Add "Don't Know" To Grid Question

Q. Can I add a "Don't know" or "None of the above" option to a grid question so that a respondent has the option of answering the grid question(s) or selecting "Don't know"?

A. Yes, there are two ways to add an Exclusive Row Options, such as "Don't know" or "None of the above," to a grid questions. The first method applies only to Percent Allocation Grids and Ranking Grids (it can also be used for Numeric Text Box Grids in around-about-fashion). The second method is applicable to all grid types.

Method 1:

To add a row to a Percent Allocation or Ranking Grid that contains a "Don't know" (or any other type of exclusive label):

  1. Create a row with the label text of your choice.
  2. Click the Set Answer Options menu and then select Format Answer Options.
  3. At the Grid Rows section, click on the Io (Insert Options) button next to the response label to make exclusive.
  4. From the Options list, select Exclusive Code.

When the question is displayed, the row where the Exclusive Option is set contains a check box rather than a text box. SurveyWriter prevents a respondent from selecting this option and any other option in the same column.

To apply this functionality to a Numeric Text Box Grid, make the question a "Percent Allocation Grid" and then adjust the options so that the question functions as a Numeric Text Box Grid. Some functionality is lost, such as the ability to set a minimum and maximum value for each cell. To adjust the Options for this question so it acts like a Numeric Text Box Grid, do the following:

  1. Follow the steps 1 through 4 above, then select Modify Options.
  2. Set the Minimum Column Sum to 0 (zero).
  3. Set the "Maximum Column Sum" to a large number like 1000000 (million).
  4. DO NOT select the Javascript Option. This option displays a real-time running total to the respondent.

Method 2:

The second method is to use the Data Validation Filters option found in the Options Menu for the question. To use this option, see the Creating Validation Filters for this Question section in the online help files.