SurveyMonkey Help

Multiple Choice is a simple closed-ended question type that lets survey takers select one answer from a defined list of choices.

Survey takers will be able to choose one option from a list of answer choices you provide.

When you create a Multiple Choice question you can limit or require a certain number of choices. If you use this option, we recommend updating the error message so people know how to answer the question.

TIP! If you send your survey by Email Invitation, you may be able to embed a Multiple Choice question in your email so respondents can answer with just one click.

To add a Multiple Choice question to your survey:

  1. Go to the Design survey section.
  2. From the Build section, choose Multiple Choice.
  3. Enter the question and answer text
  4. (Optional) Set up any additional options or settings
  5. Click Save.

Before you send out your survey, preview the survey design to see what your survey will look like to people taking it.

Under the Edit, Options, and Logic tabs, you can further customize the question in the following ways:

Learn more: Editing Questions

Multiple Choice questions are easy to analyze since they're closed-ended. To break down your results even more, use Filter and Compare rules.

Every chart type is available for this question type, except the Gauge Chart. The depth display option lets you to choose between the following chart views:

  • Weighted Average: Shows the average rating for each choice.
  • Distribution: Shows the number or percentage of respondents that selected each answer choice.

If you show Weighted Averages, we apply weights to each answer choice. The weights match the order of the answer choices in your survey design, and can't be changed.

For example:

  • The first answer choice has a weight of 1
  • The second answer choice has a weight of 2
  • The third answer choice has a weight of 3

TIP! To customize weight values, use a single row Matrix/Rating Scale question instead.

The rating average is calculated as follows, where:

w = weight of the answer choice
x = response count for the answer choice

(x1w1 + x2w2 + x3w3 ... xnwn) / Total response count

All export types are available for Multiple Choice questions.

If you want to share your results with others, you can share your exports or create a Shared Data page. Learn more about our sharing options: Sharing Survey Results.