

Hi Abby - I had a similar need to the one you described, and I learned of a workaround! If you add a column to your side-by-side question, and make it a text entry box for the question type, you can actually pipe text directly into the text boxes. For the example photo I share below, I embedded the beginning of semester confidence ratings into my contact list, and then piped the corresponding embedded data into each of the open-response boxes. You can also move this column so it sits where you want it to in the side-by-side question.
This is similar to Jeremy's suggestion, but the embedded data sits in its own column, instead of the question column. The one drawback is that it is possible to edit the response because it is a text box, but as long as you are clear in your instructions why you are including the information in the column (i.e. for reference only), I don't think this will be an issue. I share in case others are also looking for a similar solution.
I would love to see the option to add question text columns as a future feature for the side-by-side question, but for now, this option definitely works.
p.s. Thanks Qualtrics Support for helping me figure this out!
Hi
For the question, it is a side-by-side, and I made the column where I wanted to display the text a text field - so ordinarily a respondent would use this space to type in a response. To customize the text that is shown, you go to the option, “Default choices” and add the text to the open response field. I preloaded all of the initial survey responses into their own embedded data fields (i.e. prerating1, prerating2, etc.) in the contact list I was using, and typed this as piped text in the side-by-side open response field so that each respondent would see the value they had initially selected.
The help pages on embedded data and piped text cover the technical details on implementing those aspects of the question:
I also recommend testing it out before you go live, as even a small error with the way you type in the piped text will mean the text won’t display correctly.
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