Survey data that makes sense
Imagine you’re running a course evaluation in which students select which topics they studied, then rate their confidence in each one.
A common issue with most survey platforms that generate questions dynamically is that, when you download the data, it looks like this:
| StudentID | Q3_Text | Q4_Response |
| 001 | Algebra, Statistics | 4|3 |
| 002 | Geometry, Algebra | 2|5 |
| 003 | Statistics, Geometry | 3|5 |
Which rating goes with which school subject? You’ll need to do some work to figure that out.
A Different Approach
With GuidedTrack’s data::store, you can create columns based on what students actually tell you:
*question: Which topics did you study this semester?
*save: topics_studied
*multiple
*for: topic in topics_studied
*question: How confident do you feel about {topic}? (1-5 scale)
*answers: [1,2,3,4,5]
*type: slider
*save: confidence_level
>> data::store("{topic}_confidence", confidence_level)This will generate columns that tell you exactly what each number means and your data will look something like this:
| StudentID | Algebra_confidence | Statistics_confidence | Geometry_Confidence |
| 001 | 4 | 3 | |
| 002 | 5 | 2 | |
| 003 | 4 | 5 |
Key advantages of using this feature
- Clear column names: Instead of remembering what Q4_Response means, you see “Algebra_confidence.”
- No predefined lists: If a student studies “Linear Algebra” or “AP Statistics,” those become column names automatically. You don’t need to guess every possibility upfront.
- Flexible data structure: Your columns match what people actually studied, not what you thought they might study.
Common use cases
- Product feedback where customers choose features to rate
- Event surveys where attendees select sessions to evaluate
- Employee surveys where people rate specific departments
- Complex academic studies where different participants answer different questions or see different stimuli
- MaxDiff and Best Worst studies where participants see different sets of options and you need separate columns for each combination
In short, this feature is helpful when your GuidedTrack program asks users to choose or enter a list of items, and you want to follow up with a question about each one they selected.
How to use *data::store
The syntax is:
>> data::store(columnName, value)Just replace columnName for the name you want to see in your csv file for that column, and value for the variable containing this column’s value.
