Create reporting groups for survey reporting by adding columns to the respondents file or using self-select questions, and follow trending rules to keep comparisons accurate.
In addition to system-defined fields, you can add more columns to your respondents file, which will appear as options in the Reporting Group drop-down list on the survey's report. For example, a column with a heading of "Department" will create a Department reporting group
Note: The maximum character length for a reporting group name is 50 characters.
Note: Gallup recommends maintaining a limit of 100 reporting groups in the respondents file. Please contact your Gallup representative if there are concerns about this limit.
There are two ways to add reporting groups to your survey:
| Method | Distribution | Setup | Data Collection |
|---|---|---|---|
| Self-Select | Survey Code or Email | Define reporting groups on the Build tab. | Survey respondents select an option from a drop-down list. |
| Respondents File | Define reporting groups in the uploaded respondents file. | Reporting groups are automatically assigned to survey respondents. |
You can include reporting groups in your respondents file and as self-select questions on the survey, and both will appear on the survey's report. However, it’s important that each reporting group has a unique name to distinguish them.
For example, if you have a column in your respondents file called "Department" but you also want to create a self-select question on the survey that asks the respondent to pick their department, name the latter as "Self-Select Department." This way, two different reporting groups will appear on the report: Department and Self-Select Department.
Trended Surveys
When you create a trended survey, Gallup Access automatically copies all of the previous survey’s reporting groups to the new survey. If the previous survey had an uploaded respondents file and you want to maintain trending data for the new survey, the columns of the new survey's respondents file must match those of the previous survey's file.
Important: If you delete any of the copied reporting groups or their values from the new survey, those reporting groups will not have trending data on the new survey's report.
If the previous survey did not have an uploaded respondents file and the new survey does, Gallup Access will treat the uploaded reporting groups as new and will not trend on them.
In the following example, only “City” will trend on the March 2024 survey.
Note: These examples do not show all the required fields.
August 2025 Respondents File
| External_ID | City | Dept | Shift |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1234 | Omaha | Accounting | 1 |
| B1122 | Omaha | Technology | 1 |
| C7781 | Lincoln | Accounting | 2 |
| D4322 | Lincoln | Human Resources | 2 |
March 2026 Respondents File
| External_ID | City | Department |
|---|---|---|
| A1234 | Omaha | Accounting |
| B1122 | Lincoln | Human Resources |
| C7781 | Lincoln | Accounting |
| D4322 | Omaha | Human Resources |