The “Don’t Know” Option and the Outcomes of Opinion Polls
Single Wave Study
General Information
Title
The “Don’t Know” Option and the Outcomes of Opinion Polls
Project Number
71
Abstract
In February 2012, the LISS panel was presented the “Don’t know” experiment. This experiment focuses on the effects of different ways of offering the "Don’t know" option by answering the research question: How does the "Don’t know" option influence the results of specific questions and of a survey or opinion poll as a whole?
Longitudinal Type
Single Wave Study
Begin date
06-02-2012
End date
28-02-2012
Note
Purpose
Researcher
Van De Maat, J.
Publisher
CentERdata
Copyright
© 2012 CentERdata
Funding Organization
CentERdata/MESS Project
DOI
https://doi.org/10.17026/dans-zz2-mev8
Datasets and documentation
View Documentation
Codebook in English
Codebook in Dutch
Data Files
English SPSS file
English STATA file
Variables
| Variable name | Variable Label | Variable Type |
|---|---|---|
| nomem_encr | Number of household member encrypted | preloaded |
| fu12a_m | Year and month of the field work period | constructed |
| fu12a001 | How the respondent was presented the ‘Don’t know’ option: | constructed |
| fu12a002 | Participation in second experiment | preloaded |
| fu12a003 | Where would you position yourself on a line from 1 to 7, where 1 means that differences in income should increase and 7 means that they should decrease? | directly measured |
| fu12a004 | "The statutory retirement age should remain at 65 years". | directly measured |
| fu12a005 | "Social welfare benefits should be lowered so that people are stimulated to find a job". | directly measured |
| fu12a006 | Where would you position yourself on a line from 1 to 7, where 1 means that euthanasia should be prohibited and 7 means that euthanasia should be permitted? | directly measured |
| fu12a007 | "Adoption by homosexual couples should be possible". | directly measured |
| fu12a008 | "It is a good thing that women can have their egg cells frozen so that they can have children at a later age". | directly measured |
| fu12a009 | Where would you position yourself on a line from 1 to 7, where 1 means that ethnic minorities can retain their own culture and 7 means that they should fully adapt? | directly measured |
| fu12a010 | "There are too many people of another nationality living in the Netherlands". | directly measured |
| fu12a011 | "All people that have lived in the Netherlands illegally for a long time should be permitted to stay here". | directly measured |
| fu12a012 | Where would you position yourself on a line from 1 to 7, where 1 means that European unification should go even further and 7 means that unification has already gone too far? | directly measured |
| fu12a013 | "The Netherlands should spend more money on development aid". | directly measured |
| fu12a014 | "The United Nations has too little power". | directly measured |
| fu12a015 | "The Queen may only express government policy towards journalists". | directly measured |
| fu12a016 | Are you for or against surrogate motherhood? | directly measured |
| fu12a017 | Was it difficult to answer the questions? | directly measured |
| fu12a018 | Were the questions sufficiently clear? | directly measured |
| fu12a019 | Did the questionnaire get you thinking about things? | directly measured |
| fu12a020 | Was it an interesting subject? | directly measured |
| fu12a021 | Did you enjoy answering the questions? | directly measured |
| fu12a022 | Starting date questionnaire | constructed |
| fu12a023 | Starting time questionnaire | constructed |
| fu12a024 | End date questionnaire | constructed |
| fu12a025 | End time questionnaire | constructed |
| fu12a026 | Duration in seconds | derived |
Questions
Questionnaire: Don’t Know Experiment
The questionnaire was originally conducted in Dutch.
Browse Don’t Know ExperimentResponse Information
Response Overview
Selected number of household members: 7517 (100%)Non-response: 1789 (23.8%)
Response: 5728 (76.2%)
Complete: 5725 (76.2%)
Incomplete: 3 (0.0%)
Collection Events
Period
06-02-2012 to 28-02-2012
Sample
panel members with the age of 16 years or older.
Collection Mode
internet survey
Fieldwork Note
A reminder was sent twice to non-respondents.