Content Blocks in Research Surveys

Content blocks show information without collecting an answer. They are useful in academic and social science research surveys for consent language, instructions, debriefing text, treatment stimuli, embedded videos, images, screenshots, or transitional pages between sections.

Use a content block when the participant needs to read, watch, or inspect something before answering later questions. Use a question type instead when you need a response in the export.

• Consent and instructions can appear before screening or experimental tasks.
• Stimulus presentation can show text, images, videos, or embedded YouTube material.
• No response column keeps exports focused on measured variables.
• Flow placement lets researchers route different respondents to different treatments.

1. Step 1: Open Block Builder. Open the survey, choose the block where the material belongs, or add a new block for the consent page, instructions, or treatment.

   Step 1: Open Block Builder

   Survey Editor

   No-persist demo using the real builder shell.

   Add a Block

   Add BlockPull Blocks

   Trash0 items

   Trash is empty.

2. Step 2: Add content. Add a Content or Informational question and enter the participant-facing text.

   Step 2: Add content

   Block Builder: Content Block

   Add instructional text or embed a YouTube video as a stimulus.

   Content

   Page Break

   Question text

   Options

   Add QuestionPull Questions

   Closing text

   Example only.

   Redirect (optional)

3. Step 3: Add media if needed. Attach an image, video, or YouTube embed when the survey includes a visual or media stimulus.

   Step 3: Add media

   Block Builder: Content Block

   Add instructional text or embed a YouTube video as a stimulus.

   Content

   Page Break

   Question text

   Options

   Add QuestionPull Questions

   Closing text

   Example only.

   Redirect (optional)

4. Step 4: Place follow-up measures after it. Put attention, comprehension, or manipulation checks after the content block so respondents see the material first.

   Step 4: Place follow-up measures

   Survey Editor

   No-persist demo using the real builder shell.

   Add a Block

   Add BlockPull Blocks

   Trash0 items

   Trash is empty.

5. Step 5: Check Flow placement. If only some respondents should see the content, open Flow and route the correct condition arm to the block.

   Step 5: Check Flow placement

   Block Builder

   Flow

   Preview

   Deploy

   Export

   Flow Canvas

   Interactive routing surface from the app, running in no-persist help mode.

   Consent and Study Intro

   1 question

   Political Knowledge Block

   2 questions

   Control Message

   1 question

   Treatment Message

   1 question

   Outcome Measures

   2 questions

   Survey Ends

   Anchors explicit end of survey

6. Step 6: Preview on desktop and mobile. Confirm the content is readable, visible, and not too large for small screens; use Mobile-Friendly Research Surveys for phone-specific checks.

   Step 6: Preview on desktop and mobile

   Block Builder

   Flow

   Preview

   Deploy

   Export

   Preview: Content Block

   The passage_stimulus renders as read-only text. Confirm the stimulus appears before any follow-up questions and that no response field is shown.

Content blocks do not create respondent answer columns. If you need to measure whether participants saw or understood the content, add a follow-up Multiple Choice, Short Answer, or Slider question.

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