# A Richer VAS Question: How to Use Images as Labels **URL:** \ **Category:** How-To\ **Tags:** how-to:activity\ **Created:** [June 10, 2025, 4:49am UTC](https://forum.avicennaresearch.com/t/a-richer-vas-question-how-to-use-images-as-labels/1208 "2025-06-10T04:49:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![zahra](https://forum.avicennaresearch.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/z/aeb1de/32.png) [@zahra](https://forum.avicennaresearch.com/u/zahra)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2025, 4:49am UTC](https://forum.avicennaresearch.com/t/a-richer-vas-question-how-to-use-images-as-labels/1208/1 "2025-06-10T04:49:41Z")
Visual analogue scales (VAS) are measurement instruments represented as sliders designed to facilitate assessing characteristics or attributes that cannot be measured directly. They are primarily used to describe the intensity, severity, or frequency of the symptoms experienced by research participants. VAS has been used in clinical research, especially those of the psychology field, for some time now. Due to its many advantages, it has successfully replaced Likert-type scales in most research projects requiring a psychometric response scale due to its many benefits. The benefits of this non-ordinal measurement instrument have been the subject of many research projects. In [a study published in 2017](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5288410/), one advantage of VAS has been explained as it being less biased than categorical scales. Moreover, respondents experiencing symptoms belonging to two categories would feel more comfortable dealing with this type of scale. VAS questions could also improve a research project’s compliance rate. They have been adapted into various cultures and languages since they require very little translation for both researchers and participants, especially with the help of images. In addition, participants working with this measurement instrument need no previous training or instruction, and they can offer their responses quickly. Among many other question types, Avicenna’s research tool allows the use of [VAS questions](https://forum.avicennaresearch.com/t/questions/1291#p-2918-visual-analog-scale-vas-53). Researchers can take advantage of the user-friendly survey to adjust their VAS questions towards achieving their desired outcome. With Avicenna, you can set the scale’s limitation to whatever number you need, change the labels that determine respondents’ selected value, and choose either a horizontal or a vertical layout for the scale. Imagine you want to add a pain scale to your survey to monitor participants’ pain levels daily. Using images as labels in VAS questions can further increase the appeal and inclusiveness of your study, and Avicenna always strives to offer the best research tool features. To create a comprehensive pain scale in Avicenna, we are using six images representing the increasing level of discomfort. Here’s how to modify your VAS question for that: **1-Open the Activity** In the _Researcher Dashboard_, choose your study and click on _Activities_ from the left-side panel. Here you can [create a new survey](https://forum.avicennaresearch.com/t/step-3-create-your-first-survey/1214/1) or [edit](https://forum.avicennaresearch.com/t/edit-surveys-during-the-study/1207/1) an existing one. In this example, we are editing “Survey 2”. ![open - activity](https://forum.avicennaresearch.com/uploads/default/original/1X/6f7ef4a1e98d39ee232bce582049519b08765d60.png) **2-Add a VAS Question** Once you are in the _Content_ tab of the _Survey Editor_ page, click on _New Items_ from the right-side panel and choose _VAS Question_ from the list. ![add - VAS](https://forum.avicennaresearch.com/uploads/default/original/1X/ea6567b1b35c991f4562c2cecc413393cc1d4958.png) You can also click on _Add a New Question_ and choose _VAS_ from the displayed menu. ![add - VAS2](https://forum.avicennaresearch.com/uploads/default/original/1X/02faf90e7f8eeaaa60bf9ee79373b2e95c957600.png) **3-Type Your Question** Now it’s time to add the body of your VAS question. In this example, we are typing in the following question: “On average, how much pain did you feel today?” ![VAS - question](https://forum.avicennaresearch.com/uploads/default/original/1X/11c03db91a268f25660750eae4f82fb619c9a088.jpeg) **4-Modify the VAS Question** To further modify the features of your VAS question, click on _Properties_ from the right-side panel. In the displayed menu, change the _Maximum_ value number to 36 to cover the range of six images. By turning on the _Show the Selection Value_ toggle, participants can submit more accurate responses. You can read more about that [here](https://forum.avicennaresearch.com/t/questions/1291#p-2918-visual-analog-scale-vas-53). Adjust the rest of the question properties as you see fit. ![modify - VAS](https://forum.avicennaresearch.com/uploads/default/original/1X/156d374c1dad10b078a87b7386b87fa26380ccb1.jpeg) **5-Add Image Labels** To add images to your VAS question, you need to turn the _Show Selection Label_ toggle on from the _Properties_ menu. Choose the _Label Type_ as _Image_. Click on _Select Image_ and choose a file to upload. Next, you need to set the _Lower Bound_ as 0 for this first image label. Since we have six images to use as labels in this example, we need to add new labels and set their lower bounds accordingly. Click on _Add a New Label_ and set the _Lower Bound_ as 7. The upper bound will automatically change based on your settings. ![add - image - labels](https://forum.avicennaresearch.com/uploads/default/original/1X/bc3b10cbcc7788deafd649595cea78df770d75bc.jpeg) After adding the rest of the labels, they should have the lower bounds of 13, 19, 25, and 31. Participants will ultimately be displayed a survey that looks like the following, based on their responses. ![VAS - examples](https://forum.avicennaresearch.com/uploads/default/original/1X/d054dc4aa225098eba4452a81852d4261099b71d.jpeg) Due to its unique design, research participants of any and all academic, social, or geographical backgrounds can answer VAS questions with minimal difficulty. Avicenna is an adaptive survey tool that offers adjustable VAS question formats. By following the instructions given above, you can customize the app’s behaviour to serve your study’s various needs.