Participant evaluate multiple samples, arranging them into groups according to their perceived similarities. Each participant uses their own perception to label the groups and group the samples.  


The free sort question is compatible with desktops, tablets and mobile touchscreen devises.


See the following:



Create a Free Sort Question

To create a Free Sort question you select the Free Sort question from the Basic Library and complete it. 


To add a Free Sort question:

  1. Create a Multiple Samples, With Multiple Samples questionnaire and click on [ADD QUESTIONS].


  2. Select the Free Sort question from the Basic Library, Specialty Questions folder and click on the [+] to add it to your questionnaire.



  3. Click on the Free Sort question to open the configuration window. Enter the question in the Question Text Box. Use the editing toolbar to format question text as desired.



  4. Under the OPTIONS tab to the right, configure the available configuration options:

    • Minimum Group Count – Specify the minimum number of groups participants must create. The maximum is automatically limited to one less than the number of samples being evaluated (N -1). Each group must have at least 1 sample added to it. The default is set to 2 groups.
    • Default Group Name – The text label that will automatically populate new groups. A consecutive number is automatically appended to the end as groups are added. The default text if "Group".
    • Do Not Auto-Populate Group Name – New groups will not have a default name populate. Participants are required to enter a unique name for each group on their own.



  5. Click on [PREVIEW] to review an example of how the question appears for participants.

    • Click and drag a sample into one of the group bins.
    • Enter a group name to describe the similarity of the samples within the group.
    • To create a new group bin, either click the + button in the empty bin or drag a sample into it.
    • Continue to click and drag samples into the bins until all samples have been sorted and grouped.
    • Each group must have at least one sample added and all samples must be in a group.
    • To delete a group bin, click the trashcan button. The samples are reset to the bottom section waiting to be placed into groups.
    • Click the [Reset] button to delete all group bins and reset all samples.
    • When done, click [NEXT] to continue to the next page or questions or to submit the survey.


  6. Continue adding any additional questions to the questionnaire. When complete, click on [SAVE].


  7. Click on the X to close the window, then click on NEXT to continue with the Test Wizard to Create and Approve a Design then Preview and Launch Test to collect data.



Free Sort Results

The Free Sort results includes a Contingency Table, Co-occurrence Matrix, Dissimilarity Matrix, and Correspondence Analysis. Group labels can be combined to handle misspelled terms.


To view the Free Sort results:

  1. From the main menu, select ANALYSES.



  2. From the Analyses dashboard, search for the test and click on [VIEW].



  3. Select the questionnaire name under Topline Analysis from the left sidebar to view the results.



  4. The Free Sort results include the following tables:

    Contingency Table – Provides the count of how many times a sample is placed in each group. The samples are listed across the top. The groups, as entered by the participants, are listed in alphanumeric order on the left of the table.

    NOTE – To eliminate duplicates caused by letter case, all the group labels are displayed using Title Case letters regardless of whether the participant used uppercase or lowercase when entering the group labels.



    Co-Occurrence Matrix – Provides the count of how many times a sample is grouped together with another sample. The counts running diagonally from the top left corner to the bottom right corner will always equal total number of completes because a sample cannot be grouped separate from itself.



    Dissimilarity Matrix – Provides the count of how many times a sample is placed in a different group compared to other samples. The counts running diagonally from the top left corner to the bottom right corner will always equal 0 because a sample cannot be grouped separate from itself.



    Independence Test Results and the Eigenvalues tables are also provided with the Correspondence Analysis:



  5. By defaults, misspelled group labels (e.g., biter vs. bitter) and those entered in a different way for the same term (e.g., sweet vs. sweetness) are treated as unique groups. Optionally, you can combine groups to correct any misspellings or groups you'd like to report in aggregate.

    Click the Table menu and click the [Edit Groups] button.



    Select the GROUPS to combine and enter the NEW NAME for the aggregated group, then click [ADD].



    The new aggregated group displays at the top of the modal under EXISTING AGREGATIONS. To delete an aggregation group, click the trashcan icon to the right of the group. Click [SAVE] when done to apply the changes.



    The group labels and relative counts are updated on the Contingency Table.



  6. Click the Chart button displays a frequency counts chart:



    When Correspondence Analysis is enabled, a Scree Plot and Symmetric Plot are also provided:



  7. Click the download icon to export the Free Sort results to Excel.



  8. Click on Download Raw Data from the left sidebar to export the Free Sort raw data in Excel.



    The raw data includes a column for each sample and the group label as the answers in each cell.