One of the many ways to avoid survey bias is to use the ‘Answer Sequence’ feature in your survey. By changing the order in which answers appear, you can avoid biasing participants toward the first answer choice (primacy bias) or later answer choices (recency bias).
Answer Sequence options allow you to present answers to each participant as entered, in a rotated order, or in a random order.
Follow the steps listed below to set up the answer sequence:
- Under the Design tab, create a survey or edit an existing survey.
- Create or navigate to the chosen question. Then, preview the survey (before applying Answer Sequence).
- Hover on the question text, and click on Edit.
- Apply the desired answer sequence by choosing from the options on the panel on the left.
- As Entered: Default, answer options displayed in the order in which they were entered
- Rotate: Rotates the answer options by one position each time the survey is accessed
- Randomize: Displays answer options randomly each time the survey is accessed
The following screenshot is a preview of the same survey for the next participant after ‘Rotate’ has been applied:
