Open survey questions are often used to evaluate closed questions. However, they can fulfil this function only if there is a strong link between answers to open questions and answers to related closed questions. Using reasons for non-voting reported in the German Longitudinal Election Study 2013, we investigated this link by examining whether the reported reasons for non-voting may be substantive reasons or ex-post legitimations. We tested five theoretically derived hypotheses about respondents who gave, or did not give, a specific reason. Results showed that (a) answers to open questions were indeed related to answers to closed questions and could be used in explanatory turnout models to predict voting behavior, and (b) the relationship between answers to open and closed questions and the predictive power of reasons given in response to the open questions were stronger in the post-election survey (reported behavior) than in the pre-election survey (intended behavior).

中文翻译：

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我们可以从调查中的公开问题中学到什么？2013年德国纵向选举研究中报告的非投票案例研究

开放式调查问题通常用于评估封闭式问题。但是，只有在未解决问题的答案与相关未解决问题的答案之间存在紧密联系时，他们才能实现此功能。我们使用《 2013年德国纵向选举研究》中报告的无投票权理由，通过检查报告的无投票权理由是实质性原因还是事后合法化来调查此链接。我们测试了五个给出或不给出特定原因的受访者的理论假设。结果表明（a）对未解决问题的答案确实与对已解决问题的答案有关，可用于解释性投票模型预测投票行为