Feature: Random Alphabetized Order of Selections (names)? | Experience Community
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Feature: Random Alphabetized Order of Selections (names)?

  • December 17, 2025
  • 3 replies
  • 51 views
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Dynamic Starting Point for Alphabetized Order: I’m interested to discover a way to randomize names on a survey question (roughly 1-300 names) that would maintain alphabetical order while rotating the starting point for each participant as they access the survey. Specifically, I want the selection to remain in alphabetical order (A…Z), but to begin at a different letter for each respondent by randomly selecting a starting point. 

For example, if the names are as follows:

  • Alice
  • Bob
  • Charlie
  • David

One respondent might see:

  • Bob
  • Charlie
  • David
  • Alice

While another might see:

  • Charlie
  • David
  • Alice
  • Bob

We would greatly appreciate any insights, code snippets, or resources that could help us achieve this functionality using JavaScript or customized features within Qualtrics.

Thank you for your assistance!

3 replies

J
Level 4 ●●●●
  • jbk
  • Level 4 ●●●●
  • December 18, 2025

Hi Chay,

 

Can I know in what type of question you want to implement this? multi-select, matrix….

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  • chaydez
  • Author
  • December 19, 2025

Hello, 

 

This is for a multiple choice style question with multi-selected answers.

 

 

Lpena
Qualtrics Employee
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  • Lpena
  • Qualtrics Employee
  • January 6, 2026

Hi, Chaydez


If you're looking to have an alphabetized list start at a random point while keeping the order intact—essentially a "circular shift"—using custom JavaScript in the survey is definitely the way to go. Since Qualtrics doesn't have a native "rotate list" setting, you can manually script that logic by picking a random index and then slicing the array to move the first half to the end. 🔄

The code snippet you're looking at is a solid foundation. By using names.slice(startIndex).concat(names.slice(0, startIndex)), you ensure that if the randomizer picks "Charlie," the list follows with "David" and then wraps back around to "Alice" and "Bob." Just be mindful when you're mapping these back to the choice IDs with setChoiceText. You want to make sure your data output clearly reflects which name was actually selected, rather than just the index number, so using Embedded Data to record the "Starting Name" is a smart move for your future analysis.

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