Use the Slider question type when you have a group of items that can be rated on the same scale, such as level of awareness of different brands or level of satisfaction with different aspects of a product or service.

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In This Article

• Building a Slider Question
• Analyzing Slider Questions
• Using the Summary Table
• Which Answers Count as Top and Bottom

Building a Slider Question

1. In the Survey Editor, click the Sliders icon in the question menu, or drag the icon into place.
2. Type or paste your question into the Question field.
3. Type or paste your entities or sub-questions into the Matrix Sub-Question fields and click the + icon to add more. Use copy/paste to automatically populate answer options.
4. Hover over the Sub-Question number and click the X to delete a Sub-Question.
5. Check the Randomize checkbox to shuffle the answer order for each respondent.
6. Click the anchor icon to the right of an answer option to lock it in place on the list, despite randomization.
7. Type a Custom Scale into the Matrix Answer Option fields, or click the Custom scale dropdown to choose a pre-written Likert scale.

💡 Tip: Sub-Questions are optional—delete the placeholders to apply the slider matrix to the main question only.

Analyzing Slider Questions

On the Results page, the default view (Stacked 100%) 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 the Stacked 100% dropdown to choose 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. 
3. Click the chart icon in the upper right corner of the question results to choose a chart mode: Default, Column Chart, Percent Column Chart, Bar Chart, or Percent Bar Chart. On the main chart, the Bar modes turn Stacked Counts and Means horizontal, while Stacked 100% and Box Scores stay vertical. Inside a sub-question, the Bar modes turn every view horizontal.
4. Click on a sub-question header to view a different breakdown for that particular question.

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 in brackets, so you can confirm which end of the scale you're 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. A T-Weighted score counts the first answer option it covers at 100% and the second at 50%.

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

Using the Summary Table

The summary table compares key metrics across all sub-questions at a glance. It appears below the main chart—or below the list in the Means and Box Scores views. Its columns are Sub-question, Base, and then one column for each metric you select.

Choosing Metrics

Use the Metrics dropdown above the table to choose what it shows. Select All metrics to show everything, or pick individual metrics. 

Which metrics are available depends on how many answer options your scale has:

The table opens on Top 2 Box. On a 3-point scale, it opens on Mean and offers no box metrics. If you clear every metric, the table shows a reminder to select at least one from the Metrics dropdown.

⚠️ Note: The summary table is stricter than the Box Scores dropdown. Box Scores offers 2 Box calculations with three answer options, but the summary table needs four.

Reading the Table

• Use the N / % switch to show box metrics as respondent counts or percentages. The switch is greyed out when only Mean, Median, or SD are selected.
• A dash (–) means nobody answered that sub-question under the current filter.
• Your metric selection is saved with the report. The N / % setting and any sort order are not—the table always reopens on %.

Metrics Inside a Sub-Question

Each sub-question also has its own Metrics menu, at the left of its chart controls. It offers All answers plus the same five metrics:

• Top 2 Box and Bottom 2 Box are drawn as extra bars at the right of the chart.
• Mean, Median, and SD are marked "table only" and appear as rows under the answer list.
• Untick All answers to show only the box bars.

⚠️ Note: The summary table is hidden when a question has only one sub-question, including a Slider with no sub-questions. Use that sub-question's own Metrics menu instead.

Exporting Metrics

The Summary export (Excel, PowerPoint, PDF or Keynote) includes the metrics you selected: a summary table, plus metric rows under each sub-question. Crosstab and CSV exports don't use this selection.

Which Answers Count as Top and Bottom

Don't assume "top" always means your first answer option. When you launch a survey, aytm checks which end of each scale is the favorable one:

• If aytm finds the favorable end at your last answer options, the summary table's Top 2 Box counts the last two answers—still labeled "Top 2 Box"—and the Box Scores dropdown flips its order to match.
• If aytm can't detect a favorable end, Top 2 Box counts your first two answer options.

💡 Tip: Always confirm which answers a box covers. In Box Scores, each entry names its answers in brackets. In the summary table, compare the Top 2 Box value with the sub-question's answer percentages to see which two answers it adds up.

Related Articles

• Progressive Matrix Question Reference
• How to Filter Your Results 
• How to Export Survey Data