Two kinds of question
The questions used in surveys, interviews, questionnaires, and focus groups can be divided into two categories: open-ended and closed questions.
Each type has strengths and weaknesses, so it is important to understand the difference between them, and when to use one or the other.
Closed questions
A closed question is one where people are offered a predetermined set of options e.g. yes, no, don’t know; age categories, options on a rating scale such as strongly agree, agree. Examples are shown below.
Q. Was the duration of the workshop?
□ Too long
□ About right
□ Too short
Q. Into which of the following age categories do you, and those you are visiting with, fall?
□ under 5 □ 5-11 □ 12-17 □ 18-24
□ 25-34 □ 35-54 □ 55-65 □ over 65
Q. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements?
Questions that imply there is a limited set of answer options are also, technically, closed questions. For example:
- How much did you enjoy the workshop?
Most people will answer this question with just two or three words – a lot, not very much etc. Phrase such as: ‘how much’; ‘how many’; ‘how often’ imply – intentionally or unintentionally - there are a limited range of answers to choose from. You are very unlikely to get detailed responses to such questions.
The strange thing about closed questions
In everyday life we learn to treat closed questions as if they were open-ended. Suppose you asked a friend:
“Did you have a relaxing break over Christmas?
And they said:
“No”
And nothing else, it would feel they were being rather rude. Yet this single word answer is a perfectly reasonable response to that question. We learn to treat closed questions in everyday conversations as if they were open-ended. However, stressful or awkward situations, such as being interviewed or filling in a questionnaire, in we revert back to answering closed questions with one or two words.
If you ask the question - ‘Did you enjoy the workshop?’ – it does not matter how big an empty box you put underneath it; most people will give a one or two word answer. If you want a fulsome answer, you must ask a genuinely open-ended question.
Open-ended questions
These are questions where the person responding must use their own words to provide an answer. For example:
- What in particular did you enjoy about the workshop?
- In what ways has the exhibition changed your opinion about …?
Answer options are neither offered, nor implied.
Pros and cons of Closed Questions
| Pros | Cons |
|
Quick & easy to answer Easier for people to understand the topic of the question & how they should respond |
The answer options may not represent what people actually think, feel or did. There is no opportunity for people to expand on their answers |
|
People more likely to provide an honest response to a direct, closed question |
|
|
Easier to process the data - answers already sorted into categories; comparable data collected from each respondent |
Pros and cons of open questions
|
Pros |
Cons |
|
Much richer data. People can explain in detail what they did, felt and thought and why Can elicit nuanced responses – you are not forcing people to choose one specific opinion. Can capture unanticipated answers |
Requires more time & effort to answer Interviewer needs to accurately record the answer - as far as possible verbatim |
|
Can use quotes to illustrate the findings of the research |
A lot more time & effort required to process & analyse the data. The answers must be sorted into meaningful categories. For more on this see: How to analyse data from open-ended questions |
| People can be wary of being critical when using their own words |
It is important to remember that open-ended questions are used in both quantitative and qualitative research. Just because you have asked an open-ended question does not mean you have conducted qualitative research. For more on this see The difference between qualitative and quantitative research