Block Randomization

Paid feature

Block Randomization allows you to group pages of your survey into blocks, and then add logic to rotate, flip, or randomize the blocks. You can also add logic to the pages within a single block. This minimizes order bias in your survey.

To use Block Randomization:

Go to the Design Survey section of the survey.
In the left sidebar, click Logic.
Click Block Randomization.
Create blocks.
Add logic to the blocks.

TIP! Your last step should be adding logic. Add all questions and pages to the survey design before creating blocks and applying logic.

Creating Blocks

A block is a group of consecutive pages in your survey. You can create up to 300 blocks in your survey.

To create blocks:

Under the LOGIC menu in the left sidebar, click Block Randomization.
Click + New Block.
Select the consecutive pages you want to include in the block. Some pages may be disabled if you already added logic to them that isn't compatible with Block Randomization.
Click Add Block. Create more blocks, as needed. Your blocks can't be on the last page of your survey.
When you're finished creating all your blocks, click Done in the bottom-left corner of the menu.

Block names indicate the range of pages included in the block. For example, a block containing Page 4, Page 5, Page 6, and Page 7 of your survey would be named Block: P4-P7.

TIP! A page can only belong to one block at a time. To use the same page in multiple blocks, you can instead make a copy of the page to use in another block.

Editing Blocks

To edit a block:

Under the LOGIC menu in the left sidebar, click Block Randomization.
Click Edit Blocks.
Click . next to the right of the block.
Click Show block details or Break block apart.

Adding Logic to Blocks

You can add Block Logic to control the order in which the blocks, or pages within a block, are presented to the respondent. There are two ways to apply Block Logic:

Block Logic	Description
Across multiple blocks	Apply randomization logic to the blocks themselves, or a subset of blocks. You can also set a limit on the number of blocks that will be shown to a respondent.
Within a single block	Apply randomization logic to the pages within a single block.

You can apply both types of Block Logic to a survey.

Applying Logic Within a Single Block

To apply logic within a single block:

Under the LOGIC menu in the left sidebar, click Block Randomization.
Under Add Block Logic, choose Within a single block.
Click the block you want to apply logic to.
Choose a Logic Type (see the table below for details).
Under Pages Affected, choose to apply the logic to All pages in this block or Selected pages, where you can choose a subset of pages to apply the logic to.
Click Apply.

Logic Type	Description
No page randomization	No logic is applied to the pages within the block. They are shown to respondents in order.
Randomization	Pages within the block are shown in a random order for each new respondent.
Flip pages	On average, half of respondents will see the pages within the block flipped. Example: 3, 2, 1 instead of 1, 2, 3.
Rotate pages	Each respondent will see a random first page, with the following pages of the block arranged in successive order based on the first. Example: The first respondent might see 3, 4, 5, 1, 2 within the block; the second respondent might see 2, 3, 4, 5, 1; and the third respondent might see 5, 1, 2, 3, 4.

Applying Logic Across Multiple Blocks

To apply logic across multiple blocks:

Under the LOGIC menu in the left sidebar, click Block Randomization.
Under Add Block Logic, choose Across multiple blocks.
Choose a Logic Type (see the table below for details).
Under Blocks Affected, choose to apply the logic to All blocks in this survey or Selected blocks, where you can choose a subset of blocks to apply the logic to.
Optional: Select Limit number of blocks to display and enter a limit.
Click Apply.

Logic Type	Description
No block randomization	No logic is applied across the blocks. They are shown to respondents in order.
Randomize blocks	Blocks are shown in a random order for each new respondent.
Flip blocks	On average, half of respondents will see the block order flipped. Example: 3, 2, 1 instead of 1, 2, 3.
Rotate blocks	Each respondent will see a random first block, with the following blocks arranged in successive order based on the first. Example: The first respondent might see 3, 4, 5, 1, 2; the second respondent might see 2, 3, 4, 5, 1; and the third respondent might see 5, 1, 2, 3, 4.

Limiting the Number of Blocks to Display
If you apply logic across multiple blocks, you can also select the Limit number of blocks to display setting and enter the number of blocks you want each respondent to see. This setting can help reduce survey fatigue for any given respondent by showing them a smaller subset of blocks to answer, while still allowing you to collect responses for a larger survey.
The Limit number of blocks to display setting applies to all blocks in the survey, even if the Blocks Affected setting is set to only apply logic to Selected blocks.
For example, if you set a limit of 2 blocks, the respondent is shown the first 2 blocks they would have seen based on the Logic Type you applied. See the example below:
- Total Blocks in Survey: 4 (with no extra pages not included in a block)
- Number of Blocks Limit: 2
- Logic Type: Rotate blocks
- Blocks Affected: All blocks in this survey
- What Respondents See: Each respondent sees the first 2 blocks they would have seen based on their position in the rotation.
  The first respondent sees Block 1, then Block 2, then ends the survey.
  The second respondent sees Block 2, then Block 3, then ends the survey.
  The third respondent sees Block 3, then Block 4, then ends the survey.
  The fourth respondent sees Block 4, then Block 1, then ends the survey.
  The fifth respondent sees Block 1, then Block 2, then ends the survey.

Example

Block Randomization is commonly used for concept testing. Let's say you're testing three different advertisements. You'll need to create three blocks of pages, one for each ad.

Table showing survey pages grouped into blocks

To show each respondent all three blocks in a random order, add logic to randomize all the blocks in the survey. All respondents will see Page 1 first and Page 8 last, and they'll see the blocks in a random order.

To show each respondent only one random block, first add logic to randomize all the blocks in the survey. Then, limit the number of blocks to display to 1. Respondents will see Page 1, then one random block selected from Block 1 OR Block 2 OR Block 3, then Page 8.

Using Block Randomization With Other Logic Options

Logic Option	How It Works with Block Randomization
Skip Logic	You can use Question Skip Logic or Page Skip Logic to skip respondents out of a block and to the end of the survey, disqualification page, or a future page in your survey—as long as that page doesn't belong to a block, or have Page Randomization applied to it.
Advanced Branching	You can use Advanced Branching to skip respondents out of a block and to the next available block in the survey.
Page Randomization	You can't apply Page Randomization to any pages contained within a block—that logic option will be disabled for pages within a block. Instead, you can randomize the pages within a single block in the Block Randomization feature to achieve the same result.
Question Randomization	You can apply Question Randomization to pages within blocks.
Carry Forward	You can't apply Carry Forward logic to questions within blocks.

Analyzing Results

When you send a survey with Block Randomization, you can see the order in which each respondent saw the pages in your survey by exporting the results in XLS format.

To export the page order per respondent:

Go to the Analyze Results section of the survey.
Click Save As in the upper-right corner of the page.
Select Export file.
Choose All responses data.
Choose XLS.
Under EXPORTS in the left sidebar, click the export to download it.
Within the Excel folder, open PageOrder.xls.

Column A in the PageOrder.xls spreadsheet contains the Respondent ID, which you can match to the Respondent ID in the spreadsheet containing your survey results.

Column B contains the page number of the first page of the survey the respondent saw, Column C contains the page number of the second page of the survey the respondent saw, and so on.

Accepting Payments with PayPal

Accepting Payments with Stripe

Getting Started with Forms

SurveyMonkey