Fill the Blanks is a Task Type that displays a form or response template to be completed. Multiple questions or blanks can be placed on a single page. The type of blank determines the type of input required by the participant.

Watch the interactive walkthrough below for an overview of the Fill the Blanks Task type.

Types of Blanks

When inserting a blank (i.e. adding a question), you will be prompted to select the type of blank from a menu as shown below:

Insert Blank menu showing the five available Fill the Blanks question types: Plain Text, Poll, Photos, Scale, and Scale (Allocation).

Plain Text: Open-ended text response of a word, phrase or paragraph. Set the input size after it is inserted.
Poll: Provide a preset list of options. Multiple selections can be permitted.
Photos: Request the submission of one or more photos.
Scale: Provide a preset list of items to rate. Select a scale size and define its labels.
Scale (Allocation): Provide a preset list of items to receive an allocation. Define a total allocation limit.

Formatting Options

It is important to note that the Plain Text and Poll blanks can appear inline with text to create a narrative if that is desired:

Fill the Blanks example showing Plain Text and Poll blanks displayed inline with surrounding text to create a narrative response template.

All blank types can be formatted more like a form or mini-survey, as shown below:

Fill the Blanks example showing blanks formatted as a form or mini-survey, with question labels displayed above each response field.

Common Options

In the Response Template area, you can add a blank either by pressing Insert Blank OR you can highlight any text you've typed and press Convert to Blank.

You must first define a Question, or blank label that will clearly identify the responses in Transcripts. As such, we recommend using a label with some sort of context or directly copying the question verbiage (instead of using generic labels like Q1, Q2, Q3, etc.).

Once a blank has been added, you can select it again to configure how it should appear. Not all options will appear for all blank types. The options include:

Should the blank Show question or some other Custom label?
Should the blank appear Inline with text, on a Separate Line, or be Multiple Lines in length?
The WIDTH of the blank (if it is not Inline with text)

Blank formatting menu showing options to display the question or a custom label, place the blank inline or on separate or multiple lines, and adjust its width.

Warning: If set up as a Required Task, at least one blank must be completed by the participant to proceed, even if all blanks are configured as optional. Blanks can be individually set as required, and custom limits can also be specified.

Plain Text Blank Type

Select the Plain Text blank type to capture a single word, a phrase or a paragraph. You can choose to enforce minimum and/or maximum character limits and configure whether a blank is required.

Plain Text blank settings showing the Question label used to identify responses in reports and transcripts, with options to require an answer and enforce character limits.

Poll Blank Type

Select the Poll blank type to ask single-choice or multiple-choice questions. Poll choices are defined individually or pasted in bulk. The choices can also be randomized with desired choices locked in place.

Each poll choice can be configured to add or remove the respondent from one or more Basic Segments.

Poll blank settings showing single-choice and random-order options, with controls to add or remove respondents from segments and lock specific choices in place.

Each poll blank will also produce Charts for analysis in the response summary area.

Photos Blank Type

Select the Photos blank type to have participants upload photos. You can then control your minimum and maximum photo requirements with the Limit number of photos option. You can also configure whether the blank is required.

Photos blank settings showing options to require a response, limit the number of photos, and allow stock photo search.

If you want to require that participants upload their own photo, you can choose to disable participants' access to our photo library by disabling the Allow stock photo search.

Scale Blank Type

Select the Scale blank type to define one or more items to be rated on a sliding scale. As done for poll choices, items to be rated can be randomized with select items locked into position.

Select the desired rating scale size (e.g. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10 or 11). All scales start at 1 except the 11-point scale, which starts at 0 and goes to 10.
Define the rating scale labels or choose from the available presets: Agreement, Awareness, Consideration, Familiarity, Frequency, Importance, Likelihood, Quality and Satisfaction.
If Answer Required is disabled, a partial response will be permitted.

Scale blank settings showing options to define items to rate, randomize items, select the scale size, and choose or customize scale labels.

Sample scale being completed:

Participant view of a Scale blank showing multiple product attributes rated on a 5-point satisfaction scale from Very Unsatisfied to Very Satisfied.

Each scale blank will produce Charts for analysis in the response summary area.

Scale (Allocation) Blank Type

Select the Scale (Allocation) blank to have participants allocate a limited quantity (e.g. % $ €) across a list of items. Again, these items can be randomized with select items locked into position.

Allocation scales default to a percentage value and will require participants to allocate all 100%. You can select a Custom preset to change the minimum and maximum allocation per item. You will also be able to define a prefix (e.g. $) and suffix (e.g. /month) for the value being allocated.

Scale (Allocation) blank settings showing items to allocate across, randomization options, and controls for required allocation, scale limit, prefix, and suffix.

Sample allocation scale being completed:

Participant view of a Scale (Allocation) blank showing percentages allocated across multiple items and a running total toward the required 100% allocation.

Each allocation scale blank will produce Charts for analysis in the response summary area.

For more information on how you can leverage the Fill the Blanks Task type within your research, make sure to check out our Spotlight: Fill the Blanks blog article.

Additional Settings

As with other Task types in Recollective, researchers can take advantage of several additional setting options when configuring a Fill the Blanks task:

Completion Requirement: Beneath the task name, the Required Task toggle determines whether the task is mandatory. When enabled, participants must complete the task. When disabled, the task is optional and can be skipped. For optional tasks, the Ask for reason if skipped setting is available to prompt participants to provide a reason when skipping the task.
Block Pasting: To discourage participants from using generative AI tools (such as ChatGPT) to complete tasks, admins can enable Block pasting of external content. This prevents participants from pasting text copied from outside sources into their responses.
Point Customization: If the Points feature is enabled for the study, admins can enable Customize points awarded for task completion to assign a custom point value. The custom value can be set higher or lower than the default points awarded for the task type.
Task Visibility: Admins can restrict which participants are permitted to view and complete the task. Task Visibility settings can be used to limit access based on a participant segment, previous task responses, previous task completion, or overall activity completion.

🗣️ Still have questions or want to leave feedback on how we can do better? Contact us at helpdesk@recollective.com.

Task Type: Fill the Blanks