Answer mentions lets you include a participant’s earlier answer in a later question’s title. Use it to make follow-ups more specific without asking participants to repeat themselves.
For example, first ask:
Which products do you use?
If a participant selects Television and Laptop, your follow-up can read:
You said you use Television and Laptop. Which do you use most?
Each participant sees their own answer.
Add an earlier answer to a question
Open your study’s Build tab.
Select the later question where you want to include an answer.
In the question title, type @ where the answer should appear.
Search for and select an earlier question.
Finish writing your title around the answer reference.
You’ll see a highlighted reference such as {Q2 answer} while editing. Hover over it to check which question it refers to. Participants see their answer in its place.
Choose the question from the menu rather than typing the reference label yourself.
Which answers can I use?
You can reference earlier answers from:
Multiple-choice questions, including supported screener questions.
Open-text, number and date questions.
Yes or No questions.
Rating scales and NPS.
Ranking questions, using the top-ranked item.
Copy tests, using the selected tagline title.
For multiple-choice answers, Ballpark includes the selected labels in the order you wrote the choices. It joins them according to your study’s language.
What if a participant hasn’t answered?
If an earlier answer is unavailable, Ballpark skips the question that references it.
This can happen when a participant leaves an optional question unanswered or conditional logic takes them past it. If a title references several answers, all of them must be available for that question to appear.
You can reference optional questions. Just check that skipping the follow-up makes sense for your study.
Test your follow-up
Preview your study from the beginning and answer the earlier question. Check that the follow-up reads naturally with different answers.
Also test what happens if the earlier question is left unanswered or skipped. A full study preview follows the same skipping behaviour as a participant’s session. Previewing the follow-up question on its own can show the answer reference instead.
Tips for writing clear follow-ups
Write wording that works with one answer or several. “Tell us more about…” is often easier than a sentence that needs “is” or “are”.
Use open-text answers thoughtfully. A long response can make the next title much longer.
Keep the earlier question before the follow-up. Moving it later can cause the follow-up to be skipped.
After deleting a referenced question, review the surrounding wording. Ballpark removes its answer reference, but keeps the rest of your sentence.