Question Types

All questions in a surveydown survey are created using the sd_question() function. Calls to sd_question() should be put inside code chunks in the survey.qmd file to define the survey questions.

The function requires the following three arguments:

• id: A unique identifier for the question, which will be used as the variable name in the resulting survey data.
• label: The label that will be displayed on the question in the survey.
• type: The type of question.

Many question types also require an option argument, which is a named vector of options for the question (e.g. for multiple choice questions). The function also includes many other optional arguments that can be used to customize the question appearance and behavior. See the package documentation for more details.

The following question types are currently supported:

• text: Single line open text input.
• textarea: Multiple line open text input.
• numeric: Single line numeric text input.
• mc: Multiple choice with a single select option (radio buttons).
• mc_buttons: Same as mc but as a “button” style instead of radio buttons.
• mc_multiple: Multiple choice with mutliple select options (check boxes).
• mc_multiple_buttons: Same as mc_multiple but as a “button” style instead of check boxes.
• select: Select a choice from a drop down menu.
• slider: (Under construction) Slider to select discrete categories or continuous numbers.
• date: Select a date from a calendar widget.
• daterange: Select two dates from calendar widgets (e.g. begin and end dates).

Below are examples of each question type.

text

Use type = 'text' to specify a text input type question.

Code chunk

```{r}
sd_question(
  type  = "text",
  id    = "word",
  label = "Write a word:"
)
```

Output

Write a word: *

textarea

Use type = 'textarea' to specify a text area input type question.

Code chunk

```{r}
sd_question(
  type  = "textarea",
  id    = "paragraph",
  label = "Write a paragraph:"
)
```

Output

Write a paragraph: *

numeric

Use type = 'numeric' to specify a numeric input type.

Code chunk

```{r}
sd_question(
  type  = 'numeric',
  id    = 'age',
  label = "What's your age?"
)
```

Output

What’s your age? *

mc

Use type = 'mc' to specify a multiple choice type question with a single choice option.

Code chunk

```{r}
sd_question(
  type   = 'mc',
  id     = 'artist',
  label  = "Which artist do you prefer most from this list?",
  option = c(
    "Taylor Swift" = "taylor_swift",
    "Beyoncé"      = "beyonce",
    "Adele"        = "adele",
    "Rihanna"      = "rihanna",
    "Lady Gaga"    = "ladygaga",
    "Ed Sheeran"   = "ed_sheeran",
    "Drake"        = "drake"
  )
)
```

Output

Which artist do you prefer most from this list? *

Taylor Swift

Beyoncé

Adele

Rihanna

Lady Gaga

Ed Sheeran

Drake

mc_buttons

Use type = 'mc_buttons' to generate the button version of mc.

Code chunk

```{r}
sd_question(
  type   = 'mc_buttons',
  id     = 'fruit',
  label  = "Which fruit do you prefer most from this list?",
  option = c(
    "Apple"      = "apple",
    "Banana"     = "banana",
    "Pear"       = "pear",
    "Strawberry" = "strawberry",
    "Grape"      = "grape",
    "Mango"      = "mango",
    "Watermelon" = "watermelon"
  )
)
```

Output

Which fruit do you prefer most from this list? *

Apple Banana Pear Strawberry Grape Mango Watermelon

mc_multiple

Use type = 'mc_multiple' to specify a multiple choice type question with multiple selection enabled.

Code chunk

```{r}
sd_question(
  type  = 'mc_multiple',
  id    = 'swift',
  label = "What are your favorite Taylor Swift albums (select all that apply)?",
  option = c(
    "Taylor Swift (2006)" = "taylor_swift",
    "Fearless (2008)"     = "fearless",
    "Speak Now (2010)"    = "speak_now",
    "Red (2012)"          = "red",
    "1989 (2014)"         = "1989",
    "Reputation (2017)"   = "reputation",
    "Lover (2019)"        = "lover",
    "Folklore (2020)"     = "folklore",
    "Evermore (2020)"     = "evermore",
    "Midnights (2022)"    = "midnights"
  )
)
```

Output

What are your favorite Taylor Swift albums (select all that apply)? *

Taylor Swift (2006)

Fearless (2008)

Speak Now (2010)

Red (2012)

1989 (2014)

Reputation (2017)

Lover (2019)

Folklore (2020)

Evermore (2020)

Midnights (2022)

mc_multiple_buttons

Use type = 'mc_multiple_buttons' to generate the button version of mc_multiple.

Code chunk

```{r}
sd_question(
  type  = 'mc_multiple_buttons',
  id    = 'michael_jackson',
  label = "Which are your favorite Michael Jackson songs (select all that apply)?",
  option = c(
    "Thriller (1982)"          = "thriller",
    "Billie Jean (1982)"       = "billie_jean",
    "Beat It (1982)"           = "beat_it",
    "Man in the Mirror (1987)" = "man_in_the_mirror",
    "Smooth Criminal (1987)"   = "smooth_criminal",
    "Black or White (1991)"    = "black_or_white",
    "Bad (1987)"               = "bad",
    "Human Nature (1982)"      = "human_nature"
  )
)
```

Output

Which are your favorite Michael Jackson songs (select all that apply)? *

Thriller (1982) Billie Jean (1982) Beat It (1982) Man in the Mirror (1987) Smooth Criminal (1987) Black or White (1991) Bad (1987) Human Nature (1982)

select

Use type = 'select' to specify a drop down select type question.

Code chunk

```{r}
sd_question(
  type  = 'select',
  id    = 'education',
  label = "What is the highest level of education you have attained?",
  option = c(
    "Did not attend high school" = "hs_no",
    "Some high school"           = "hs_some",
    "High school graduate"       = "hs_grad",
    "Some college"               = "college_some",
    "College"                    = "college_grad",
    "Graduate Work"              = "grad",
    "Prefer not to say"          = "no_response"
  )
)
```

Output

What is the highest level of education you have attained? *

Choose an option... Did not attend high school Some high school High school graduate Some college College Graduate Work Prefer not to say

slider

Note

Due to compatibility issues, the slider type is still under construction.

date

Use type = 'date' to specify a date input type. The date value will be today’s date by default. Upon clicking on the text box, you are provided with a date dialog box to choose date from.

Note

The dialog box will only appear in a Shiny environment, hence why it is not appearing when clicked in this example.

Code chunk

```{r}
sd_question(
  type  = 'date',
  id    = 'dob',
  label = "What is your date of birth?"
)
```

Output

What is your date of birth? *

daterange

Use type = 'daterange' to specify a date range input type.

Note

The dialog box will only appear in a Shiny environment, hence why it is not appearing when clicked in this example.

Code chunk

```{r}
sd_question(
  type  = 'daterange',
  id    = 'hs_date',
  label = "When did you start and finish high school?"
)
```

Output

When did you start and finish high school? *

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