---
url: "https://questionstar.com/principles-of-survey-research/chapter-2/slide-061.html"
title: "Forced or Non-Forced Response?"
type: "lehrbuch-slide"
chapter: 2
chapterTitle: "Survey: Measurement and Scaling"
slide: 61
---

# Forced or Non-Forced Response?

*Do respondents not want to answer — or do they simply have no opinion?*

**4. Forced vs. Non-Forced Response**

When some respondents cannot have an opinion, non-forced questions improve the accuracy of the results.

Do respondents not want to answer — or do they simply have no opinion?

### "Don't know" / "Not applicable"

Use for factual questions and knowledge questions.

Not when measuring attitudes and opinions.

### Skip logic

Deliberately steer so that respondents only get questions they can actually **answer** — rather than forcing responses.

**Rule of thumb:** Questions without a "don't know" tend to yield more accurate data — but only if respondents actually have an opinion.

---

*Slide 61 of 274 · Chapter 2: Survey: Measurement and Scaling · Principles of Survey Research · Dr. Paul Marx*