<p><strong>Short answer</strong><br>
Forced-choice task</p>

<p><strong>Background</strong><br>
You have answered your own question: </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>...tests that force one to choose...</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Such tests are generally referred to as <strong><a href="http://www.cis.rit.edu/people/faculty/montag/vandplite/pages/chap_4/ch4p5.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">forced-choice tests</a></strong> in psychophysics. There are many applications of these tests. In general, AFC tasks are less biased than for example yes/no tasks <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1207/s15327043hup1803_4?casa_token=TZFMPieMBMYAAAAA:JCu0eiMcstIaQVOEy7P_lYYi5YtfUsFrQ5CIoyV5QqEL3LRHcNBLfkdURSrfomzVfOdVgQL73xMA" rel="nofollow noreferrer">(Yushurun <em>et al</em>, 2008)</a>. A sample paper on an AFC test for personality testing is <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0042698908002599" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Christiansen <em>et al</em>. (2005)</a>.</p>

<p><sub><strong>References</strong><br>
<strong>-</strong> <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0042698908002599" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Christiansen <em>et al</em>. <em>Human Performance</em> (2005); <strong>18</strong>(3): 267-307</a><br>
<strong>-</strong>  <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1207/s15327043hup1803_4?casa_token=TZFMPieMBMYAAAAA:JCu0eiMcstIaQVOEy7P_lYYi5YtfUsFrQ5CIoyV5QqEL3LRHcNBLfkdURSrfomzVfOdVgQL73xMA" rel="nofollow noreferrer">yushurun <em>et al</em>. <em>Vis Res</em> (2008); <strong>48</strong>(17): 1837-51</a></sub> </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-02-06T20:58:35.180Z
It's my understanding that forced-choice also refers to yes / no, A / B, less / more, or similar formats, yes? I'm more interested in the non-opposite or unrelated pairing aspect of the questions than the two-option answer aspect. Is there even a word to describe the specific type of question that pairs options that lie on entirely unrelated axes? Or am I mistaken in thinking that forced-choice refers to all of them?
Ben Nilsson
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-02-08T11:38:47.147Z
@BenNilsson - I think they apply to all, given the linked Christiansen paper, but I am unsure to be honest.
AliceD
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-02-06T20:34:34.290Z
2020-02-06T20:34:34.290Z
AliceD
<p>Like AliceD's answer says, this is a form of forced-choice task used to assay preferences.</p>
<p>These measures are used especially when there is no good counterpart on the opposite side: there is no spectrum to consider. Let's think about your examples:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In general, I prefer [Assertiveness / Clear communication]</p>
<p>I prefer my direct reports to be [Self-directed / Punctual]</p>
</blockquote>
<p>What would the &quot;opposite&quot; versions of these be? Some possibilities:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In general, I prefer [Assertiveness / Passiveness]</p>
<p>In general, I prefer [Opaque communication / clear communication]</p>
<p>I prefer my direct reports to be [Self-directed / Micromanaged]</p>
<p>I prefer my direct reports to be [Late / Punctual]</p>
</blockquote>
<p>With the exception of maybe the third one (level of oversight), the counterparts are not really that informative. No one wants their employees to be <em>late</em>, but someone might not mind so much if someone is <em>late</em> as long as they manage themselves. The test is trying to get at what your desires are when you weight dissimilar things against each other.</p>
<p>Another example might be food preferences: are sweet and sour opposites?</p>
<p>What about someone that likes, say, fruit flavors - those are both <em>sweet</em> and <em>sour</em> - you need a way to find that someone prefers sweet+sour over savory, or to find that another person likes sweet and savory foods, but doesn't like sour ones.</p>
<p>Other options in this circumstance might be to rank-order possibilities, but in general giving people just 2 options allows them to more quickly make a determination. You can develop rank orders later by analyzing the results of the individual paired items.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-02-06T22:08:18.050Z
2020-02-06T22:08:18.050Z
2020-06-17T09:55:31.633Z
Bryan Krause
<p>I've seen personality tests and industrial / organizational psychology tests that force one to choose between non-opposing concepts. What is the name of this question style, and what are the reasons to use it over a more standard question style that forces you to choose between opposing pairs?</p>

<p>Example questions:</p>

<p>In general, I prefer [Assertiveness / Clear communication]</p>

<p>I prefer my direct reports to be [Self-directed / Punctual]</p>

<statistics><test><data><experiment-design><survey>
What is the name of the survey question style that forces a choice between non-opposite pairs of items, and why is it used?
Ben Nilsson
# What is the name of the survey question style that forces a choice between non-opposite pairs of items, and why is it used?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-02-05)

I've seen personality tests and industrial / organizational psychology tests that force one to choose between non-opposing concepts. What is the name of this question style, and what are the reasons to use it over a more standard question style that forces you to choose between opposing pairs?

Example questions:

In general, I prefer [Assertiveness / Clear communication]

I prefer my direct reports to be [Self-directed / Punctual]

**Tags:** statistics, test, data, experiment-design, survey


---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2020-02-06. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

**Short answer**  
Forced-choice task

**Background**  
You have answered your own question:

> ...tests that force one to choose...

Such tests are generally referred to as **[forced-choice tests](http://www.cis.rit.edu/people/faculty/montag/vandplite/pages/chap_4/ch4p5.html)** in psychophysics. There are many applications of these tests. In general, AFC tasks are less biased than for example yes/no tasks [(Yushurun *et al*, 2008)](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1207/s15327043hup1803_4?casa_token=TZFMPieMBMYAAAAA:JCu0eiMcstIaQVOEy7P_lYYi5YtfUsFrQ5CIoyV5QqEL3LRHcNBLfkdURSrfomzVfOdVgQL73xMA). A sample paper on an AFC test for personality testing is [Christiansen *et al*. (2005)](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0042698908002599).

**References**  
**-** [Christiansen *et al*. *Human Performance* (2005); **18**(3): 267-307](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0042698908002599)  
**-** [yushurun *et al*. *Vis Res* (2008); **48**(17): 1837-51](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1207/s15327043hup1803_4?casa_token=TZFMPieMBMYAAAAA:JCu0eiMcstIaQVOEy7P_lYYi5YtfUsFrQ5CIoyV5QqEL3LRHcNBLfkdURSrfomzVfOdVgQL73xMA)

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: It's my understanding that forced-choice also refers to yes / no, A / B, less / more, or similar formats, yes? I'm more interested in the non-opposite or unrelated pairing aspect of the questions than the two-option answer aspect. Is there even a word to describe the specific type of question that pairs options that lie on entirely unrelated axes? Or am I mistaken in thinking that forced-choice refers to all of them?  
> **username_1**: @BenNilsson - I think they apply to all, given the linked Christiansen paper, but I am unsure to be honest.  

---

### Answer by username_2 on 2020-02-06. Score: 0

Like username_1's answer says, this is a form of forced-choice task used to assay preferences.

These measures are used especially when there is no good counterpart on the opposite side: there is no spectrum to consider. Let's think about your examples:

> In general, I prefer [Assertiveness / Clear communication]
>
> I prefer my direct reports to be [Self-directed / Punctual]

What would the "opposite" versions of these be? Some possibilities:

> In general, I prefer [Assertiveness / Passiveness]
>
> In general, I prefer [Opaque communication / clear communication]
>
> I prefer my direct reports to be [Self-directed / Micromanaged]
>
> I prefer my direct reports to be [Late / Punctual]

With the exception of maybe the third one (level of oversight), the counterparts are not really that informative. No one wants their employees to be *late*, but someone might not mind so much if someone is *late* as long as they manage themselves. The test is trying to get at what your desires are when you weight dissimilar things against each other.

Another example might be food preferences: are sweet and sour opposites?

What about someone that likes, say, fruit flavors - those are both *sweet* and *sour* - you need a way to find that someone prefers sweet+sour over savory, or to find that another person likes sweet and savory foods, but doesn't like sour ones.

Other options in this circumstance might be to rank-order possibilities, but in general giving people just 2 options allows them to more quickly make a determination. You can develop rank orders later by analyzing the results of the individual paired items.


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