Best-Worst CBC - None option

Question

Hello,

could you please advice - how can we add None option into Best-Worst exercise, CBC module. I have added traditional None, but it does not work: I see the column None with 2 boxes for ticks. If I select 1 of them, the program does not allow to continue as the second selection is required (this is best-worst exercise!). If I select both boxes under None, the program demonstrates error. Please, advice.

Answer 1

It seems strange to me to want to add a traditional none option in a Best-Worst CBC exercise.  What does it mean to click the None as best and another product as "Worst"?  Perhaps that means that the respondent would not purchase any of the products shown (the "None" is the best) and the respondent also indicates the worst product among those shown.  The software would support that behavior and the software requires 2 answers (a best and a worst) on the task before it lets you continue to the next question.  And, the software won't let you specify that the same concept is both best and worst.  

If I wanted to use a None in a Best-Worst CBC exercise, I think I would think about using the Dual-Response None option.

Comments

Bryan, thank you for your answer. I tried Dual-Response None option and even in this case, it is required to select Best and Worst product in the CBC grid. It is not possible to skip this grid if the respondent cannot make a decision.

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Yes, that is true.  If you use the standard CBC question in our software, it will require a response to each CBC question.  This is standard practice in our industry.

If you really want to allow respondents to skip a CBC question, then you will have to allow them to skip the entire question including the dual-response None question.  And, the only way I know of doing that is to program the survey as a Free-Format question within our software (using your own HTML).  There is documentation in the CBC section about composing your own CBC exercise using Free Format questions.  It takes a lot more work.  But, it allows you to customize the survey to do something non-standard as you are attempting.

Answer 2

If an exercise is set to have best and worst, then a traditional none also has the best and worst and you would need to choose one concept on the page as the best and one as the worst.  You cannot have a best/worst choice for each concept and then a singular choice of the none.

As Bryan mentioned, this is kind of weird to do, and inside the software if you set up an exercise this way we put the following warning: Warning: CBC Exercise 'CBCgolfexercise' - It is not advised to choose best-worst response type with a traditional none option.

If you want a single choice none, then you need to remove the best/worst aspect of the exercise, or you would need to switch to the dual-response none format.