What is the Answer Report Name, and how do I display it?

The Answer Report Name (formerly Answer Short Name) is a short internal label for an answer. It is not the same as the answer text the respondent sees, and it is not the answer report text.

There is no merge string for the Answer Report Name. It cannot be placed into the body of a report template. Instead, the system uses it automatically in several places:

• As the label for answers in charts. A chart showing the count or percentage of each answer uses the Answer Report Name as the label, not the full answer wording. This keeps chart labels short and readable.
• In spreadsheet exports. In the Assessment Answers export it is the column heading, and in the Assessment Answers Summary export it is the value shown in the cell for a selected answer.
• In dropdown lists when you are selecting an answer, for example when building a merge field.
• In calculations. For Single Choice and MultiChoice questions, calculations match on the Answer Report Name.

So if an answer reads "Our organization has a documented cybersecurity policy that is reviewed annually", you might set the Answer Report Name to "Documented policy". The chart then labels that bar "Documented policy" automatically. You do not need a merge string to make that happen.

You set the Answer Report Name in the Builder, on the answer options screen for the individual answer.

Displaying answer content in the report body

When you want an answer's content in the body of the report, the Merge Manager offers two choices. Neither returns the Answer Report Name.

Replace Sn, SSn, and Qn with the section, subsection, and question numbers. For example, {ResponseAnswer.AnswerReportText[S3 SS1 Q1]}.

Setting a Report Name does not change what Answer Text returns

The two fields are independent. If you enter an Answer Report Name on an answer and then use {ResponseAnswer.AnswerText[...]}, you will still get the original answer wording.

If you want shorter wording to appear in the report body, you have two options:

• Set the Answer Report Name and let the charts and exports use it, which requires no merge string.
• Put the shorter wording in the answer report text and merge it with {ResponseAnswer.AnswerReportText[...]}.

For full details, see Add and Manage Questions and Answers, Using Question and Answer Piping and Displaying Individual Answers in Report.