PARTIAL NONRESPONSE AND DONT KNOW RESPONSES IN SURVEYS ON SEXUAL-BEHAVIOR

This article is bared on a secondary analysis of non-responses (NR) an d ''don't know'' (DK)-responses in two French surveys on sexual behavi our. The analysis is situated within a problem framework focusing on d issociating the respondent's ignorance concerning an experience or kno wledge of a behaviour and the way they are measured by means of DKs an d NRs. First, the specificity and diversity of the information collect ed in these surveys is described Then the plurality of signification o f non-responses (ignorance, embarrassment selective amnesia) and of DK s is compared and the role of each type of response in the exploitatio n of survey data discussed The article ends with a plea in favour of a qualitative approach to such responses in quantitative surveys.