Research Tips

“Not Applicable” Response Options

In a previous tip we discussed the importance of ensuring that response categories are mutually exclusive (so a given response does not fall into two categories) and collectively exhaustive (so the answer a respondent may want to give is not left off the list of options). We talked about including an “I don’t know” option in another tip, but another response category that’s sometimes inadvertently left off survey questions is “does not apply”.

If it’s possible that a given question does not apply to some respondents (e.g., because they have not been skipped past the question based on responses to previous questions), then it’s important to include a “does not apply” response option. Without this, respondents may be forced to choose one of the available options even if none are applicable (if a response is required) or else leave the question blank, in which case it may not be clear whether they missed the question or believed that it did not apply to them.