When To Use Multiple Choice
Multiple Choice questions are the default choice for categorical variables in academic and social science research surveys. Use them when respondents should choose one answer, choose several answers, pass a screener, enter a quota group, or provide a value that later drives branching or experimental conditions.
Block Builder: Multiple Choice
Block Builder: Multiple Choice
Edit options, allow multiple selections, and configure response order.
Common uses include demographics, eligibility checks, treatment comprehension checks, manipulation checks, political or institutional categories, consent confirmations, and nominal outcome variables.
How It Supports Research Design
- Single-select measures create one categorical value per respondent.
- Multi-select measures capture multiple memberships, behaviors, or selected attributes.
- Other text lets respondents add a category when a closed list is not exhaustive.
- Response order controls help reduce order effects with fixed, reversed, or shuffled options.
- Recode values make exports easier to analyze in R, Stata, Python, SPSS, or spreadsheets.
Block Builder: Variable Name
Block Builder: Question Name
The export variable label is the column name for this question in downloaded data.
Configure It In Domandata
Step 1: Open Block Builder. Open the survey and select the block where the categorical question belongs.
Step 1: Open Block Builder
Survey Editor
No-persist demo using the real builder shell.
Step 2: Add the question. Choose Multiple Choice from the question type selector.
Step 2: Choose Multiple Choice question type
Block Builder: Question Type
Use the question type selector to switch between multiple choice, slider, grid, ranking, and more.
Step 3: Write the prompt. Make the unit of response clear, especially for screeners and consent choices, and outcome variables.
Step 3: Write the prompt
Block Builder: Multiple Choice
Edit options, allow multiple selections, and configure response order.
Step 4: Add options. Use mutually exclusive options for single-select questions, or enable multiple selections when respondents can choose more than one category.
Step 4: Add options
Block Builder: Multiple Choice
Edit options, allow multiple selections, and configure response order.
Step 5: Decide on Other. Add an Other option only when open category capture is useful for analysis.
Step 5: Other option
Block Builder: Multiple Choice
Click Options on the question card to access randomization and ordering controls.
Step 6: Set order and recodes. Configure fixed, reversed, or shuffled order and add recodes before publishing.
Step 6: Set order and recodes
Options: Multiple Choice
Set response order to Fixed, Reverse, or Shuffle to control how answer options are displayed.
Step 7: Name the variable. Use the question name field for anything that will drive Flow, quotas, or analysis.
Step 7: Name the variable
Block Builder: Question Name
The export variable label is the column name for this question in downloaded data.
Preview: Respondent Experience
Multiple Choice: Respondent View
Select an option to see how a multiple choice question feels to respondents.
Data And Export Notes
Multiple Choice answers export as selected values, with multi-select answers preserving the selected set. If the question feeds survey quotas or by-variable assignment, keep option labels and recodes stable after launch so live response data remains consistent.
Block Builder: Response Order Options
Options: Multiple Choice
Set response order to Fixed, Reverse, or Shuffle to control how answer options are displayed.
Related Help
- Dropdown Survey Questions for compact long lists
- Create Experimental Conditions for branching by selected answers
- Set Survey Quotas for sample targets by condition arm
- Create Your First Academic Research Survey