver" for Question 2 will see this next:

• Question 3: Which of these would you be more likely to buy?
  • a red car
  • a silver car

• Question 4: Are you wearing any red clothing now?
  • yes
  • no

Limitations

Only certain types of questions are eligible to use piping. Currently this feature is available for the following question types:

• Single answer (without an open-ended text field)
• Multiple answers when using as a screening question (without an open-ended text field)

Learn more about question types here.

Answers can only be piped from earlier questions into later questions, because we can't pipe an answer the user hasn't given yet. For example, you can't use Q5_ANSWER in the text of Question 4.

Question and answer length limits still apply. To calculate these limits, we use the longest possible answer that can be piped in.

You can't pipe an answer that itself pipes another answer. A survey like this will not be allowed to start. The first answer to Question 3 refers to Q2_ANSWER, which refers to Q1_ANSWER.

• Question 1: Which of these colors do you prefer?
  • red
  • blue

• Question 2: Which of these would you be more likely to buy?
  • a Q1_ANSWER car
  • a Q1_ANSWER truck

• Question 3: Which of these would you prefer to take a picture of?
  • Q2_ANSWER
  • a kitten