Is a survey qualitative or quantitative? Both - it depends on the question. The two question types, with examples, and how to design a survey that does both.
A qualitative and quantitative survey captures both a rating and the open-text reason in one instrument, then keeps them connected. Sopact keeps the pair on the Connected Record: the number and the open-text explaining it on one participant record under a persistent Contact ID, so a survey produces a score and its reason together instead of two columns that get analyzed in different tools.
Teams run mixed surveys already, but the connection breaks at analysis: the closed questions get charted and the open-ends get set aside for later, so a rating drops in a dashboard while the sentence that explains it waits in an export. The data effectively dies the moment it is collected, because the reason is never read against the number it belongs to.
Key takeaways
Most survey tools treat the two question types differently at analysis. Closed questions roll up into charts automatically, while open-ends drop into a column that a person is supposed to read later, so the connection captured in the instrument is lost the moment analysis begins. A score and the reason a respondent gave for it end up in different views.
Sopact is record-centric: the open-ends are read on arrival against a codebook and tied to the same persistent ID as the closed answers, so a survey’s number and reason stay on one Connected Record. Read a whole survey on survey analysis, or the head category on survey software.
Mixed surveys usually run on Qualtrics, SurveyMonkey, and Google Forms, with SPSS or Excel for the closed data and a coding tool like NVivo or Dedoose for the open-ends. Each collects both question types well, and each charts the closed answers while leaving the open-ends for a manual pass, so the reason behind a score is a project rather than part of the same result.
The one test that separates them: ask the survey tool to show a rating with the exact open-text the same respondent wrote to explain it, on one record. A tool that charts closed answers and exports open-ends answers by handing you a column to read. Sopact answers from the Connected Record, because the open-ends were read on arrival and tied to the number.
The move that keeps a mixed survey connected is reading the open-ends against a codebook as responses land, so a score and its reason are one result rather than a chart plus a to-do. Sopact drafts the themes from the respondent’s words, quotes the sentence, and ties it to the closed answers, so a human confirms a draft instead of reading an open-end column at the end.
Kept on the Connected Record, the survey is longitudinal: a respondent’s scores and reasons across every wave on one persistent ID. Sopact reads on arrival, so a team sees a rating move and the sentence that explains it together, in time to respond rather than at the next reporting cycle.
A survey tool charts the closed questions and exports the open-ends for a later read; the Connected Record reads the open-ends on arrival and ties them to the closed answers. The difference is whether a survey’s number and reason are one result or two views.
| The question | Chart and export | Connected Record |
|---|---|---|
| Chart the closed questions? | Yes: automatically | Yes, on the participant record |
| Read the open-ends? | Later, by hand | Yes: against a codebook on arrival |
| Tie a score to its reason? | A manual join | Yes: one persistent ID |
| See why a score moved? | After analysis | Yes: the sentence, on arrival |
See the numbers side on quantitative data collection methods, or compare the category on best survey software.
A dropping score is worth understanding while you can still respond to it, not in a report written after the program ends. The value of the open-text behind a number is highest the moment it lands, when the reason for a low rating can still change what happens next. That is the premise of the Loop, Sopact’s method for continuous intelligence: collect clean at the source, with the number and the open-text explaining it on one participant record; analyze on arrival, reading each open-text answer against a codebook the moment it lands and tying it to the number; improve in time, so the reason behind a dropping score surfaces while you can still act.
The Loop is also what makes a mixed-methods finding defensible: every theme traces back to the exact sentence a respondent wrote and the number that respondent also gave, the standard detailed in Loop traceability, so a conclusion rests on the Connected Record rather than a hand-coded spreadsheet no one can re-check.
One method, three moves that never stop
Then the next wave reads a little sharper. Read the method: the Loop methodology →
The fastest way to see a connected survey is to run it on your own responses. Export your closed answers and the open-ends on the same IDs, then paste the prompts below into Sopact Sense’s Assistant, or reason through them with your team. The arrow above each links the Academy walkthrough with the expected output and tips.
Academy walkthrough → Analyze open-ended responses
Here is a batch of open-ended survey responses with each respondent's ID and their rating: [ATTACH]. Read each open-text answer against our codebook as it lands, tag the themes, quote the exact sentence behind each theme, and keep every answer tied to the number the same respondent gave, so I can read the reason next to the score on one record instead of in two separate exports.
Academy walkthrough → Connect the number and the reason
Here is our quantitative data and the open-ended responses on the same participant IDs: [ATTACH]. For each rating, pull the open-text the same respondent wrote that explains it, quote the sentence, and show the number and the reason on one record, so a low score carries the reason a respondent gave rather than sitting in a column with no explanation.
Academy walkthrough → Clean open-ended responses
Here is a raw export of open-ended responses on their participant IDs: [ATTACH]. Flag blanks, duplicates, and off-topic answers, normalize the text so it is analyzable, and keep each cleaned answer tied to its ID and the number that respondent gave, so the open-text is ready to read against a codebook on arrival rather than after a month of hand-cleaning.
Academy walkthrough → Find the drivers behind a score
Here are ratings and the open-ended responses on the same IDs: [ATTACH]. Read the sentiment in each answer, identify the drivers behind the rating with the sentence quoted, and tie each driver to the number, so I can see what is pushing a score up or down from the respondent's own words rather than guessing behind the average.
Each walkthrough is short and practical: what to do, the prompt to run, the output to expect, and the tips that keep it reliable.
Watch: reading open-text against a codebook on arrival and keeping every answer tied to the number on one Connected Record.
It is a survey that captures both a rating and the open-text reason in one instrument. Sopact keeps the pair on the Connected Record — the number and the open-text explaining it on one participant record under a persistent Contact ID — so a survey produces a score and its reason together.
Because most survey tools chart the closed questions and export the open-ends for a later read, so the pairing captured in the instrument is lost. Sopact is record-centric and ties the open-ends to the same persistent ID as the closed answers on the Connected Record.
Those tools collect both question types and chart the closed ones well, but the open-ends wait for a manual pass. Sopact reads the open-ends on arrival against a codebook and keeps them tied to the number on the Connected Record, so both question types are one analysis.
Yes. Because the closed answer and the open-text explaining it sit on one Connected Record, a rating that fell carries the sentence the respondent wrote, read against a codebook on arrival rather than reconstructed later.
Not for the connected view. Sopact reads open text against a codebook and ties it to the number, so a team gets both question types on one Connected Record instead of exporting open-ends to a coding tool.
No. Sopact reads each open-end as it lands, so themes build while the survey fills and the reason behind a score is ready as responses arrive on the Connected Record rather than after the survey closes.
No. Sopact drafts themes from the respondent’s words with the sentence quoted; a human confirms or overrides them, human-in-the-loop. The Connected Record records what was read and from which answer.
Sopact keeps every score and reason on one persistent ID, so a respondent’s trajectory across waves is one analysis. The Connected Record survives each wave, which is what makes a longitudinal mixed survey possible.
Next: read a whole survey on survey analysis, or see the methods on qualitative data analysis methods.
