Calculated Questions

Calculated Questions calculates a result on behalf of previous answers in the form, and inserts the results into your form. Calculated questions uses a combination of previous question answers and constants in a formula to calculate a value

You can use answers from both Slider and Number questions to calculate answers in regular forms.

In Score forms you can use answers from: Slider, Number, Yes/No, Smiley, and Multiple Choice. You will be required to assign a value to each possibility in a possibility question, the question reference will then use the value associated with the selected possibility

To create Calculated Questions:

  1. Choose Calculated in Question Type.
  2. Under Answer Specification, type in the formula that you want to use for calculation. When choosing the questions, you want to include for your formula, use eg. Q1 for Question 1.
  3. If the question is in a correct format (number or slider) the question will be highlighted in blue to mark that SMART-TRIAL has included the question in the formula.
  4. Press Verify Formula.
  5. If the formula is valid, a green text will appear under the formula and the formula is now ready to be used in your form. 

Calculated Questions 1

The calculation will be shown in the form the same way a question is shown, and the answer to the calculation will appear as soon as the questions used in the formula have been answered. 

When questions are used in a formula, i.e they are blue, there is a link between the question and the formula. It will automatically update the question number should you want to change the order of the questions in the form.  

Calculated questions do not work in Inclusion/exclusion forms

Operator

Function

Example

+

Addition

Q1 + Q2

-

Subtraction

Q1 – Q2 -2

/

Divide

Q1/(Q2+1)

*

Multiply

Q1*4

^

To the power of

Q2^4

 

Comparators

 

==

Equals, if the two values are the same will evaluate to

TRUE, if not evaluates to FALSE. Can be used as condition in IF and ternary operator

Q1==5

!=

Not Equal, if the two values are NOT the same it will evaluate to TRUE, else to FALSE. Can be used as condition in IF and ternary operator

Q2!=Q1

>=

Greater than or equal

Can be used as condition in IF and ternary operator

Q2>=3

<=

Less than or equal

Can be used as condition in IF and ternary operator

Q5<=Q1

Less than

Can be used as condition in IF and ternary operator

Q1<Q2

Greater than

Can be used as condition in IF and ternary operator

2>Q1

 

Constants

 

PI

PI, evaluates to: 3.141592653589793

PI + 1 = 4,14

E

Eulers number, evaluates to: 2.718281828459045

E^2 = 7,389

 

Available expressions:

Expression

Definition

Example

ISANSWERED(Q{id})

If the referenced question has been answered returns TRUE, if not returns FALSE.

Mainly to be used as a condition in the IF expression.

ISANSWERED(Q1)

If Q1 is answered e.g. Q1=Yes

ISANSWERED(Q1) = TRUE

SQRT(x)

The squareroot of x

X can be both a question reference and a constant

SQRT(Q1)

EXP(x)

E raised to the power of x

EXP(2) =  E2 = 7,389

SUM

Will SUM over the provided values and return the sum.

Separate the values with semicolon “;”.

A range using “:” will not work, e.g. SUM(Q1:Q5).

SUM skips unanswered questions when evaluating

Accepts question references and constants

SUM(Q1;Q2;Q4)

If you sum over questions all without answers it returns 0.

MIN

Returns the min of the provided values.

Separate the values with semicolon “;”

A range using “:” will not work, e.g. MIN(Q1:Q5).

Does not skip unanswered questions, will not evaluate.

Accepts question references and constants

MIN(Q1;Q2)

E.g. MIN(1;10) = 1

MAX

Returns the max of the provided values

A range using “:” will not work, e.g. MAX(Q1:Q5).

Does not skip unanswered questions, will not evaluate.

Separate the values with semicolon “;”

Accepts question references and constants

MAX(Q1;Q4;2)

E.g. MAX(5;3;2) = 5

LN

Returns the natural logarithm of x

X can be a question reference or a constant

LN(24)

LOG10(x)

Returns the base 10 logarithm of x

X can be a question reference or a constant

LOG10(Q1)

LOG2(x)

Returns the base 2 logarithm of x

X can be a question reference or a constant

LOG2(5)

LOGB(base;x)

Returns the base B logarithm of x.

Expects two parameters: base;x

Base is the base of the logarithm and x the value you want the logarithm of.

LOGB(3;Q1)

IF(condition;then;else)

Conditional, if the CONDITION is true, use THEN value, otherwise use ELSE value

Can use ISANSWERED as a condition

THEN and ELSE values accept question reference and constants.

IF(Q1>2;Q1;1)

Q1= 5

IF(5>2;5;1) = 5

QMAX{ID}

Only works for possibility questions (not multiple response) in score forms.

Accepts a single possibility question reference e.g. Q1.

Will return the max value of the possibilities available on the question.

If Q1 had the possibilities:

A =1, B=5, C =15

Then QMAXQ1 would evaluate to 15.

? :

Ternary operator

Functions similar to the IF expression

CONDITION ? x : y

ISANSWERED(Q2) ? Q1 : Q3

If Q2 is answered it would output Q1, if not outputs Q3

Does not support implicit multiplications e.g.: 3(Q1) instead use 3* Q1.

Fractions need a leading number e.g: 1/4 is OK, .25 is not.

Calculated questions do not work in Inclusion/exclusion forms

Calculated Questions in SMART-TRIAL:

The layout of the calculated question above will be as seen in the picture below. Here the height and weight have been entered and the BMI has automatically been calculated and inserted into the BMI question field. When exporting the data, the BMI will appear in the export the same way as the rest of the data. 

Calculated Questions 2