The survey report

Graham, the assistant built into SortedResearch, can write a plain-English insight report on your survey: the headline, the key findings, the differences between groups that are big enough to trust, the themes in people's open answers (with real quotes), and what to do next. Open Results, then Report, and click Write the report. On paid plans you can download it as a PDF, a Word file or a PowerPoint deck.

What's in it

Executive summary: the headline story in a paragraph.
Key findings: four to six findings, each a short title and a few sentences on what the numbers mean. Graham works only from the numbers in your results.
Differences between groups: the two to five differences between groups that matter most. Each one passed a 95% confidence test on groups of 30 or more, the same test the Cross-tab view marks with ▲ and ▼. This section is left out when no difference passes.
Flows: Sankey charts for up to five question pairs (see below).
Themes, one section for each open-text question (except a short text set to collect an email address, a phone number or a ZIP code: those answers are contact details and are never sent to Graham): a one-line summary and three to six themes, each with roughly what share of that question's answers express it, and one to three quotes copied word for word from real answers. Every quote is checked against the answers people actually gave, and any that doesn't match is dropped, so a quote in the report is always genuine.
Recommendations: three to five concrete next steps, most valuable first.
Data quality: one honest sentence on the sample size and how many people were removed or held for quality.
Question by question: every question's chart, the same ones the Questions view draws, with every percentage of the people who answered that question.

The flows it picks

The report draws flows for the question pairs whose groups differ most, adding up every significant difference between them, with each pair shown once. When one question of the pair is in your screener (who people are, such as age), it goes on the left. The pairs are chosen when the report is written and drawn from your current data. The Where groups differ most buttons on the Flows view suggest the same pairs, and you can draw any other pair there (see survey results).

It always uses the default view

The report is always written on the results' default view: completes only, rejected responses left out, from live responses (or from test-link responses while the survey has no live ones yet). The filter bar is not shown on the Report tab, and changing the filter on the other views doesn't change the report. The line under the report's title says what it covers, for example "212 live completes, rejected left out".

This keeps the report steady and comparable. To analyze a different slice, use the filter and the data downloads, which do follow it (see survey exports).

Saved, and written again only when the data moves

The report is saved with the survey, so opening the Report tab again is instant and costs nothing against your daily allowance for Graham. It is kept for as long as the data it was written on stays the same. Once something it reads changes (a new complete, a quality verdict changing, a response removed, a new version of the survey), the saved report is no longer shown, and you click Write the report to get one on today's data.

Regenerate at the top of the report asks again. If nothing has changed since the report was written, you get the same saved report back rather than a new one.

On a read-only (Viewer) seat, the write and Regenerate buttons are not shown. A viewer can read a report somebody has already written.

Downloads

At the top of the report:

PDF: a real PDF file, built from the same outline as the Word file, with the charts in it.
Word: the written report with every chart embedded.
PowerPoint: a branded deck in the same order: Graham's read, then a slide per flow and per question chart.
Print: prints the report as it looks on screen.

The PDF and the Word file are printed from one shared outline, so they always carry the same sections in the same order. In the files, each open question shows a few of its answers; the data downloads have every one.

By plan

On the Free plan the report shows on screen only, with no downloads and no Print; the header shows Upgrade to download. The Individual, Team and Enterprise plans can download it. Writing a report uses Graham, so it counts toward a daily allowance; past it, you'll see a message saying the limit resets within 24 hours. Reports can't be written in the demo workspace.

If Graham can't write it

If Graham can't be reached, runs out of time or hits a problem, you get a basic report built straight from your data instead: the main results question by question, the differences between groups, the number of written answers per open question (without themes), two general next steps, and the response counts. An amber banner at the top says Graham didn't write this report and why, and "basic report" appears next to the response count.

When Graham ran out of time or hit a problem, the banner has a Try Graham again button, and trying again usually works. When Graham couldn't be reached, there's no retry button: we've been told and are looking into it, so try again a little later. A basic report is never saved, so the next time anyone writes the report, Graham tries again.