A Stacked data tab is available when exporting response-level data for surveys that use Group Logic and/or Smart Loops. You'll get one Stacked tab per group, e.g., two Smart Loops and one Group Logic would normally yield three separate Stacked tabs.
Stacked tabs appear only in the numerically coded with labels Excel export. Raw Excel, CSV, SPSS, and JMP exports never include them.
In This Article
- Exporting the File
- Reading the Stacked Tab
- Populating the Run Label Column
- Programming for Clean Stacked Data
- When a Stacked Tab Doesn't Appear
Exporting the File
- From the Results page, open the Export panel in the sidebar.
- Select Response level data.
- Under File types, choose Excel.
- Under Data type, choose Numerically coded with labels.
- Click Download.
In the downloaded workbook, each stacked group appears on its own sheet named Stacked (range), where the range is the first and last question in the group, e.g., Stacked (q30_q32).
⚠️ Note: Stacked sheets are not always the last sheets in the workbook. Ad Testing, Shelf Test, Menu Test, and Speeded Fit Test worksheets are added after them.
Reading the Stacked Tab
A row appears for each leg a respondent actually completed. If a respondent went through the exercise multiple times, they will have multiple rows—one per run.
| Column | What it contains |
|---|---|
| Id | The respondent ID. Repeats across every row that respondent contributed. |
| Order | The sequence in which this respondent actually saw the leg. Use this column when you care about exposure order. |
| Run | The static leg number as programmed in the survey (1, 2, 3…). This is not the order the respondent experienced. |
| Run label | A readable name for the leg (e.g., the concept evaluated). Only present when a label resolves—see section 3. |
| Smart Loop variables |
One column per loop variable defined on the Smart Loop (excluding
run itself).
|
| Question columns | Each question inside the loop, with coded values and labels. |
Populating the Run Label Column
The Run label column is resolved automatically, in this priority order:
| Source | How it works |
|---|---|
| 1. Question text |
aytm compares the question text across legs and uses the part
that differs. The label can live in the question text itself,
or in its own information box with [Hide if 1=1]
logic so respondents never see it. If every leg has identical
text, nothing can be extracted and this source is skipped.
|
| 2. Survey logic aliases | Aliases defined on the loop are used as labels. Usually the cleanest option. |
| 3. Set Value commands | A Set Value command can assign the label explicitly per leg. |
💡 Tip: If no label resolves from any of these sources, the Run label column is omitted from the tab entirely—it won't appear as a blank column. If you need labels, set them up with aliases before fielding.
Programming for Clean Stacked Data
Stacked tabs assume an identical answer structure across every leg of the loop. Two different problems can arise when legs diverge.
Same number of answers, different options
If each leg has the same answer count but different options, the columns still align by position while the underlying codes diverge—so values silently mean different things row to row. Program hide logic so every leg shares one master answer list.
For example, if the first concept's answers are ABCD but the second concept's are ABDE, program them as ABC[hide if…]DE[hide if…] so the code for each option stays constant on the Stacked tab.
Different number of answers or question types
When answer counts or question types differ across legs, the group schema truncates at the first divergence and pads the rest. Those questions are dropped from the Stacked tab rather than appearing with shifted codes.
⚠️ Note: In this second case, "making note of the different values per run" isn't an option—the affected columns won't be in the file at all. Hide logic is the only fix.
When a Stacked Tab Doesn't Appear
One tab per group is the expected outcome, not a guarantee. A group may produce no Stacked tab if:
- The export is comments only—these never include a Stacked sheet, even with Group Logic.
- All of the group's legs are skipped by the export schema.
- The resulting sheet would have three or fewer columns.
- The group is a nested subgroup. Only top-level groups generate their own Stacked tab.