> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://help.dscout.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://help.dscout.com/recruit-participants/partner-panels/knockout-logic-in-partner-panels-screeners.md).

# Knockout logic in Partner Panels screeners

Recruiting from Partner Panels helps you find participants who meet more specific, often niche criteria. However, there are sometimes limitations imposed by Dscout’s third-party partners. For example, using knockout logic on multi-select questions works a little differently from how you might be used to with a standard Dscout screener.

## Limitation

Standard knockout logic on multi-select questions allows you to apply one of three options to each answer choice on a given question:

* **May select:** A participant may or may not select this answer with no bearing on their qualification.
* **Must select:** If a participant **does not** select this answer, they are disqualified, regardless of their other selections.
* **Knockout:** If a participant selects this answer, they are disqualified, regardless of their other selections.

In a standard Dscout screener, you can include multiple **Must select** answers and only require participants to select *one* of these answers in order to qualify. However, Partner Panels screeners require participants to select all answers marked **Must select** in order to qualify—even if you only need them to select one.

## Solution

If you want to program a multi-select question to have more than one acceptable response in a Partner Panels screener, you can do so using a combination of knockout logic and skip logic.

Let’s say you’re looking for participants who have used either a drip coffee maker *or* French press in the past year and only want to disqualify those who’ve used neither. Here’s what your first question would look like:

**Which of the following ways have you made coffee in the past year? Please select all that apply.**

* Drip coffee maker (May select)
* French press (May select)
* Espresso machine (May select)
* Pour over (May select)
* Other (May select)

You’d then follow this with a question in which all answers are marked as **Knockout** responses. The content of the question doesn’t matter because its only purpose is to disqualify the participants who see it (more on this later). Here’s an example:

**Which of the following best describes where you live?**

* Urban (Knockout)
* Suburban (Knockout)
* Rural (Knockout)

The important thing here is that **only the participants you want to disqualify should see this question**. So, you’d then apply skip logic to your acceptable answers so anyone who selects those skips the disqualifying follow-up. In this case, that would be **Drip coffee maker** and **French press**. By applying skip logic to these answers and not the others, you ensure anyone who only selects **Espresso machine**, **Pour over**, or **Other** is sent to your disqualifying question and knocked out of the screener.

Here’s how this series of questions would look while building your screener:

![](/files/bae16accb8a3ff0db65dde174ba2aaca9beb5483)


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