The Progressive Matrix question type allows you to organize groups of items that can be answered on the same answer scale in a grid, with either a single choice (radio button) or multi-choice (checkbox) used for selection.

Progressive Matrix focuses respondents' attention on one column or one row at a time—a process called progressive flow. After selections are made for this manageable cluster of answer options, respondents can move on to the next column or row and choose among the same answer choices for the next item on the list.

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In This Article

• Building a Progressive Matrix Question
• Customizing a Question
• Using Progressive Flow
• Using Exclusive Logic
• Analyzing Progressive Matrix Results

Building a Progressive Matrix Question

1. In the Survey Editor, click the Progressive Matrix icon in the question menu, or drag the icon into place.
2. Type or paste your question into the Question field.
3. Type entities for respondents to evaluate into the Matrix sub-question fields and click the + icon to add more. Use copy/paste to populate several rows at once—paste a multi-line list and each line becomes its own sub-question.
4. Type or paste your scale into the Matrix answer option fields. A question needs at least two answer options.
5. Add an image to any sub-question or answer option using its image slot.
6. Hover over a number and click the X to delete a sub-question or answer option.
7. Activate the Randomize checkbox above a list to shuffle the sub-question or answer option order for each respondent. The two lists are randomized independently.
8. Hover over an entity and click the anchor icon (Lock position) to the right of it to hold that item in place despite randomization.

Item counts and text lengths depend on your plan. These are the limits you can launch with:

⚠️ Note: The + icon keeps working past your limit—up to twice your limit—so you can paste a long list and trim it down. The counter next to it tracks where you stand: it counts down your remaining items, then reads over quota, then No more answers left. Items beyond your limit are flagged in the editor and the survey cannot be launched until the list is back within it. If you need a higher limit than your plan allows, contact your aytm account manager—limits can be raised per account or per survey.

💡 Tip: To add a "None of the above" option, use the N/A setting rather than typing it as a regular answer option—the N/A option is exclusive, so selecting it clears the rest of that sub-question. The setting is available on multi-choice questions only. See Using Progressive Flow.

Customizing a Question

1. Click the Answers in columns dropdown to switch between the two layouts. The dropdown shows the current one: Answers in columns puts your answer scale across the top and your sub-questions down the side, and Answers in rows reverses it.
2. Click the Single choices dropdown to choose whether respondents select only one answer per sub-question (radio buttons) or can select several (Multiple choices, checkboxes).
3. Use the Split by pages checkboxes—PC and Mobile—to show one sub-question per page on that device. These appear only while progressive flow is on.
4. When either split is on, activate Expand images to show sub-question and answer option images at full size.
5. Activate Numbering to show sub-question numbers to respondents. This setting is hidden when both PC and Mobile splits are on.
6. Activate the Sticky answer header checkbox to keep the band of answer labels pinned to the top of the screen while a respondent scrolls a long grid. It is off by default and has no effect on split renderings, which show one sub-question per screen and have no shared header.

💡 Tip: Split by pages is on by default for Mobile and is recommended for the best possible respondent experience. Once the grid grows past three items across—more than three answer options in the Answers in columns layout, or more than three sub-questions in Answers in rows—the Mobile split is switched on automatically and can no longer be turned off.

Using Progressive Flow

On Single choices questions, progressive flow is always on. The settings row shows its direction—ROW BY ROW or COLUMN BY COLUMN, following your layout—as a label you cannot change.

When Multiple choices is selected, progressive flow becomes a dropdown and additional options appear:

1. Click the Progressive flow dropdown and select OFF to show the whole grid at once and let respondents answer sub-questions in any order. Turning it off also clears Split by pages, Min required, and Max allowed.
2. Check the N/A checkbox to add a None of the above answer option. It is exclusive within each sub-question: selecting it clears any other answer for that sub-question.
3. Click the Min required dropdown to set a minimum number of answers per sub-question.
4. Click the Max allowed dropdown to set a maximum number of selections per sub-question.

⚠️ Note: Min required and Max allowed appear only when progressive flow is on, and the values they offer are based on the number of answer options excluding N/A. If you later shorten your answer list, any value that no longer fits is lowered or reset to OFF automatically.

Using Exclusive Logic

Plus, Max, and Enterprise users can use aytm Logic to prohibit respondents from selecting certain answer options together in a Multiple Choices Progressive Matrix. Learn more about Exclusive Logic.

1. When Multiple choices is selected and sub-questions and answer options are programmed, click into the answer option field.
2. Type [exclusive and enter the reference(s) of the answer(s) you'd like to restrict when a respondent has chosen that answer. Progressive Matrix references include the sub-question number, so a single answer looks like Q1SQ1A2.
3. Close the logic with a ].
4. Preview the question to make sure the logic is working as intended.

Common forms:

• [exclusive all]—prohibit a respondent from selecting any other option in that sub-question. This is the usual pattern for an N/A or "None of the above" answer.
• [exclusive Q1SQ1A2]—prohibit a respondent from also selecting A2 in sub-question 1.
• [exclusive Q1SQ1A2,3]—prohibit A2 and/or A3.
• [exclusive Q1SQ1A1:A3]—prohibit the range A1 through A3.

⚠️ Note: Exclusive logic can only reference answer options within the same question, and an answer option cannot be made exclusive to itself. Once a respondent selects an answer carrying exclusive logic, the restricted options are cleared and grayed out.

Analyzing Progressive Matrix Results

On the Results page, a Progressive Matrix question shows answer percentages stacked in color-coded columns, with expandable data on the sub-question level displayed below.

1. Hover over a bar to see the percentage and number of respondents who selected each answer option.
2. Click Expand subquestions in the chart header, or Expand on an individual sub-question row, to see the full breakdown for that sub-question.
3. On Single choices questions, the default view (Stacked 100%) has a dropdown for choosing another visualization:
   • Stacked Counts—shows the actual number of respondents for each answer along the y-axis. If all sub-questions have the same base size, this view won't differ much from Stacked 100%.
   • Means—shows averages for each sub-question compared side by side, with drill-down statistics for each.
   • Box Scores—shows top- and bottom-box calculations, selected in a second dropdown.
4. Use the chart mode control to switch the chart layout between Column, Percent Column, Bar, and Percent Bar. The two Bar modes draw the chart horizontally.

⚠️ Note: Multiple choices Progressive Matrix questions have a single stacked view—the visualization dropdown, Means, and Box Scores apply to single-choice questions only.

The Box Scores dropdown offers Top 1 Box, Top 2 Box, Top 3 Box, and T-Weighted, each listed twice—once counted from your first answer option and once from your last. Every entry names the specific answer options it covers, so you can confirm which end of the scale you are looking at. Which entries appear depends on how many answer options you programmed: you need at least three for the 2 Box and T-Weighted calculations, and at least four for the 3 Box calculations.

💡 Tip: Click the help bubble next to a Box Score selection to see how it is calculated. The "top" recognized by the system is always Answer Option 1, and the "bottom" is always the last answer option programmed. A T-Weighted score counts the first answer option at 100% and the second at 50%.

Take a test drive on real-world results for this question type! Explore a live demo report.

Related Articles

• How to Use Exclusive Logic
• aytm Logic Overview