Choosing Question Types

Choosing Question Types

Struggling to choose the right question type? Here is an overview and detailed information about each PARTNER CPRM question type, what they're used for, and what info you need to create them. If you are not sure where to get started, we recommend using our default PARTNER Provided questions.
There are 5 different question types: PARTNER Provided, Network Member Selection (NMS), Relational, Non-Relational, and Matrix. We will include more in depth below. NOTE * NMS is required to show a network map*

Choosing Question Types in PARTNER CPRM: A Guide

Here are your options for questions in PARTNER CPRM. There are five types, which we will walkthrough in the order they appear.

PARTNER Provided Questions

All users have access to our 19 default PARTNER provided questions, taken from our validated community partner network survey. Used across hundreds of communities over the past decade, the survey questions include our validated trust and value scores, relationship intensity scale, and other helpful metrics and measures. There are PARTNER Provided relational and non-relational questions.

For example, non-relational questions ask about available resources, perceptions of success, and network roles. Relational questions ask how partners perceive one another in terms of power and influence, mission alignment, reliability, resource contribution, and frequency and nature of collaboration. You must ask a NMS question before you ask relational questions, as this creates the list of associated ecosystem members that respondents are shown when answering relational questions.

To use the complete community partner survey template, simply add all the provided questions plus a NMS question of your choice (make sure your NMS question comes before your relational questions).
NOTE: To generate trust and value scores, you must include a NMQ question in your survey followed by all six of our PARTNER Provided trust and value questions. If you only include some, or create your own, the system will not calculate your scores.

1. Network Member Selection (NMS) Questions

This question requires the respondent to choose organizations/members in the network they have a connection with. The members chosen will be used in future relational questions to further quantify each connection. This is one of the most important questions in the survey as it identifies which ecosystem members are interconnected, creating your network map.

There are multiple options for NMS questions, though we strongly recommend the Bounded List choice. Here are all your options:
  1. Bounded List: Respondents choose who they know from the list of members added to the capture.
  2. Name Generator: Respondents list those they know in the ecosystem, generating a list as they go. Name Generator responses require significant cleaning and organizing to use, which is why we do not recommend it unless you have significant network analysis and data science experience.
  3. Bounded List + Name Generator: Respondents are shown a list to choose from and can also add additional names of those they are connected with.
  4. Ecosystem List: Respondents choose who they know from a list of all members in the entire ecosystem.

2. Relational Questions

These ask respondents to evaluate a series of statements/questions (rows) using the same measurements/scales (columns) to evaluate each row item. A matrix question can be thought of as a grid of multiple questions. are essentially a grid of questions that allow the respondent to evaluate multiple different factors on the same scale. We often recommend including this language to make sure respondents answer all questions for all the organizations. 

In order to begin using relational questions, you need to create a "Network Member Selection" question first and add your list of network members. 

Here are the sub-categories for relational questions.

Relational Single-Choice

Customizable question where the respondent chooses one response for each member that they selected in the Network Member Selection question.


Relational Multiple-Choice

Customizable question where the respondent chooses multiple answers for each member that they selected in the Network Member Selection question.


Non-Relational Questions

A non-relational question asks respondents questions about themselves or their organization. These usually include typical survey questions commonly used when designing survey such as open-ended, single/multiple choice, and matrix.

Open-Ended Question

Customizable question where the respondent provides a text response.

Single-Choice Question

Customizable question where the respondent can choose a single response from a set of answer options.

Multiple-Choice Question

Customizable question where the respondent can choose multiple responses from a set of answer options.

Matrix Questions

These ask respondents to evaluate a series of statements/questions (rows) using the same measurements/scales (columns) to evaluate each row item. A matrix question can be thought of as a grid of multiple questions. are essentially a grid of questions that allow the respondent to evaluate multiple different factors on the same scale. We often recommend including this language to make sure respondents answer all questions for all the organizations. 

Matrix Single Choice

In a single choice matrix, only one response option can be chosen per row.

Matrix Multiple Choice

In a multiple choice matrix, multiple response options can be chosen per row.


Have more questions about our five question types and their sub-types? Contact support and we can assist you: support@visiblenetworklabs.com.

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