Question type

Multiple choice questions (select all that apply)

A multiple choice question with checkboxes lets the respondent select every option that applies, rather than one. It measures coverage: which features people use, which channels reach them, which problems they have met. It does not measure priority, because ticking five boxes costs as little as ticking one.

Available on the free plan

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Multiple choice question examples

Which of these tools does your team use? (select all that apply)
Where have you seen our ads in the last month?
Which topics would you like the next workshop to cover?
What did you buy on this visit? Coffee / Pastry / Lunch / Nothing

Single answer or select all that apply

Ask yourself whether two options can be true for the same person at the same time. If yes, use checkboxes; forcing a single answer makes people choose arbitrarily and your data lies. If the options are mutually exclusive (age band, plan, country), use a single-choice question.

When you actually want to know what matters most, neither works. Use ranking for order or a constant sum for weight.

How to analyse checkbox answers

share of option = respondents who ticked it ÷ respondents who answered × 100%

Because one person can tick several boxes, the shares add up to more than 100%. That is correct, not a bug: report each option as “X% of respondents”, never as a slice of a pie chart. The average number of options ticked is a useful second metric; if it is close to the total, the question is not discriminating.

Common mistakes

Asking “what matters to you?” with checkboxes: people tick almost everything.
Long lists (15+ items) on mobile, where the bottom options get far fewer ticks just for being lower.
No “None of these” option, so people who have none either skip or tick something at random.
Treating options as mutually exclusive in the analysis.

Comparing groups with checkbox data

The interesting findings are usually in the differences. Split respondents by a closed question (plan, role, region) and compare the share that ticked each option. If 70% of Team customers use exports and only 20% of Free users do, that gap tells you more than the overall 35%.

Watch the base: always divide by the people in that group who answered the question, not by everyone in the survey. People who skipped the question did not say “none”.

Building it in Askyo

The Several from the list block shows checkbox tiles. You can set a minimum and maximum number of selections; the respondent sees them as a hint line (“choose between 2 and 3”), but the limits are not enforced on submit, so write the rule into the question text too.

On the logic graph each option has its own exit; when several are ticked, the first ticked option that has a connection wins. In quiz mode the answer counts as correct only if the set matches exactly. Analytics shows a bar per option plus the average number selected, and the CSV puts all picked options in one cell, comma-separated.

What you can set

the list of options
lower bound
upper bound

Templates that already use it

«What did you like most?» Feedback form Feedback
«What would you like to add to your stay?» Rental / booking for a period Leads and contacts
«Which working setup suits you?» Candidate questionnaire HR and team
«What was missing from your onboarding?» New hire onboarding HR and team
«What can your child already do?» First-grade parent questionnaire Education
«What helps your child settle?» Settling into kindergarten Education
«What gets in the way of eating in the canteen?» School meals survey Education
«Which topics should the next meeting cover?» Feedback for the class teacher Education
«Which areas interest your child?» Clubs and after-school activities: interest survey Education
«Which of these animals are mammals? Tick all that apply» Knowledge test with scoring Education
«A colleague is injured at work. What should you do? Tick all that apply» Staff assessment test with scoring Education
«Which tracks interest you?» Event registration Events
«Which of these habits do you have?» Health questionnaire Research
«What do you use for surveys today?» Lead-gen quiz for a landing page Quizzes

Frequently asked questions

Multiple choice questions (select all that apply): common questions

Why do my multiple choice percentages add up to more than 100%?

Because each respondent can tick more than one option. Every percentage is calculated against the number of people who answered, not against the number of ticks. Show these results as separate bars, not a pie chart, which implies the parts add up to one whole.

Can I limit how many boxes people tick?

In Askyo you can set a minimum and a maximum, and the respondent sees them as a hint under the question. The limits are not checked on submit, so also say it in the question itself, for example “Pick up to three”.

What is the difference between multiple choice and multiple answer?

In education, “multiple choice” often means one correct answer from several options. In surveys it usually means “select all that apply”. If you need exactly one answer, use a single-choice question to avoid ambiguity.

How many options should a checkbox question have?

Five to ten is a comfortable range on a phone. Past about twelve, options at the bottom get noticeably fewer ticks simply because fewer people scroll to them. If the list is long, split it into two themed questions or ask for the top three instead.

Neighbouring types

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Find out which of your features people really use with one checkbox question.

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