This article explains how to view and analyse the survey responses from Observers.

Observers were formerly called Perspective Providers and Witnesses

Dictionary

There are two parts to every 360° survey you run:

the Subjects these are your contacts (typically people/organisations) whom the survey is about
the Observers - these are the people who are providing their opinion/perspective on the subject (contact)

What this article covers:

1 The types of chart
2 How it works
3 Related articles

The types of chart

There are different charts that let you view responses from Observers

Display	Type of question	Details

Display	Type of question	Details
Single-question Observer Bar chart	Scale	This chart displays the number of Perspective Providers who selected each Answer Choice for each Contact X-axis (bottom axis) = each Answer Choice Y-axis (left axis) = quantity of Observers Colours = each Contact (who is a Subject of the survey)
Multi-question Observer Outcome Ring	Scale	There are three types of line you can display
Multi-question Observer Outcome Bar Chart	Scale	See the number of times that each Answer Choice was chosen when looking at responses from Contacts, Colleagues and Anyone With The Link - i.e. excluding responses from 360° Observers.
Multi-outcome table	Scale	See the Mean Average Score for each Contact based on responses from Observers The Contacts themselves Colleagues
Multi-outcome bar chart	Scale	See the Mean Average score for each Contact based on responses from Observers The Contacts themselves Colleagues
Filter by Respondent Type on a Progress Board	All types	Progress Boards give you an interactive way to explore your survey results.
View individual survey responses on the Project page	All types	You’ll see each survey response as a post on the project’s timeline Project profile page
View individual survey responses on the Observer’s contact profile page	All types	You’ll see each survey response from a Perspective Provider as a post on the (subject) contact’s timeline View a Contact's Profile page
View observers responses while on a progress board using analytics view	All types	The Analytics view of Progress Board allows you to easily view, segment, and filter data, providing a proactive and user-friendly way to analyze results. Analytics view of Progress Board

How it works

Single-question Observer Bar Charts

Note that there are two types of Bar Chart

Observer Bar Charts
Standard Bar Charts

Standard Bar Charts display only responses from Contacts, Colleagues and Anonymous Respondents

Observer Bar Charts only display responses from Observers

Choose whether you want to analyse results for one or more projects at once
1. To analyse results from a single project: select Surveys in the Side Menu → Active Surveys → choose the survey campaign → select Analyse Results
2. To analyse results from several projects at once, select Surveys in the Side Menu and choose Multi-project Analysis → Choose the survey → Choose the project(s) (Detailed steps here)
The first set of Bar Charts that are displayed for each Multiple Choice Question are the Perspective Provider bar charts
Click Choose lines to display
Choose Perspective Provider and click Apply filters
The bar chart will appear
From here you can do the following:
1. View the responses from a particular Wave or Respondent Type by using the Select a Wave & Respondent Type dropdown menu
2. See the Mean Average answer for each contact (which is calculated by analysing the responses from the observers who have answered that question about that contact - view the calculations)

Multi-question Observer Outcome Ring

Start by selecting the contact(s) who are the subject. Click Apply
In the Choose lines to display, pick the type of line you’d like to see.
1. The options are:
  1. Perspective Providers' Mean Average for each Contact
  2. Perspective Providers' Individual Responses for each Contact
  3. Perspective Providers' Mean Average across all Contacts
Then click Apply filters → the results appear
The name of each line is shown in the key
Compare results visually by hiding and displaying different lines - you want De-select and re-select lines to hide and show them

Multi-outcome Survey Summary: table, bar chart and spider chart

Select Choose lines to display - to review responses from Observers select Perspective Providers' Mean Average for each Contact
Pick the format you want to see results displayed in
When you select Table: the results appear
When you select Bar Chart or Spider Chart you need to select the Contacts whose results you’d like to see

Bar Chart

Filter by Respondent Type on a Progress Board

Access the Progress Board. You can get to the progress board in two ways:
- From the main dashboard, or
- From a specific survey profile page.
Once you're on the Progress Board, choose your preferred display (Analytics, cards or Comparisons view) from the view options.
In the Filters section, you’ll see the option for Respondent Type.
Click on it and you’ll see the following options:
- Observer (Witness) responses (e.g. responses given about someone)
- Subject responses (e.g. responses given by the person themselves)

Let’s say we want to analyse responses related to the Finance Manager and Marketing Manager.

Under Respondent Type, select Observer (Witness).
Under Contact, select Finance Manager/Marketing Manager.

You’ll now see responses submitted by other people (the observers) about the Managers.

To see both together:

Keep both Finance Manager and Marketing Manager selected under Contacts.
Keep Respondent Type as Observer (Witness).

To view responses from the Subject themselves (e.g. the Finance Manager’s self-assessment):

Change Respondent Type to Subject.
Keep the relevant Contact selected (e.g. Finance Manager).

This allows you to compare how the individual rated themselves versus how others rated them.

To see both Subject and Observer responses at once:

Select both in the Respondent Type filter.

View individual survey responses on the Project page

Open your project profile page
Scrolling down the page, you can see the project timeline.
Here you can view the survey responses recorded as stories

View individual survey responses on the Observer’s contact profile page

Open the Contacts app and search for the name of the Observer whose responses you want to view.
Click to open their contact profile.
Scroll down to the Stories section. Each story here represents a survey response the Observer has submitted.
To read the full details of a specific survey response, click the ‘New update’ hyperlink within the story.
This will take you to the descriptive view of the response, where you can see exactly what the Observer wrote.

Tip: You can use the story titles and timestamps to help identify which wave (e.g., Baseline, Midline, Endline) the response belongs to.

View observers responses while on a progress board using analytics view

Open the progress board
Choose 'Analytics View' as the display format.
Under the Distribution of Answers section, you can:
- See breakdowns of how people responded across the survey
- Compare Observer vs Subject responses
- Compare across different waves

Example View:

Observer Responses – Finance Manager – Endline
Subject Responses – Finance Manager – Endline
Switch between these by adjusting the filters on the left.

Use Wave Filter to Track Distance Travelled Over Time

One of the most powerful features of the progress board is the ability to track how individuals are developing over time, both from their own perspective and from the perspective of others. This is where Waves come in.

Waves represent different points in time, such as Baseline, Midline, and Endline.

To see how responses have changed across Baseline, Midline, and Endline:

In the filter panel, scroll down to Waves.
Select the wave you want to analyse (e.g. “Baseline”).
You’ll see responses from that specific point in time.

This makes it easy to visualise the progress made over time — also known as Distance Travelled.

Makerble User Guide

Observers responses to 360° surveys: how to analyse them