Design limitations by question type

March 6, 2024

When laying out the questionnaire in the Survey Solutions Designer, mind the following design restrictions by question type:
 

Type of questionCan be used
as interviewer
Can be used
as supervisor
Can be used
in cover section
Can be used
as hidden
Can be preloadedCan be used in substitutionsCan be used in
Web interviews
AudioYESNONONONONOYES
BarcodeYESNONONOYESYESYES
(appears as text entry)
Categorical multi-selectYESYES
(NO for linked)
NOYES
(NO for linked)
YES
(NO for linked)
NOYES
Categorical single-selectYESYES
(NO for linked)
YESYES
(NO for linked)
YES,
(NO for linked)
YESYES
DateYESNOYESYESYESYESYES
GeographyYESNONONONONONO
GPSYESNOYESYESYESNOYES
ListYESNONOYESYESNOYES
NumericYESYESYESYESYESYESYES
PictureYESNONONONONOYES,
(upload file only)
TextYESYESYESYESYESYESYES

Please note:

  • The cover page is a special section that may not contain sub-sections or rosters.
  • For Date questions the serialization format for substitutions is: YYYY-MM-DD.
  • For DateTime variables and Date questions with timestamp recording, the serialization format for substitutions is: YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss.
  • For GPS (location) questions the latitude and longitude coordinates must be either preloaded together or skipped together.
  • Only one GPS (location) question may be placed into the cover page section (be identifying).
  • Calculated variables of any type do not have any scope, can’t be preloaded, can always be used in substitutions, can always be used in Web interviews, can be placed on the questionnaire’s cover page.