Closed-ended question
A closed-ended question is a question format that limits respondents with a list of answer choices from which they must choose to answer the question.[1] Commonly these types of questions are in the form of multiple choices, either with one answer or with check-all-that-apply, but also can be in scale format, where respondent should decide to rate the situation in along the scale continuum, similar to Likert questions.
Ordinal-scale questions
Respondents are asked to decide where they fit along a scale continuum. These questions contain an ordered set of answers. A common ordinal scale asks about levels of satisfaction.[1]
Open ended questions
A closed-ended question contrasts with an open-ended question, which cannot be answered with a simple "yes" or "no", or with a specific piece of information, and which gives the person answering the question scope to give the information that seems to them to be appropriate. Open-ended questions are sometimes phrased as a statement which requires a response.
Examples of open-ended questions:
- Tell me about your relationship with your supervisor.
- How do you see your future?
- Tell me about the children in this photograph.
- What is the purpose of government?
- Why did you choose that answer?
At the same time, there are closed-ended questions which are sometimes impossible to answer correctly with a yes or no without confusion, for example: "Have you stopped taking heroin?" (if you never took it), see "Loaded question".
See also
References
- Howard Schuman and Stanley Presser (October 1979). "The Open and Closed Question". American Sociological Review. 44 (5): 692–712. doi:10.2307/2094521. JSTOR 2094521.