Teaching · For Teachers

Check the skip logic before anyone gets lost in it.

List the questions in order and add a rule wherever an answer should skip ahead. The summary walks every path and tells you what is broken and how long each route is.

Plan a surveyWhat you get
$12one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $12

Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the For Teachers toolkit, $79 for 79 items.

The branching plan

One record per survey. The example is made up.

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What you get

Teaching · For Teachers$12 · included with Classroom and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
A checked map of the survey’s skip logic: problems to fix, the rules in plain words, and the shortest and longest path.
Who it is for
Teacher researchers, school data teams, program evaluators and school improvement teams.
Format
Browser planner. One saved record per survey; printed with its summary or as a blank form; CSV of questions; export and import a file.
Access
$12 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Also in the For Teachers toolkit ($79) and the Teaching Suite pass ($199), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The For Teachers space in Caveat Teaching.
Support
Questions about an order, access or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.
Q1Q2Q5every answer goes somewhere
Drawn for this page. Skip logic is a map of paths; the planner walks every one before anyone fills the survey in.

How to use it

  1. Give each question a short code, such as Q1, in the order people will see them.
  2. Add a rule only where an answer should skip ahead; leave the rest blank.
  3. Use END to finish the survey early, for example for people who do not qualify.
  4. Fix every problem the summary lists.
  5. Build the survey, then take the shortest and longest path yourself.

Plan a survey

What the planner covers

Why plan it first

Skip logic errors are easy to make in a form builder and hard to see there: a rule pointing at a deleted question, or two rules that send someone back to the start. Planning the paths first catches them before data is lost.

Path length

The longest path is the real length of the survey for some respondents. Shorter surveys get higher completion; time the longest path before sending.

What it is not

The planner checks structure, not wording. It does not build the survey in your form tool or check that questions are clear and unbiased.

Sources

  1. Dillman, D. A., Smyth, J. D., and Christian, L. M. Internet, Phone, Mail, and Mixed-Mode Surveys: The Tailored Design Method (4th ed.). Wiley, 2014: chapters on question order and branching.
  2. Groves, R. M., and others. Survey Methodology (2nd ed.). Wiley, 2009.
  3. Google Forms Help. Send respondents to a section based on answers.
  4. Institute of Education Sciences, Regional Educational Laboratory Program. Survey design and development resources for educators.

The example survey is made up. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.