Neutral Response Option Tips

Researchers have debated for years whether or not there should be a midpoint on satisfaction surveys. Some researchers are in favor, others are strongly opposed. The reality is likely somewhere in between, as “Neither Agree Nor Disagree” (NAND for the purposes of this article) has its benefits and weaknesses.

The original belief was that everyone has an opinion (either positive or negative) about nearly everything they’re asked, but if their opinion is close enough to the center, they may select NAND because they don’t feel their opinion is strong enough to be worth selecting. But the reality is that not everyone does have strong thoughts one way or the other, and the NAND option gives them a way to answer the question and get results that are more towards the center. Leaving it off could also frustrate respondents that don’t have a strong opinion but can’t find an answer that really suits them, and that can affect your data more than leaving it on the survey.

However, researchers that argue that NAND allows for survey respondents to avoid forming an opinion are not wrong either. NAND is one of the most common choices when the respondent has central tendency bias (caused by trying to breeze through the survey) and may easily be selected by those that simply don’t want to form an opinion when they’re not passionate either way. Another weakness is that NAND often takes up the most space on a page, right in the middle of the other options, depending on your survey layout.

In a way it advertises itself, and could (conceivably, though little research has been done to find out) cause people to pay more attention to it as an option. Anything that draws attention to itself can negatively affect your survey results, and NAND is no exception.

“Neither Agree Nor Disagree” is most likely an important option to have in order to account for those that truly don’t have much of an opinion. But it also introduces problems in your survey. The question then becomes – how affected is your data by the problems it introduces and is there a better option to encourage responses? There’s no easy answer, so the choice has to do with what you believe is the best for your data collection needs while always keeping in mind the potential pitfalls of your decision.