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, embedded web pages, 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, embedded YouTube material, or an embedded web page via iframe.
• Minimum time on page (seconds) keeps respondents from continuing until the time is up, with a countdown shown, so a treatment text or video can't be skipped past instantly.
• 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

2. Step 2: Add content. Add a Content or Informational question. Question text is optional — leave it blank when the block is only an image, video, or other media, and it will not appear to respondents. You can also add Content on an End of Survey block for debriefing or final instructions after submit; answer-collecting question types are not available there.

   Step 2: Add content

3. Step 3: Choose a content type if needed. Use the Content Type dropdown to switch from plain text to an image, video, audio, YouTube embed, or iframe (for an embedded web page), then fill in that field. For an image, write a short description in Alt text under the preview. Screen readers read it aloud in place of the image, and it is translated along with the rest of the survey. If the image is purely decorative, such as a lab logo, turn on Decorative image so screen readers skip it. Instrument Review warns about images that have neither.

   Step 3: Add media

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

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

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

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, Text Response, or Slider question.

The Iframe content type is the exception: an embedded page can report one value back into your export. In the Content Type editor, set "Report to variable" to a name (for example iframe_score), then have your embedded page call:

window.parent.postMessage({ source: "domandata:iframe-value", value: "..." }, "*");

The most recent value received before submission is stored under that variable name and appears as its own export column, the same way a custom question name or tracked-link variable does. Leave "Report to variable" blank to keep the iframe purely display-only. Content on an End of Survey block is shown after the response is already submitted, so an iframe there is display-only even if "Report to variable" is set.

• Create Experimental Conditions for treatment routing
• End Screens and Debriefing for Content on survey ends
• Heatmap Survey Questions for image click data
• Create Your First Academic Research Survey
• Publish and Share a Research Survey