This article covers how to add a question.For information on editing existing questions, please see the following article:  Assessment Builder – Brilliant Assessments.

Below are the quick links to take you straight to the article you require:

To create a question, either hover over an existing question, then click 'Add Question', or click the 'Add Question' button at the bottom of each page/section in the assessment builder.

Once clicked, the question settings will appear where you can type your question and answers, and configure the question settings.

Settings and options for questions and answers are managed from this dialogue box.

Question settings

1. Question Number determines the order. To change the order just change the numbers to be in sequence. 

2. Question Text as it appears on the response screen.  Questions can include merge strings for Question Piping using the insert merge string function (Read more about Question Piping).  

3. Max Points.  This is the maximum score an answer can get on this question - it cannot be a negative number. These are used to calculate the score automatically.  Some assessments have all the questions with the same max score; others weight certain questions by giving a higher max score and higher proportionate answer scores.

4. Options Tab

4A. Question Report Name. (formerly Question short name) This field is used on the feedback or cohort report for graphics that are at the question level and for internal reporting.  For example, if the question was “What is your annual revenue?” the Short Name might be “Annual Revenue.” 

4B.  Segmentations. If Segmentations is enabled (in the Settings Screen) this additional panel will display with the Segmentations entered in the Segmentations function (Read more about Segmentations).  You can select any number of Segmentations that apply to this question. (Alternatively, Questions can also be linked to Segmentations in the Assessment Segmentations function.) The Feedback report has a comprehensive  Segmentation reporting capability. Hold down the ctrl button to select/deselect multiple segmentations.

4C.  Classifier - links this question to Classifier Classifiers are used to bring classifying data into or out of the response, or for benchmarking.

4D.  ToolTip.  You can specify a tooltip here which will display when the respondent hovers their curser over the question text.  There is a 300 character limit on question tooltips.

4E.  Required. This makes the question compulsory. The respondent cannot move to the next section without answering it. If the Required Checkbox is selected, the standard message is "[Question Text] is required."  If the Question is more than 100 characters, only the work Required appears.

4F. Custom Validation Message If entered, this text replaces the standard error message for a Required question. 

4G.  Hidden Questions are used to pass information into the assessment response without the respondent being able to modify it.  Typically the data is populated using Smart Question Short Names (Question Report name), and are subsequently referred to for Conditional Questions and Question Piping.

4H. Link to Response Setting - Using this drop-down list, you can link this question to a Response setting field.  If the Response Setting field is entered as part of the Add Response process, this question's answer will be populated by the system.  For most options the response to this answer will be written back to the Response Settings. If this is not the required behavior, we recommend that you Hide the question so that the respondent doesn't have the opportunity to change it.  They are listed and documented here.

4I.  Don't Copy Answers in Response Copy.  When a response is created by copying the answers from an existing response - either because:

• Response Copy is selected from the action menu (only available when Assessor Only Answers is selected on the Assessment Settings Options tab) or
• as an option for the Iteration generation,

then the answers to the question/s are not copied.

5. Instructions Tab

This text will appear before the Question.  By putting it on the first question for the assessment, section or subsection, it can introduce the assessment, section, or subsection.  Instruction Text can include merge strings for Question Piping (Read more about Question Piping)  

5A. To insert images into the instruction text, they must first be uploaded to the graphics table (Read more about Graphics) with a Graphic Type of Assessment Body.  To Insert a Video into the instruction text, it must first be uploaded to the graphics table (Read more about Graphics) with a type of Video.

5B. Insert a table into the text

5C. View and update the HTML for the Instruction text.

5D. Choose a Style for the instruction Text.

5E. Clean the HTML.  This removes the HTML from the text, allowing you to format the text consistent with the standards used in this product.

5F. Rule a line. This button places a thin gray line in the text of the same format used by the system between inline questions.

5G.  Merge Fields.  Here you can select to add preformatted merge fields into your instruction text.  You are able to select from answer text and answer report text.

5H.  Display as Tooltip.  By selecting this checkbox, you can opt to display the instructions as a tooltip rather than as an instruction paragraph before the question.  There is no character limit on instruction tooltips.

6. Conditions tab

Select this tab to add Question Conditions. (Read more about Question Conditions)

6A. First line of conditions with the ability to specify initial condition, AND 4 other conditions as required.  Alternatively, you can specify the first condition and then click on B to 'Add New' line for 'OR' conditions.

6B. Click here to add new lines of 'OR' conditions.

7. Report text

Select this tab to add Reporting Text at a question level. Reporting Text is often used instead of Answer Text on the Feedback Report for Multiple Choice Questions. Each answer selected may have a number of points assigned.

7A.  Score Range.  The Report Text tab allows you to specify a range of scores that each text option applies to.  Note:

•  
  • We usually recommend you use answer text to give feedback unless you are using Multiple Choice Answers.
  • When using the subsection merge string to pull through the feedback at the subsection, question, and answer level, it's important to note that the reporting text from Questions will appear after all of the Available Answer Report Text for that subsection, regardless of the question order within the subsection.  

7B.  Insert the score range here.

7C.  Report Text.  You have up to 5 report texts available to use from the dropdown menu.

7D.  Formatting Menu.  There are a range of formatting options available, including adding images/graphics and links.

7E.  Clean Formatting.  You can use the 'Clean Formatting' function to remove any inherited formatting from the text.

7F.  Merge Fields.  Here you can select to add preformatted merge fields into your instruction text.  You are able to select from answer text and answer report text.

Answer settings

8. Answer Format/ Question Type 

The  Answer Format (also referred to as the question type) determines how answers are displayed and captured on the response entry screen. Question types / answer formats define how respondents interact with a question, such as selecting one or more options, entering free text, ranking items, using sliders, or uploading files.

The available question types/answer formats are listed below:

9. Number. The order the answer appears in the response.

10. Answer Text. As it appears on the assessment. If the Answer Type is a TextBox the Answer Text is often blank, but if it is entered it will appear on the response as a watermark.   If the Question Type is Matrix, two lines of Answer Text will display to allow for smaller titles across the page.  For a series of Matrix Questions, only the first Question’s Answer Text will appear as titles. If you want an answer to have no text ( usually in a slider) but still score, then you need to put a space in the answer text.

11. Points. Used to calculate the score.  The answer score (points) may have up to 2 decimal places.

The answer score divided by the question's potential score determines the score for this question.  In the case of a Multiple Choice Item, all of the selected scores are added together. If the total of the answer score for a question is greater than the question's potential score, the potential score is used. See more information on scoring.

12.  Answer Text Formatting Menu.  Clicking on the answer text displays a formatting menu to enable customization of each line of answer text.

13.  Options. Clicking on this takes you to the answer options dialogue box.  See below

14.  Add answers. You can choose from the drop-down list to either add your own answer text ( 1/2/3 Answer) text or choose from the default answers.

Answer Options

Navigate to this screen by clicking on the "options" button alongside any of the answers

This takes you to answer options for the individual answer where you can add report text, access scoring options and add answer report names ( Question Short name). 

14A. Answer Report Name – (formerly Answer Short name) is used in internal reporting only. For example, if the question was “Is your Company a Start-up” and the answers were “Yes” and “No” the Answer Short Name may be “Is Start-up” and “Not Start-up”.  This assists in reporting where you want to either filter by or report responses separately with these attributes. 

14B.  Tooltip.  You can specify a tooltip here which will display when the respondent hovers their curser over the question text.

14C.  Report text tab.  A fundamental building block to building up feedback for your report is where you enter your answer level report text that will merge into your feedback report.

 This tab is used to specify the text that appears on the report due to this specific answer selected. For example, if you were asking a company about their Strategic Strategic Plan and this answer was “We don’t have one” you would likely have text presenting the benefits of writing a strategic plan. 

• TIP: The text can be formatted in any way you wish.  Please note that when you paste text into the text editor box, it will be pasted as plain text by default.  You can then proceed to use the formatting options available to update the text.

14D. Scoring Options tab

14D - A.  Segmentations. An Available Answer can be linked to one or more segmentations. (Alternatively, Answers can also be linked to Segmentations in the Assessment Segmentations function.)  Answer segmentations are an alternative to Question Segmentations and while they can be used in the same assessment, the same Segmentation Name cannot be used in both.  When answers are linked to segmentations, the scoring is calculated as follows:

- for the answer taken, the Question Potential Points is added to the Segmentation Question Points and the Answer Score is added to the Segmentation Answer Points.

- for the answers not taken, the Question, Potential Points is added to the Segmentation Question Points and 0 is added to the Segmentation Answer Points.

14D - B.  Suppress Scoring. If this checkbox is ticked for a selected answer in a response, then neither the potential score nor the answer score will be used.  This capability allows for a “Not Applicable” response and similar.

14D - C.  Default Answer Checkbox - can be used to cause a score to this question even though the question hasn’t been asked.  This occurs when questions are conditional on the answers to previous questions. If this checkbox is not checked a suppressed conditional question will be ignored from a scoring perspective, i.e. neither the question’s potential points nor any answer score will be added.  Often this is the preferred behavior.  If this checkbox is checked both the questions' potential points and this answer score will be added.

The rationale for this functionality is to avoid reducing the impact of this question on the total score, positively or negatively.

15.  Add/Replace. Once you have chosen the answers you want to add from the add questions drop-down list, you can either "Add" or "Replace". Replace will replace all existing answers with your new selection.

NOT SHOWN IN SCREENSHOT ABOVE:

Answer 2.  This field is for slider questions and will be shown if the answer format chosen is a slider. The answer 2 field will make the far left and far right answers appear on top of the slider for more text room. This is commonly used for questions where the answers are a scale with two opposing statements at either end.

Link to a training video on Setting up your questions, sections and subsections.