Filtering survey reports

Use fitlers to narrow the results shown in your report, gaining new insights to how different demographics have responded to your survey, and to see how different variables are related. Sometimes, the filters we build are complicated by necessity, and we will want to reuse them later. You can save the filters in your report, so that you don't need to rebuild them from scratch every time.

You can filter on questions, metadata that you passed to the survey or on respondent metadata that the system automatically captures, or any combination of these.

Hierarchy

Understanding the hierarchy of how filters apply is the key to getting the most out of the ReportBuilder.

You can add filters on four levels:

Report — This is the top level global filter. Setting a filter at this level affects all of the elements of your report. You can override this filter for a specific data source in an element, like a benchmark.
Data source — Each element of your report has at least one data source. You can set a filter for each data source independently. If you set a filter at the element level and there is already a filter set at the report level, then the data source will respect both the report filter and its own filter, unless you set it to ignore other filters (benchmark).
Share — A report can have multiple shares and each share can have its own filter. A share filter affects the entire report when it is viewed through the share URL. If there are filters set at the report level and/or data source level, then the share filter will respect those filters too unless you set a data source to ignore other filters (benchmark).
Viewer — You can also give a viewer of a report the option of filtering deeper into the data. They cannot remove or override any other filters (report, data source, share), only filter down until they reach the minimum respondent limit (if one has been set).

Managing filters

Since filters can be reused in different places, it is important to give filters a clear name that explains what the filter does. Using good names will make managing and reusing much easier. Also make sure to update the filter name if you edit a filter. If not, you may end up with a disconnect. For instance, you have a filter called 'Last month' that is actually filtering on last year.

Filters can be created and applied in multiple places in the ReportBuilder. No matter where a filter is created, you can manage them from one place.

Go to the ReportBuilder and edit your report.
Select the cogwheel icon and select Report.
Select the Filters tab.

Now you see all the filters in the report and if a global filter has been set. You can see where each filter is being used by hovering your mouse pointer over the in use badge. You can also add, edit and delete filters here.

In the report editor, filters are not exclusive to a certain user. If user A creates a filter in a report, then user B will be able to see it and manage it too.

Editing a filter

Filters can be created in different places in the ReportBuilder. Once a filter has been created, it can be applied in different places too. You will find the option to add a filter anywhere you can apply filters, usually as the last option in the filter list. You can also add a filter, where filters are managed. When you click on the 'Add filter button', a drawer will slide up from the bottom. Let's take a look at the layout of that drawer:

Editing a filter.

Filter name — Give each filter a short and descriptive name that makes it clear what the filter does. Also, keep the name in sync if you change the conditions of the filter. For instance, a filter with the name 'last month' and filter condition changes to last year.
Show in viewer — Some filters may be interesting for those viewing the report. By selecting this option, this filter will be available to viewers as a pre-built filter they can apply. You can find more details below.
Conditions — This is where you set the criteria that respondents must match in order to get through the filter and be included.
Save or Cancel — Once you are ready, you can either save the filter or cancel your changes.

Filter conditions

Setting up conditions requires logical thinking.

Filter conditions.

Matching — This is 'and' & 'or'.
- All — Only respondents for which all of the conditions are true will be included.
- Any — If any one or more of the conditions are true for a respondent, they will be included.
Data source — What do you want to filter on? This can be a question, data you passed to the survey, or metadata collected by the system.
Operator — How would you like to test the data?
Value — The value to compare to the data source.
Trash — Remove this condition from this filter.
Add condition — Add an additional condition to this filter.

Filtering on the report level

The filter you set on report level is the Global filter. It will apply to all elements in a report, expect for data sources that ignore other filters (benchmark).

Go to the ReportBuilder and edit your report.
Select the cogwheel icon at the top right and select Options.
Select the Filters tab.
Click Add filter.
Edit the filter as described above and click Save.
Select the newly created filter in the Global filter dropdown to apply that filter to all of the elements in this report.

Filtering on the element level

In addition to the global filter, you can also set filters only on certain elements. That means that only the selected element will be filtered based on the set conditions.

This way you can, for example, create the same chart multiple times, each with a different filter applied. A very common use-case is to show the average employee satisfaction scores across different departments. Change the element titles (via the text tab) or add Text & Media elements to clarify the difference between the filtered elements.

Go to the ReportBuilder and edit your report.
Select the element on which you want to filter.
Select the Data tab.
Select Add filter from the Filter drowdown.
Name the filter.
Decide whether you want to show the filter in the Viewer or not. When you show it in the Viewer, anyone with access to a report share will be able to select that filter.
Add one or more conditions. You can filter on respondent metadata, contact metadata, a survey question, or a combination of these.
Select whether all or any of the conditions must be met.
Click Save.

The filter will immediately be applied to that element. And when you select other elements, you will see that the same filter will now also be available in the Filter drop-down menu. That way, you can quickly apply the same filter to multiple elements.

Tip: If you wish to apply a filter to all elements, set it as the Global filter in the Report filter settings.

Filtering on the share level

When you are sharing results with different stakeholders and you want to keep the high-level overview, you can apply filters only on share level.

For more information on shares and how to set these up, see Sharing survey reports.

Go to the ReportBuilder and edit your report.
Select the cogwheel icon in the top-right corner and select Share.
Click Add share.
In the Extra Filter dropdown menu, select Add filter.
Name the filter.
Decide whether you want to show the filter in the Viewer or not. When you show it in the Viewer, anyone with access to a report share will be able to select that filter.
Add one or more conditions. You can filter on respondent metadata, contact metadata, a survey question, or a combination of these.
Select whether all or any of the conditions must be met.
Click Save.

The filter will immediately be applied to the share. It will be applied together with the global filter if you have set one

Important: People who view the report by using this share can only see the filtered data. They can filter deeper – if you allow quick filters – but they will never be able to disable the share and/or global filters

Filter bar

As viewers of your reports select filters, the data adjusts in real time. Benefits of filters include the following:

You choose the filters — You have total control over which criteria viewers can filter. You can select both questions and metadata. You can choose the order in which they appear and which label is used on the filter bar.
Multiple filters at the same time — Viewers can set multiple filters at the same time. For instance, if a viewer selects 'last year' from the 'date' dropdown and 'AMEA' for the 'Region', both filters will be applied to the report.
Filters respect the filters — For instance, in an HR survey report, a viewer can select a 'department' and then the next filter for 'managers' will only show managers that are in that department including the number of respondents.

Deleting a filter

Go to the ReportBuilder and edit your report.
Select the cogwheel icon in the top-right corner and select Options.
Select the Filters tab.
Click the trash can next to the filter you wish to delete.
Confirm the deletion.

If you cannot click on the trash can icon, that means the filter is still in use. It will also have an in use indication. In that case, first remove the filter from the report or element where it is used and/or delete any shares where this filter is applied.

Common issues/questions

I cannot delete a filter.

The filter is still in use. If you are certain you want to delete it, deselect it from the report filters and/or element filters and delete the shares that use this filter, then try again. Hover over the in use box to see where the filter is still used.

Can I reuse the same filter in different places?

Yes. Once a filter has been created on any level, it will be available as a pre-defined filter on other levels as well.

How do I apply multiple filters at the same level?

At each level, you can apply only one filter. For example, at the top level, you apply a filter for 'this year' and then you create a share for each department, then the shared reports will only show data from this year for a specific department.

Each filter can have multiple conditions. So you could also create a global report filter that combines two or more conditions like 'this year' and 'respondent level complete'. You could call it 'Completes – this year'.