2. Detailed Guide to Soft Term Thresholds & Screening Control
Exhaustive explanation of cumulative phase-based strike thresholds, differences between Hard Term and Soft Term, auto-calculation, and operational configuration.
Flexible Screening & Strike Tolerance: Soft Term Thresholds allow survey designers to implement a cumulative phase-based warning system ("strikes"), preventing instant disqualification of respondents when secondary or volumetric criteria are not fully met.
1. Fundamental Difference: Hard Term vs. Soft Term#
The Daesen survey engine features two distinct termination modes:
| Feature | Strict Termination ([CLOSE]) | Soft Termination ([SOFT TERM]) |
|---|---|---|
| Behavior | Instant & Final: Disqualifies the respondent the exact moment the choice is selected or rule is broken. | Cumulative & Progressive: Increments an internal strike counter without interrupting the survey immediately. |
| Use Cases | Critical exclusion criteria (e.g. consent decline, minors, competitors, strict disqualifiers). | Secondary attributes, lower volume thresholds, or non-core profiles tolerated up to a defined ceiling. |
| Canonical DSL Syntax | 2. I decline [CLOSE] | 3. Secondary specialty [SOFT TERM] or directive [PN: IF <10; SOFT TERM]. |
| Evaluation Scope | Instantaneous. | Evaluated cumulatively per phase against the configured threshold. |
2. Execution Mechanics & Strike Accumulation#
The runtime evaluates soft terminations through the following lifecycle:
- 1Session Context Tracking (
__softTerms):
- When a question triggers a soft termination condition (via option flag or numeric logic), the runtime appends the question ID to the active phase's internal tracking array.
- 1Threshold Boundary Check (
Threshold):
- Each survey phase (
pre-screener,screener,survey) maintains an isolated threshold ceiling. - If accumulated strikes in that phase exceed the configured threshold, the engine halts the survey and executes a clean screenout redirect.
- If accumulated strikes remain within or equal to the threshold, the respondent continues their session uninterrupted.
3. Canonical Declaration of Soft Terms in Survey DSL#
A. On Choice Options (Single & Multi-Select):#
Append the canonical [SOFT TERM] flag to the option text. It can be combined with other behavioral flags (e.g. [FIX, EXCLUSIVE, SOFT TERM]). For immediate strict termination, use the canonical [CLOSE] flag:
[SCREENER]
S2. What is your primary role in enterprise IT procurement decisions?
[SINGLE CODE]
Please select your involvement level.
1. Final decision maker
2. Technical evaluator / recommender
3. End user with advisory input [SOFT TERM]
4. No involvement in IT decisions [CLOSE]B. On Numeric Open-Ended Questions:#
For numeric questions evaluating minimum ranges or case volumes, wrap the rule inside a programmer note [PN: ...] using a semicolon (;) before the directive to ensure instructions are never leaked to the user interface:
[SCREENER]
S3. On average, how many cloud servers do you actively manage per month?
[OPEN NUMERIC; 0-1000; servers]
[PN: IF <10; SOFT TERM]C. Supported Numeric Operators & Compound Conditions:#
| Operator / Syntax | DSL Directive Example | Trigger Condition |
|---|---|---|
Less Than (<) | [PN: IF <10; SOFT TERM] | Fires a strike if input value is strictly below 10. |
Less Than or Equal (<=) | [PN: IF <=5; SOFT TERM] | Fires a strike if input value is 5 or less. |
Greater Than (>) | [PN: IF >100; SOFT TERM] | Fires a strike if input value exceeds 100. |
Greater Than or Equal (>=) | [PN: IF >=50; SOFT TERM] | Fires a strike if input value is 50 or higher. |
Compound Range (OR) | [PN: IF <3 OR >30; SOFT TERM] | Fires a strike if input is below 3 or above 30 (excluding tails at both ends). |
D. Supported Programming Note Prefixes:#
The parser recognizes all of the following prefix wrappers:
[PN: IF <10; SOFT TERM](Recommended standard)[PROGRAMMING NOTE: IF <10; SOFT TERM][LOGIC: IF <10; SOFT TERM]PN: IF <10; SOFT TERM(In Word DOCX documents)
4. Automatic Discovery & Manage Survey Configuration#
A. Automatic Discovery during Questionnaire Ingestion#
When compiling a Microsoft Word (.docx) file or plaintext DSL, the ingestion engine automatically scans all questions and tallies how many [SOFT TERM] rules exist in each phase (Pre-screener, Screener, and Global Survey).
This detected aggregate is automatically set as the initial suggested threshold tolerance in the study's database.
B. Customizing Thresholds in the Settings Tab#
Within the Manage Survey → Settings Tab, the research team can fine-tune tolerances per phase:
| Threshold Setting | Real-Time Runtime Behavior |
|---|---|
| Threshold = 0 | Zero Tolerance: Any soft strike triggers an instant screenout (behaves identically to Hard Term). |
| Threshold = 1 | Single Strike Allowance: 1 soft strike is tolerated; a 2nd strike immediately disqualifies the respondent. |
| *Threshold = N*** | *Expanded Tolerance (N Strikes): The respondent may accumulate up to N* secondary strikes before being screened out. |
5. Questions & Answers (Q&A)#
Do strikes accumulated in the Screener carry over into the main Survey phase?#
No. Each phase operates with an isolated counter and threshold ceiling. Screener strikes reset upon advancing to the Survey phase.
What happens to a respondent who completes the study with accumulated strikes?#
If the strike total never exceeded the phase threshold, the participant completes the study with a Complete status. The database and exported data maintain complete audit logs of triggered strikes for downstream analytics.
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