Virtual Questions (VQs) let you explore your data further by combining or splitting the responses to questions you did ask, so you can answer questions you didn't ask in your survey.

By default, VQ percentages are calculated out of everyone in your current report. Depending on what you want to learn, you can set a custom base instead. Number bases and Sum of all VQ answers change only the percentages. A logic base also filters respondents, so it can lower the counts: respondents outside the base aren't counted.

In This Article

• How Bases Work
• Base N (Default)
  • Comparing a Segment to Everyone Else
  • Who Counts as Everyone Else
• Customizing Your VQ Base
• VQ Presets
• Setting Bases Manually
• Sum of All VQ Answers

How Bases Work

You can set a base at two levels:

• VQ-level base—decides which respondents enter the VQ at all. Respondents outside a logic base are left out of both the counts and the percentages.
• Answer-level base—applies to a single row. A logic base (for example, Q2) makes that row's percentage "out of respondents who match Q2," and the row counts only respondents who match both the row and Q2. A number base (for example, 400) fixes the denominator at 400 and leaves the count unchanged.

Base N (Default)

A new VQ starts with no base set, and the base button reads Base: N. Percentages are calculated out of everyone in your current report filter, regardless of which questions they saw or which answers they chose. Respondents who were never shown a question still count in the denominator.

Base N is a good fit for comparing responses or demographics across all respondents, and it's the best base to pair with Everyone else when you want full context for your segment.

Comparing a Segment to Everyone Else

The Everyone else option adds a row that compares a specific segment of respondents against the rest of your sample. You can define the segment with any source—a demographic trait, a survey question, a variable, or a codebook.

⚠️ Note: Everyone else is available on Single choice and Multiple choice VQs only. Switching a VQ to Matrix single choice or Open ended removes the Everyone else row.

1. On your survey's Results page, open the Data Lab panel in the sidebar and click Virtual Question. A new VQ opens with two empty rows, A1. and A2.
2. In row A1., select the question, trait, or variable that defines your segment from the first drop-down, then choose its values from the second drop-down.
   
   For question answers, click an option once to include it (blue plus), twice to exclude it (red minus), and a third time to clear it. Demographic traits can only be included, not excluded.
3. Hover over row A2. and click the X to the left of the row number to delete it. An empty row prevents the chart from generating.
4. Check the Everyone else box line below the answer rows. A row labeled Everyone else is added as the last row.
5. Optionally, rename the Everyone else row. Its label defaults to Other, which is how it appears in the chart and legend.
6. Click Generate visualization. After the first run, the button changes to Update visualization.
   
   

Who Counts as Everyone Else

Everyone else includes every respondent in the VQ who doesn't match any of your other rows. With only row A1, that's everyone who didn't match A1. If you keep additional rows, Everyone else excludes respondents who match any of them, so it shows the remainder of your sample rather than the opposite of A1 alone.

With a single A1 row, A1 and Everyone else never overlap, so a Single choice VQ adds up to 100%. If you add several rows that overlap, the VQ automatically switches to Multiple choice.

⚠️ Note: Respondents who were never shown the question in row A1 (for example, because of skip logic or a branch they didn't take) don't match A1, so they're counted in Everyone else.

The VQ-level base changes what Everyone else covers:

• Base N—everyone in the report filter who doesn't match another row.
• Custom—only the respondents inside your custom base who don't match another row.
• Sum of all VQ answers—always 0. This base keeps only respondents who match at least one row, and Everyone else is defined as matching none of them.

The Everyone else row can't have its own answer-level base.

💡 Tip: To compare against only the respondents who saw the question but didn't choose a given answer, use an exclude (red minus) in row A1 or apply a custom base instead of Everyone else.

Customizing Your VQ Base

A custom base filters respondents and calculates only out of the respondents the question applies to, rather than everyone in the report.

A common use case is analyzing monadic legs, where you want to calculate based only on respondents who were exposed to a given leg. You can use custom bases anytime you want to focus on a sub-population within a survey.

Example: if your survey has [skip], [show if], or [group] logic and Q5 was answered by only 200 of the 400 respondents collected, set the base of your VQ to Q5 to calculate out of those 200 respondents.

⚠️ Note: Custom bases explicitly exclude part of your sample. Those respondents' answers might provide important context for your overall research aims.

VQ Presets

When you create a VQ, you can pick from presets, and some presets set custom bases for you. The platform detects group logic and Smart Loops and builds presets so you can compare the different legs or runs of your survey in one click.

Group presets give every row an answer-level base equal to its own question (for example, Q25, or Q25SQ1 for a matrix sub-question). This applies to whole-question rows as well as Top 1 and Top 2 rows. Because each row already sits inside its base, these bases change only the percentages, not the counts.

In the example below, a preset for top 2 box purchase intent across three products is selected in one click. Each leg gets its own answer-level base.

Setting Bases Manually

You can set bases at the answer level and the VQ level whether or not you started from a preset.

Answer-Level Base

1. Click the Base link next to the label field on an answer row. The field opens with a fixed base = prefix.
2. Enter a logic expression (for example, Q2) or a number (for example, 400).
3. Click the checkmark to apply. The checkmark is disabled while the expression has an error.

Once applied, the link shows the base, for example Base: Q2. Long expressions are shortened—hover over the link to see the full text. To remove a row's base, open it and click the X. The X clears the base; it doesn't restore a previous one.

💡 Tip: Logic bases are usually the better choice. They stay accurate if respondents are added or rejected or your report filters change. Number bases are static and can lead to misinterpretation later.

⚠️ Note: Any answer-level base disables Entire sample (N) in the VQ-level Base menu. A number base on any row also disables Sum of all VQ answers.

VQ-Level Base

1. Click Base: N, below the answer rows.
2. Choose an option from the menu:
   • Entire sample (N)—enter a fixed number to use as the total.
   • Sum of all VQ answers—no input needed. See Sum of All VQ Answers.
   • Custom—enter any aytm Logic expression. You can use questions, demographic traits, variables, and tags.

Leaving the field empty resets the button to Base: N.

⚠️ Note: The VQ-level Base menu isn't available on Matrix single choice or Open ended VQs. You can still set answer-level bases on those VQ types.

Sum of All VQ Answers

This setting calculates the chart's percentages out of only the respondents who match at least one answer in the VQ.

1. With Base: N active, percentages are calculated out of everyone in the current report filter.
2. Click Base: N and select Sum of all VQ answers. Counts for each answer stay the same, but percentages are now calculated out of respondents who match at least one answer.

Answer-level bases change how Sum of all VQ answers behaves:

• If every row has a logic base, the VQ base becomes respondents who match at least one row's base.
• If some rows have a base and others don't, every respondent qualifies, so the VQ behaves like Base N.

⚠️ Note: With Sum of all VQ answers, the Everyone else row always reads 0. Use Base N if you want Everyone else in your chart.

Related Articles

• Virtual Questions Overview
• Data Lab Overview