Questionnaire design
Answer categories
Each answer category must be laid out on a single line. Remember that the final appearance for the survey participant, including line wrapping, is controlled by the browser. The syntax of the answer category line may be either of the following three:
A simple label is automatically assigned a numeric code one unit larger than the previous code, starting from 1. If a number is provided between asterisks, that number becomes the category code. Answer categories need not be ordered according to this number and numbers need not form a sequence.
Answer categories are always given numeric codes. By default, CallWeb reserves four digits to store all answers to regular questions (exclusive of open end parts, see Open end part section) but more can be used. If more are used, the "# Extraction width" pound instruction will be requested by the compiler.
One or more behaviour codes may be added between asterisks following the number code (a number code is required in order to use a behaviour code). Behaviour codes are selected from the following list:
Language segments in answer categories are treated in the same manner as within the question text. A lonely equal sign (=) in a text field can be used to copy text from the default language to any non-default language.
Example of an answer category:
An unlimited number of categories may be defined for each question. Questionnaire compilation is obviously longer as the number of categories increases.
Copying of answer categories
It is possible to borrow integrally the answer categories from another question by inserting a single line in the answer category section. This line contains the symbol "=" and the name of the question from which to borrow such as in the following:
Borrowing questions and questions borrowed from need not be in any particular order in the questionnaire.
Response aliases
Response aliases are elements of text which are different from the main label of an answer and which can be recalled instead of the main label. The syntax of aliases is as follows:
Language codes and behaviour codes can be used along with aliases as in the following example:
In a given set of answer codes, some codes may bear aliases while others don't. A give code can possess an indefinite number of aliases. Aliases must be placed at the end of the response. Aliases are used in recalls using the syntax &QUESTION#alias_label (e.g., &Q1#PW).
"Title" attribute
Special tags can be added to each response category to improve accessibility for the visually impaired. These special tags are placed in the "title" attribute of HTML form objects to better identify them. These labels are defined in a pair of tags <title></title> in the definition of a response category like this:
The "title" attribute can be defined for all categories, some or none, in one language or several, as needed. The default is the response label itself.
Special cases: permutations and inversions
CallWeb features special tools to implement answer category permutation and inversion.
If the keyword "ROTATION" is present on the question name instruction, the answer categories are displayed in random order, suject to the categories with a B behaviour code.
If the keyword "INVERSION" is present on the question name instruction, the answer categories are displayed in the original order or the reversed order, randomly, suject to the categories with a B behaviour code.
Example:
Special case: display conditions on response categories
By default, all response categories are displayed. However, their display can be made conditional to previous answers by inserting an additional line containing a display condition within square brackets. Such a condition line affects the category that is defined on the line following immediately.
In this example, the second category is displayed and available only if the value of Q1 is 1. Answer category display conditions are enforced even when questions are presented as tables.