ABSTRACT

Questionnaire design choices, such as handling ‘do not know’ answers or using check all that apply questions may impact the level of item- and unit nonresponse. We used experimental data from an online panel and the questions of ESS to examine how applying forced answering, offering DK/NA options and specific question formats (CATA vs. forced choice format) impact the level of nonresponse and how respondent characteristics correlate with these effects. The results suggest that neither forcing respondents nor offering an explicit NR option is advisable, as these options strongly increase nonresponse. Rather a skipping-allowed design is a more reasonable choice. Those who were interested in the topic of the survey were far less sensitive to NR handling. Developing adaptive questionnaire designs based on topic interest can be a promising direction for future research.

摘要

问卷设计选择，例如处理“不知道”的答案或使用检查所有适用的问题可能会影响项目和单位不回答的水平。我们使用来自在线小组的实验数据和 ESS 的问题来检查应用强制回答、提供 DK/NA 选项和特定问题格式（CATA 与强制选择格式）如何影响不回答水平以及受访者特征如何与这些影响相关. 结果表明，既不强迫受访者也不提供明确的 NR 选项是可取的，因为这些选项会大大增加不回复率。相反，允许跳过的设计是更合理的选择。那些对调查主题感兴趣的人对 NR 处理的敏感度要低得多。