Creating Groups or Custom Segments Using Respondent ID
There are times when you may want to create your own group or custom segment inside Glass that isn’t based on a direct survey response — for example, a manually coded open end group or a segment defined by external analysis. These are managed through Hidden Variables in the Glass platform.
Accessing Hidden Variables
In the Build Survey tab, navigate to the Questions tab. Scroll to the bottom of the page and you’ll see a section labeled Variables. Click New Variable to open a pop-up window where you can create new logic-based or respondent-based segments.
Creating Variables Based on Question Responses
You can define variables using existing question data. For example, to create a group called Women 25–34:
Choose the gender question and select Female.
Use the AND function to add an age condition for 25–34.
Save the variable — it will appear in your list for use in crosstabs or exports.
This method is useful when your group is defined directly by survey logic or screening criteria.
Creating Segments by Respondent ID
Sometimes you’ll want to define a group that isn’t tied to a survey question — for example, if you’ve done external coding or statistical modeling with a typing tool (or similar instrument). You can still create these segments in Hidden Variables:
From the New Variable window, scroll down and click Define Segment by Respondent IDs.
Select Specify Respondents.
Copy and paste the respondent IDs you want to include in the group.
You can find these IDs in your Raw Data Export, SPSS file, or the Free Text tab of a Crosstab Export.
After pasting, click Add to confirm the list.
Name your new variable (for example, Typing Tool Segment).
Click Save Variable at the top of the page.
Once saved, the segment becomes available for use throughout your analysis.
Using Custom Segments in Analysis
Your newly created variables will appear in the Crosstab Builder under Survey Variables.
You can use them to:
Create banner points in your crosstabs
Analyze performance or responses by custom group
Review segment incidence in the Survey Variables tab of your exported Crosstab file
Pro Tip: Keep your variable names short and descriptive – they’ll appear in dropdowns and exports exactly as labeled.