Carrying forward answers allows you to reuse a respondent’s selected answers from an earlier multiple-choice question in later questions. This means respondents only see answer options that are relevant to them, while staying on the same survey path.
This feature is sometimes referred to as masking or hiding answers in other survey tools.
How carrying forward answers works
You can forward answers from a multiple-choice question to become:
answer options in later multiple-choice questions
answer options in later single-choice questions
subjects in later grid questions
Only the answers selected by the respondent in the original question are shown in follow-up questions.
Setting up forwarded answers
To carry answers forward:
Add a multiple-choice question.
Add a follow-up question (multiple-choice, single-choice, or grid).
Enable Forward answers on the follow-up question.
Select the earlier multiple-choice question you want to forward answers from.
You can reuse answers from the same question across multiple follow-up questions if needed.
Important rules and limitations
There are a few things to be aware of when using forwarded answers:
The original question and all follow-up questions must be in the same route.
You cannot use Other on the question where answers are being forwarded, as free-text responses cannot be reliably reused.
None and N/A can be used. If selected, they are automatically carried forward to follow-up questions.
If a respondent skips the original question, they will automatically skip the follow-up question as well.
Carrying forward answers vs routing
Carrying forward answers and routing solve different problems:
Carrying forward answers keeps respondents on a single path while refining the answer options they see.
Routing sends respondents down different paths based on their answers.
If you want respondents to see the same set of answer options, refined to only what they selected earlier, use Forward answers. If you want to send respondents to entirely different questions or sections, use routing instead.
The preview screen shows all answer options, but any follow-up question shows a note that the answers or subjects will be forwarded from a previous question.
Previewing forwarded answers
In Preview, all answer options are shown for reference. Follow-up questions include a note indicating that answers or subjects will be forwarded from a previous question.
This helps you verify that the forwarding setup is correct before launching the survey.
Analysing forwarded answers
In the results dashboard, questions that use forwarded answers include a message beneath the chart explaining which question the answers were forwarded from and how percentages are calculated.
Select Edit chart to choose whether percentages are calculated based on:
the total base sample, or
the forwarded sample for that specific question
This allows you to interpret results correctly depending on whether you want to understand overall impact or only responses from those who saw the forwarded options.
If you have any questions about forwarding answers in your survey, don't hesitate to get in touch with us using the in-platform live chat.