Why you can't use multiple jump-to options in a checkbox question

Checkbox questions are a type of multiple choice question that allows respondents to select more than one option from a list of possible options. Some of the logic approaches that work for other multiple choice question types (like radio button), in which only a single option can be selected, will not work with checkbox questions.

Let's look at an example.

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You can see that if you pick a specific type of fruit, the jump-to logic indicates that the user will jump to a particular follow-up question.  This works perfectly for radio button questions (or dropdown), but this will not work in checkbox questions.  This is because if you select, for example, both apples and oranges . . . which followup question should Magpi jump to?  It can't jump to both, obviously.

What Magpi will do in this instance is to evaluate the last (lowest) selected option in the list (not counting the default "Next Question" options).   So if you selected apple, banana, and mango in the example above, Magpi would follow the jump instruction for mango and jump to question 5 ("Tell me why you like mangos").


A workaround

If you want to have separate jump logic evaluated for each option, you will need to split each option into a radio button question.  The option for apples, for example, becomes an individual question, as in the illustration below.  And each individual option can be evaluated separately.

Click the image to view it larger.

Jump  Logic in a Checkbox Question with "Other" 

Many times people want to include an "other" response.  This is generally not recommended: if you believe a substantial number of respondents will answer other, it suggests that you have not provided an appropriate list of options — a problem which can be solved by pre-testing or pre-interviewing. As an example, if you ask for favorite fruits, and give apple, banana, and peaches as options — but 30% of respondents choose "other" and specify "mango" . . . it strongly suggests that you should have done a pre-survey to determine the fruit options.  If you had, you would surely have included mango as an option — negating the need for "other".

If you are intent on including other, it is possible to do this using Magpi's complex logic feature (by clicking the logic button).  You will then specify that if Other is not selected, Magpi should skip over the next question (the "Specify other:" question).  So if the user selects other, then the Specify Other question will be enabled, otherwise not.

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