forced choice
No middle ground
Forced choice describes a situation where someone must select from a limited set of options, with no alternative permitted.
In research, a forced-choice question requires respondents to pick one answer rather than skipping or writing in their own: The survey used forced-choice questions to prevent neutral responses.
The term often implies the options don't fully represent one's actual preference: Voting for either candidate felt like a forced choice.
- dilemmaForced choice between undesirables
- no-win situationDilemma without good outcomes
- rock and a hard placeSituation with only bad choices
- binaryConsisting of two parts
- either-orPresenting two alternatives
false dilemma · all or nothing · ultimatum · take it or leave it · option · decision · alternative · lesser evil · coerced · pressure · mandate · restriction · limited · narrow · constrain · survey · questionnaire · research method
- questionsquestion, inquiry, questions, query, interrogatives
- choicesdecide, decision, select, selection, pick
- mind tricksoptical illusion, mind games, magic tricks, riddles, puzzles
- Psychophysicsauditory threshold, pain threshold, subliminal, liminal
- yes/no questionsclosed questions, true or false, do you, is it, are you
- psychometricsvalidity, reliability, item response theory, measurement error, dimensionality
forced choicefree choice
Unrestricted decision-making power
multiple choice · à la carte · freedom of choice · infinite possibilities · blank slate
forced choiceopen-ended
Lacking fixed boundaries
free response · fill-in-the-blank · write-in · essay question · free-form
force, forced, choice, choose, chose, chosen, choosing, choices, forces