Section Group Randomization

What's new

You can now group sections together and randomize them as a unit. Each group can present its sections in author order, monadic, or sequential monadic, and any group can also shuffle its position relative to the other groups. Groups do not have to sit next to each other in the guide, and sections outside a group stay exactly where you put them.

Why it matters

Handling counterbalanced order inside one study keeps the participant experience consistent, since everyone moves through the same guide and only the order varies. It also keeps every response in a single dataset, and each participant's presented order is recorded alongside their answers, so order effects become something you can measure rather than something you have to design around.

Used for

• Concept tests where each concept has its own set of sections and concept order needs to be counterbalanced

• Guides where non-adjacent sections move as a unit, for example sections 2 to 3 and sections 5 to 6

• Keeping a warm-up or wrap-up section fixed while the sections between them randomize

• Comparing responses by the order participants actually saw, using presentation order as a report segmentation

How to use it

1. In the interview guide, open a section's settings menu and choose Randomize sections.

2. Choose Section to randomize that section on its own, or Group to add it to an existing group or create a new one. New groups are named Group 1, Group 2, and so on.

3. Grouped sections get a colored chip and a matching stripe on the section card. Click the chip to open the group's settings.

4. In group settings, rename the group, set how its sections are ordered, toggle whether the group shuffles position relative to other groups, remove a section, or delete the group.

Read more about setting up your guide, including section randomization here