How can we categorize responses to a check-the-box question?

For one of our check-the-box questions, we have a long list of options, but all of the options fall into one of 3 categories. Is there any way to have the form show us the options people filling out the form choose as well as the category their responses would fall under? This would require the category information be for our eyes only, so that people who are filling out the form do not know what category their responses would fall under, but we would be able to see them in an organized way when viewing the submissions. 

I am not sure if I have understood your question correctly. Do you mean to say that you have multiple choice question in form and the options are divided in 3 set of categories? User will not see the categorisation when the fill up the form but you want to see the category information in submission page based on the options user has selected.

There is no built-in feature to achieve your requirement but with a little workaround it is possible to achieve your requirement. Here are the steps you need to follow:

#1. Add one hidden field in form for each category.

#2. Add condition in form to check which option is selected by user and accordingly insert category name in the hidden text box. The following guide should help you how to add insert / update condition in form: https://www.jotform.com/help/268-How-to-Insert-Text-or-Calculation-into-a-Field-Using-Conditional-Logic

Hope this helps.

Do try it out and get back to us if you have any questions.