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Open-ended question

An open-ended question is a type of inquiry that invites respondents to provide answers in their own words without restricting them to predefined options, such as yes/no or multiple-choice selections, thereby allowing for detailed, nuanced, and elaborated responses.^[1] In qualitative research, open-ended questions play a central role in methods like semi-structured interviews and surveys, where they facilitate the exploration of participants' experiences, opinions, and motivations by encouraging free-form expression that can reveal unexpected insights beyond initial researcher assumptions.^[2] These questions are particularly valuable in uncovering complex processes, personal narratives, and contextual details that closed-ended formats might overlook.^[3] Beyond research, open-ended questions are widely employed in educational settings to promote critical thinking and deeper engagement among students. For instance, teachers use them to elicit expanded reasoning, such as asking "How might this historical event have influenced modern society?" rather than seeking factual recall, which helps students process information collaboratively and build confidence in problem-solving.^[4] In classroom instruction, divergent open-ended questions—those prompting a range of substantive responses—contrast with convergent closed questions and support the development of higher-order skills like analysis and synthesis.^[5] The advantages of open-ended questions include generating richer, more authentic data that reduces researcher bias and allows emergent themes to surface organically.^[2] However, they can pose challenges in analysis due to the volume and variability of responses, often requiring thematic coding or qualitative software for effective interpretation.^[3] In user experience research, for example, they enable participants to freely describe interactions with products, yielding actionable insights into usability issues.^[6] Examples of open-ended questions span contexts: in surveys, "What factors most influence your purchasing decisions?" gathers multifaceted consumer feedback; in therapy or counseling, "How has this experience affected your daily life?" promotes reflective dialogue.^[7] Overall, their flexibility makes them indispensable for fostering dialogue and discovery across disciplines, though best practices emphasize clear phrasing to avoid ambiguity and ensure relevance to the inquiry's goals.^[1]

Definition and Characteristics

Definition

An open-ended question is a type of inquiry that encourages respondents to provide detailed, narrative, or explanatory answers rather than restricting them to predefined options or brief affirmations.^[8] Unlike closed-ended questions, which elicit yes/no responses or selections from a fixed set, open-ended questions promote expansive expression by allowing individuals to articulate their thoughts, opinions, or experiences in their own words.^[9] These questions typically begin with interrogative words such as "what," "how," or "why," which signal the need for elaboration beyond simple facts.^[10] Key criteria for an open-ended question include its inability to be adequately answered with a single word, yes/no, or static choice, instead requiring elaboration, reasoning, or personal interpretation to fully respond.^[11] This structure inherently invites complexity, as it lacks suggested answers and empowers the respondent to define the scope and depth of their reply.^[12]

Key Characteristics

Open-ended questions are distinguished by their flexibility in allowing respondents to provide responses of unlimited length and varied forms, such as narratives, arguments, lists, or personal anecdotes, without constraints on format or brevity.^[13] This structure enables qualitative depth, permitting individuals to express ideas in their own words and explore topics extensively, often revealing unanticipated insights or contextual details.^[3] Unlike fixed-response formats, this adaptability fosters richer data collection in settings like surveys or interviews, where the goal is to capture authentic perspectives rather than predefined options.^[14] A core trait of open-ended questions is their ability to prompt reasoning and critical thinking, as they require respondents to justify opinions, elaborate on experiences, or offer personal insights rather than simple affirmations.^[4] By demanding expanded processing of information, these questions encourage analytical engagement, helping individuals connect ideas and articulate underlying rationales.^[15] This characteristic is particularly valuable in educational and therapeutic contexts, where it supports the development of deeper cognitive skills without guiding the response toward a predetermined conclusion.^[16] The non-directive nature of open-ended questions ensures they avoid suggesting or leading toward specific answers, thereby promoting genuine and unprompted authenticity in responses.^[17] This neutrality allows respondents to freely explore their thoughts, reducing bias and enabling the emergence of original viewpoints.^[18] In practice, such questions maintain an open exploratory focus, prioritizing the respondent's unfiltered input over interviewer-imposed directions. Linguistically, open-ended questions are often marked by introductory phrases like "Describe," "Explain," "What," "How," or "Discuss," which invite elaboration rather than restriction.^[19] They deliberately steer clear of quantifiers or structures associated with closed formats, such as "yes/no" binaries or multiple-choice options, to sustain openness and breadth in replies. These markers signal to respondents that diverse, detailed expressions are expected and valued.^[20]

Historical Development

Origins in Philosophy and Rhetoric

The concept of open-ended questioning traces its roots to ancient Greek philosophy, particularly through the Socratic method as depicted in Plato's dialogues around 400 BCE. In works such as the Euthyphro and Meno, Socrates employs probing, open-ended questions to encourage interlocutors to examine their beliefs, uncover assumptions, and pursue deeper self-examination rather than seeking simple affirmations or denials.^[21] This elenctic approach, focused on broad inquiries like "What is piety?" or "What is virtue?", stimulates critical inquiry and dialectical progress without predetermined answers. In Aristotelian rhetoric, developed in the 4th century BCE, open-ended questions play a key role in persuasive discourse and debate, as outlined in On Rhetoric. Aristotle emphasizes interrogative techniques that draw out elaboration from opponents or audiences, such as challenging enthymemes (rhetorical syllogisms) to reveal inconsistencies and foster extended argumentation, thereby enhancing persuasion through reasoned dialogue rather than mere assertion.^[22] For instance, in forensic and deliberative settings, questions like "What follows from this premise?" invite comprehensive responses to build or refute cases, integrating dialectic with rhetorical strategy. During the medieval period, scholasticism further refined open-ended questioning in theological and philosophical inquiry, exemplified by Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century. In texts like the Quaestiones Disputatae de Veritate, Aquinas structures disputations around complex queries—such as "Whether truth resides only in the intellect?"—that avoid binary resolutions and instead present arguments pro and contra to explore profound conceptual depths.^[23] This method, rooted in university disputations, promoted exhaustive analysis and synthesis, laying groundwork for later intellectual traditions.

Evolution in Modern Psychology

In the early 20th century, Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory introduced open-ended questions as a core technique within free association, where patients were encouraged to verbalize thoughts without censorship or interruption to reveal unconscious motivations and repressed memories.^[24] This method, detailed in Freud's seminal works such as The Interpretation of Dreams (1900) and Studies on Hysteria (1895, co-authored with Josef Breuer), relied on the analyst's open-ended probes—such as "What comes to mind?"—to facilitate uncensored expression, marking a shift from directive interrogation to exploratory dialogue in clinical psychology.^[25] By prioritizing depth over structure, Freudian practice established open-ended questioning as a tool for accessing subconscious processes, influencing subsequent therapeutic approaches.^[26] Mid-century developments in educational psychology further formalized the role of open-ended questions through Benjamin Bloom's Taxonomy, published in Taxonomy of Educational Objectives (1956), which categorized cognitive skills into hierarchical levels from knowledge recall to evaluation.^[27] Open-ended questions were aligned with higher-order thinking domains, such as analysis (e.g., "How does this process work?") and synthesis (e.g., "What alternative solutions exist?"), promoting critical engagement beyond rote memorization.^[28] This framework, revised in 2001 by Anderson and Krathwohl to emphasize active verbs like "evaluate" and "create," underscored open-ended formats as essential for fostering complex cognitive development in learning environments.^[29] The post-1970s paradigm shift toward qualitative research methodologies amplified the use of open-ended questions in empirical studies, particularly through grounded theory as articulated by Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss in The Discovery of Grounded Theory (1967).^[30] This approach advocated for open-ended interviews to generate theory inductively from participant narratives, emphasizing depth and contextual richness over quantitative breadth, as seen in the method's core process of constant comparative analysis.^[31] Influencing fields like sociology and psychology, grounded theory positioned open-ended questioning as a rigorous tool for exploring lived experiences, with subsequent refinements by Strauss and Juliet Corbin in Basics of Qualitative Research (1990) reinforcing its systematic application in data collection.^[32] In the 2020s, open-ended questions have evolved through digital technologies, integrating into AI-driven chatbots and online survey platforms to elicit nuanced user responses in real-time interactions.^[33] For instance, conversational AI systems, such as those employing natural language processing, use open-ended prompts to gather detailed feedback, improving response quality and reducing superficial answers compared to closed formats, as demonstrated in studies on chatbot surveys.^[33] This adaptation, supported by advancements in machine learning for thematic analysis of textual data, enables scalable collection of qualitative insights in virtual environments, as evidenced by platforms like those analyzed for customer sentiment in online chats.^[34]

Comparison to Closed-Ended Questions

Structural Differences

Open-ended questions differ from closed-ended questions in their phrasing and syntax, which fundamentally shapes the interaction and expected response. Open-ended questions typically employ interrogative words or phrases—such as "what," "how," "why," "describe," or "explain"—that invite elaboration and narrative development, often inverting the subject-auxiliary structure to front the wh-element in English syntax. For instance, a question like "What factors influenced your decision?" prompts a multifaceted reply by leaving the scope undefined. In contrast, closed-ended questions rely on polar (yes/no) structures or enumerated options, using auxiliary verbs at the sentence's start for binaries (e.g., "Did that factor influence your decision?") or presenting fixed choices (e.g., "Which factor influenced your decision? A, B, or C?"), thereby constraining the linguistic form to elicit precise, limited outputs.^[35] The response formats mandated by these structures further highlight their divergence. Open-ended questions provide unstructured space—such as blank fields in surveys or verbal prompts in interviews—for respondents to articulate thoughts in their own words, yielding extended narratives, lists, or descriptive passages that reflect personal context and nuance. Closed-ended questions, however, enforce categorical or numerical inputs, producing discrete data points like selections, ratings (e.g., on a Likert scale), or binary confirmations, which streamline aggregation but restrict depth. This format difference arises from the intentional design: open-ended questions are crafted for exploratory purposes, allowing respondents to reveal unanticipated details and fostering richer qualitative data, while closed-ended questions emphasize efficiency and quantifiability, enabling rapid processing and statistical comparison across large samples.^[36] These structural variances also introduce distinct challenges in measurement and analysis. Open-ended responses exhibit high variability in length, vocabulary, and perspective, complicating objective scoring and often requiring interpretive approaches like thematic analysis to code and categorize emergent patterns systematically. For example, responses to "How did you feel about the experience?" might range from brief anecdotes to detailed essays, necessitating iterative review to derive reliable themes. Closed-ended responses, by design, minimize such variability through predefined scales, permitting straightforward quantification via frequencies or averages, though at the expense of capturing subtleties. This analytical burden for open-ended questions underscores their suitability for in-depth inquiry rather than high-volume, standardized assessment.^[37]

Functional Differences

Open-ended questions differ functionally from closed-ended questions in their capacity to elicit information, primarily by allowing respondents to provide expansive, self-generated responses that reveal underlying motivations, attitudes, and contextual details, whereas closed-ended questions are designed to elicit specific, predefined answers that confirm discrete facts or preferences.^[6]^[9] For instance, open-ended formats have been shown to uncover nuanced criticisms and emotional drivers in respondent experiences that closed-ended options often overlook due to their restrictive structure.^[38] This yields richer qualitative data from open-ended questions, enabling deeper exploration of complex phenomena, while closed-ended questions facilitate efficient verification of binary or categorical information.^[9] In terms of interaction dynamics, open-ended questions promote extended dialogue by inviting elaboration, which helps build rapport and encourages respondents to share freely, fostering a collaborative exchange that can sustain engagement over multiple turns.^[6]^[39] In contrast, closed-ended questions streamline interactions by prompting quick, direct replies, which can expedite data collection but may limit depth and lead to more superficial exchanges if over-relied upon.^[6]^[9] Regarding bias potential, open-ended questions mitigate response bias associated with leading or suggestive options in closed formats, as they permit unprompted expression without predefined categories that could influence answers.^[9] However, they can introduce interviewer or interpretive bias through subjective probing or coding of varied responses.^[40] Closed-ended questions, by standardizing responses across participants, reduce subjectivity and enhance comparability, thereby minimizing variability from individual interpretation.^[41]^[38] Open-ended questions demand higher levels of analytical processing from respondents, engaging cognitive functions such as synthesis, evaluation, and creative articulation to construct detailed narratives, which contrasts with the recall or recognition tasks typically required by closed-ended questions.^[6]^[5] This elevated cognitive engagement in open-ended formats supports deeper reasoning but increases mental effort, while closed-ended questions lower the processing load by relying on selection from given alternatives.^[9]^[42]

Applications and Uses

In Education and Assessment

In higher education, open-ended questions are commonly employed in essay exams and prompts to evaluate students' deep understanding and ability to synthesize information, such as through directives like "Discuss the implications of climate change on global economies." These formats allow learners to demonstrate analytical skills beyond rote memorization, promoting higher-order thinking as outlined in Bloom's taxonomy. For instance, essay questions require elaboration on concepts, revealing not only knowledge but also application and evaluation, which closed-ended formats often overlook. Research indicates that such assessments are particularly effective in fields like medicine and social sciences, where constructed-response items correlate strongly with overall competence (0.89–0.96 correlation of automated tools with human grading).^[43]^[44] In classroom discussions, open-ended questions facilitate student-led inquiries by encouraging elaboration and diverse viewpoints, thereby building critical thinking skills essential for collaborative learning. Teachers use these questions to stimulate recall, comprehension, and higher-level analysis, shifting from teacher-centered to student-driven dialogue; for example, prompts like "Why do you think this historical event unfolded as it did?" prompt substantive responses and peer exchanges. Studies show that divergent questions increase student participation and cognitive engagement, with only about 31% of typical classroom queries being open-ended, yet they yield broader insights into misconceptions. This approach aligns with Socratic methods, enhancing synthesis and evaluation in group settings.^[5]^[4] Open-ended questions play a distinct role in formative assessment, where they provide ongoing feedback to guide learning, contrasting with summative uses that measure end-of-unit mastery through graded depth via rubrics. In formative contexts, such as journal reflections or class probes, they allow instructors to gauge progress in real-time, identifying gaps in understanding without high-stakes pressure; for example, "How would you apply this theory to a real-world scenario?" elicits detailed responses for targeted instruction. Rubrics for these assessments focus on criteria like clarity, evidence use, and originality, ensuring equitable evaluation of response quality. In summative scenarios, like final essays, they integrate with benchmarks to assess comprehensive outcomes, though they demand more time for scoring than multiple-choice alternatives. Evidence from educational practices highlights their efficacy in improving learning trajectories when used iteratively.^[45]^[46]^[47] The inclusivity benefits of open-ended questions extend to accommodating diverse learning styles, including those of English as a Second Language (ESL) students, by permitting varied expression without rigid structures that disadvantage non-native speakers. These questions enable ESL learners to draw on personal experiences and visual aids in responses, fostering confidence and deeper engagement in content areas like language arts or science. For visual or kinesthetic learners, prompts allowing descriptions or connections to prior knowledge reduce barriers posed by verbal precision demands, promoting equity in participation. Research on ESL classrooms emphasizes that open-ended formats increase talk time and proficiency by encouraging elaboration over simple recall, supporting multicultural environments.^[48]^[49]

In Research and Surveys

Open-ended questions play a central role in qualitative methodologies, particularly ethnography and case studies, where they facilitate the collection of rich, emergent themes through participants' detailed narratives. In ethnography, these questions enable researchers to immerse themselves in participants' environments, capturing comprehensive accounts of behaviors, actions, and social contexts that reveal underlying cultural patterns.^[50] Similarly, in case studies, open-ended questions support the development of "thick descriptions" from one or a few individuals, allowing for in-depth exploration of specific experiences and events that might otherwise remain obscured by structured formats.^[50] This approach yields contextual insights and uncovers nuanced patterns, prioritizing depth over breadth in data gathering.^[1] In survey design, open-ended questions are strategically placed toward the end to elicit unanticipated insights and personal experiences that extend beyond the scope of closed-ended items, fostering a more holistic understanding of respondents' perspectives.^[1] Analysis of these responses typically involves thematic coding to identify recurring motifs and key expressions, often facilitated by software such as NVivo, which supports systematic organization through steps like importing data, conducting word frequency queries, and refining codes into hierarchical nodes.^[51] For instance, NVivo's tools allow researchers to cross-tabulate coded themes against respondent attributes, enabling efficient handling of large datasets while staying close to the original text.^[51] Ethical considerations are paramount when using open-ended questions, as they invite respondents to share personal narratives that may touch on sensitive topics, necessitating measures to ensure comfort and privacy. Researchers must obtain informed consent, clearly outlining the study's purpose, potential risks, and participants' right to withdraw, while minimizing any psychological harm through supportive language and access to resources.^[52] Anonymity is achieved by avoiding collection of identifiable information, particularly in surveys, to prevent linking responses to individuals, whereas confidentiality involves protecting known identities in qualitative contexts by using pseudonyms and aggregating data.^[53] These practices build trust and encourage candid responses on vulnerable subjects like health or discrimination.^[53] Hybrid approaches in research often integrate open-ended questions with closed-ended ones to achieve triangulation, enhancing validity through cross-verification of qualitative depth and quantitative breadth in mixed-methods studies. As outlined by Creswell (2009), designs such as the convergent parallel model collect both data types concurrently, analyzing them separately before merging results to corroborate findings and explain discrepancies.^[54] This triangulation strengthens the overall robustness of research outcomes, particularly in exploratory or explanatory sequences where qualitative insights illuminate quantitative patterns.^[54]

In Interviews and Therapy

In job interviews, open-ended questions serve as a fundamental tool for interviewers to probe candidates' experiences, skills, and thought processes in depth, allowing respondents to provide narratives that reveal personal insights and behavioral patterns beyond simple yes-or-no answers. For instance, questions like "Tell me about a challenge you faced in a previous role and how you overcame it" encourage candidates to elaborate on specific situations, demonstrating problem-solving abilities and self-reflection. This approach is particularly effective in behavioral interviewing, where the goal is to elicit detailed accounts that predict future performance based on past actions.^[55] In therapeutic settings, open-ended questions form a cornerstone of client-centered therapy, developed by Carl Rogers, which emphasizes a non-directive, empathetic dialogue to facilitate clients' exploration of emotions and self-understanding without therapist-imposed judgments or advice. Rogers outlined this method in his seminal work, advocating for techniques such as reflective listening and clarification through questions that invite clients to express feelings freely, such as "How does that make you feel?" or "Can you tell me more about what you're experiencing?" This fosters an environment of unconditional positive regard, enabling clients to resolve internal incongruences and achieve personal growth autonomously. The approach, pioneered in the early 1940s and formalized in 1951, prioritizes the client's expertise in their own life, using open-ended prompts to enhance self-awareness rather than directing toward predetermined outcomes.^[56] Open-ended questions are equally vital in investigative contexts like journalism and policing, where they elicit comprehensive, unprompted accounts from sources or witnesses to uncover nuanced details and minimize leading influences on responses. In policing, guidelines recommend starting with broad prompts such as "What happened?" or "Tell me about the incident" to gather accurate, voluminous information in witnesses' own words, supported by empirical evidence from laboratory studies showing increased recall and reduced distortion compared to closed questions. Similarly, in investigative journalism, reporters favor open-ended inquiries to build rapport and extract rich narratives, avoiding yes/no formats that limit depth unless clarifying specifics, thereby ensuring stories reflect authentic perspectives.^[57]^[58] Cultural adaptations in cross-cultural interviews highlight the need for sensitivity to varying response styles when employing open-ended questions, as directness, elaboration levels, and comfort with personal disclosure differ across societies, potentially leading to misinterpretations if not addressed. For example, in many Asian contexts, interviewees may provide contextualized, indirect responses requiring patience for full elaboration, while U.S. norms favor concise, structured answers, necessitating interviewers to adjust prompts for cultural fit to maintain rapport and accuracy. In Latin American settings, open-ended questions should accommodate anecdotal, relational storytelling to align with preferences for warmth and narrative flow, preventing perceptions of rudeness from overly probing styles. Such adaptations, informed by cross-cultural communication research, ensure equitable information gathering by respecting hierarchical norms, pacing, and silence as reflective rather than evasive.^[59]

Advantages and Limitations

Benefits

Open-ended questions provide depth of insight by allowing respondents to elaborate on their thoughts, revealing underlying reasons, attitudes, and creative perspectives that closed-ended formats often overlook. Unlike yes/no or multiple-choice options, these questions elicit detailed, nuanced responses that uncover motivations and experiences, fostering a richer understanding of complex human behaviors and opinions.^[50]^[60] They enhance engagement by building trust and promoting active participation in interactions, as respondents feel empowered to share freely without restrictive prompts. This approach encourages dialogue and deeper involvement, particularly in educational and conversational settings, where it supports psychological safety and stimulates ongoing exchange.^[61]^[5] Open-ended questions demonstrate adaptability to intricate topics, such as policy feedback or personal growth discussions, where predefined answers cannot capture multifaceted views. Their flexibility enables exploration of sensitive or evolving subjects, yielding comprehensive data that informs decision-making in qualitative contexts.^[62]^[50] In addition, they stimulate innovation by fostering diverse ideas during brainstorming, avoiding premature convergence on limited options and instead promoting fluency and originality in thinking. This quality makes them valuable for generating breakthrough concepts, as evidenced in leadership and creative problem-solving practices.^[63]^[64]

Drawbacks

Open-ended questions, while valuable for eliciting detailed responses, present several inherent challenges that can hinder their effective use in research, surveys, and assessments. One primary drawback is the significant time consumption associated with both responding to and processing these questions. Respondents often require more effort to formulate thoughtful answers, leading to longer completion times—for instance, surveys incorporating open-ended questions can take up to 18% longer to complete compared to those with closed-ended formats. This extended duration contributes to respondent fatigue and higher dropout rates, particularly in time-sensitive settings like online surveys.^[9]^[65] Analysis of open-ended responses adds further complexity due to the subjective nature of interpretation and the expertise required for coding. Unlike closed-ended questions, which yield easily quantifiable data, open-ended answers must be manually categorized, a process that is labor-intensive and prone to researcher bias in theme identification. These responses often straddle qualitative and quantitative boundaries, complicating decisions on analytical methods and increasing the risk of inconsistent coding across studies. However, recent advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) tools, such as those using natural language processing for thematic analysis, are helping to automate coding and reduce bias as of 2025.^[66]^[9]^[67] The respondent burden imposed by open-ended questions can also lead to frustration and incomplete participation, especially among those who prefer structured formats or have lower literacy levels. Completion rates for such questions typically range from 30% to 58%, with dropout occurring more frequently—up to 27%—during open-ended sections, as participants may feel overwhelmed by the need to articulate complex thoughts without guidance. This burden disproportionately affects certain demographics, such as younger individuals or those with dependents, resulting in lower overall response quality and participation.^[66]^[9]^[65] Finally, open-ended questions pose comparability issues when aggregating data for statistical analysis or cross-study comparisons. The variability in response depth and format makes it challenging to standardize data for trend identification, often introducing non-response bias since those who reply tend to be more articulate or invested than non-responders. Demographic factors, including age, income, and question placement within the survey, further influence response likelihood, undermining the representativeness of findings relative to closed-ended approaches that facilitate easier numerical aggregation.^[66]^[65]

Examples Across Contexts

Everyday Communication

In everyday communication, open-ended questions serve as a fundamental tool for fostering deeper personal connections during casual interactions, such as checking in with friends or partners. For instance, asking "How was your day?" invites elaboration on experiences and emotions rather than a simple yes-or-no response, encouraging the sharing of details that build empathy and intimacy in relationships.^[68] This approach contrasts with closed questions and helps sustain dialogue by prompting narrative responses that reveal personal insights.^[69] In parenting and family settings, open-ended questions play a crucial role in encouraging children to express their feelings and thoughts, promoting emotional development and stronger bonds. Parents might ask, "What did you enjoy most about school today?" to elicit specifics about a child's day, helping to identify joys or challenges without leading the conversation.^[70] Such questions, as outlined in family communication strategies, support active listening and repair minor conflicts by validating a child's perspective, such as inquiring, "What kind of relationship would you like with me and why?"^[70] Social settings, like gatherings or casual encounters, benefit from open-ended questions as icebreakers that move beyond superficial small talk to create meaningful exchanges. Examples include "What are you looking forward to this week?" or "What do you love most about where you live?" which spark engaging discussions and help participants feel more connected.^[68] In everyday scenarios, such as meeting someone at a store, questions like "What are you going to make with that?" extend interactions naturally, enhancing social comfort and rapport.^[69] During conflict resolution in personal relationships, open-ended questions facilitate understanding by allowing individuals to articulate their viewpoints without defensiveness. In family disputes, prompts like "Help me understand how I upset you?" encourage honest expression and de-escalate tension, as supported by research on relational repairs.^[70] Similarly, asking "What are your main concerns about this?" in arguments between partners or friends uncovers underlying issues, paving the way for collaborative solutions and preserving harmony.^[68]

Professional Scenarios

In professional settings, open-ended questions facilitate deeper engagement and information gathering by encouraging detailed responses from participants. In business meetings, they promote collaborative problem-solving by inviting team members to share insights and ideas freely. For instance, a manager might ask, "What strategies do you suggest for addressing this challenge?" to foster collective input and build trust among new leaders.^[71] This approach enhances learning and innovation within organizations, as questions like these unlock diverse perspectives and drive performance improvements during discussions.^[72] In customer service interactions, open-ended questions help agents uncover nuanced customer needs and preferences, leading to more effective resolutions. A common example is, "How can we improve your experience with our product?" which elicits actionable feedback on pain points and expectations.^[73] Such inquiries build rapport and reveal underlying issues, such as vendor performance or decision-making criteria, allowing service teams to tailor solutions and increase satisfaction.^[73] During legal proceedings, open-ended questions are essential in direct examinations and witness interviews to obtain comprehensive, unbiased narratives without leading the respondent. Attorneys often use prompts like "What happened next?" or "How did the events unfold from your perspective?" to allow witnesses to recount details in their own words.^[74] This technique ensures testimonies appear genuine and flow naturally, providing courts with fuller context while adhering to rules against suggestive questioning.^[75] In scientific collaborations, particularly during peer reviews, open-ended questions probe the novelty and implications of research, encouraging authors to clarify contributions. Reviewers might ask, "How does this work advance the field?" to explore innovative aspects, such as potential experimental validations or broader impacts.^[76] Similarly, in evaluating manuscripts, questions like "Did the author adequately discuss the topic's implications?" stimulate detailed explanations of originality and relevance, strengthening the review process.^[77]

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Qualitative Interviewing and Grounded Theory Analysis
In this chapter, I address how grounded theory methods shape qualitative interviewing in relation to personal narratives and guide analysis of interview data.
[34]
Chatbot breakthrough in the 2020s? An ethical reflection on ... - NIH
Sep 4, 2021 · In this paper, we take a proactive approach and consider how the emergence of task-oriented chatbots as partially automated consulting systems can influence ...
[35]
Can Conversational AI Improve Survey Research? |…
Aug 22, 2025 · Since 2019, researchers have demonstrated that chatbot-based surveys can produce higher quality responses with reduced satisficing behavior ...
[36]
Engaging Customers with AI in Online Chats: Evidence from a ...
Oct 1, 2025 · We examine how artificial intelligence (AI) affected the productivity of customer service agents and customer sentiment in online ...
[37]
Yes-no versus wh- questions
As the name implies, the answer to a yes-no question is either 'yes' or 'no.' The answer to a wh- question is expressed by a constituent that corresponds to the ...
[38]
Sage Research Methods - Open- and Closed-End Questions
In research, open-end questions must be designed so that the available answer space or time coincides with question importance. Moreover, there is some ...Missing: seminal | Show results with:seminal
[39]
A comparison of open-ended and closed questions in the prediction ...
Sep 6, 2011 · Open-ended questions provided more in-depth information than closed questions, but at the cost of more missing data and less degrees of freedom.Missing: linguistics | Show results with:linguistics
[40]
Combining Open & Closed Questions for Patient Surveys
Overall, the study highlighted the fact that responses to the open-ended question provide a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the hospitalization ...Missing: seminal | Show results with:seminal
[41]
Effects of the narrative elaboration technique and open-ended ...
Jan 8, 2025 · In that study, children in the open-ended question condition provided roughly 2.5 times more event-related details than children in the direct- ...
[42]
A Catalog of Biases in Questionnaires - PMC - PubMed Central
Questionnaire bias is a result of unanticipated communication barriers between the investigator and respondents that yield inaccurate results. Bias may arise ...
[43]
Research and scholarly methods: Mitigating information bias
May 19, 2025 · Use closed-ended, specific questions? ... Instead of asking broad, open-ended questions, specific and in-depth questions would limit bias.
[44]
Questions for Assessing Higher-Order Cognitive Skills: It's Not Just ...
Oct 13, 2017 · We present an exploratory study of biologists' ideas about higher-order cognition questions. We documented the conversations of biologists who were writing and ...Skip main navigation · INTRODUCTION · METHODS · RESULTS
[45]
[PDF] Use of Open-Ended Questions in Measurement and Evaluation ...
When the types of questions used in Distance Education and Assessment are examined, the use of Open-Ended. Questions is less than that of other methods when ...
[46]
Should essays and other “open-ended”-type questions retain a ...
Nov 28, 2014 · Written assessments fall into two classes: constructed-response or open-ended questions, such as the essay and a number of variants of the short ...
[47]
[PDF] The Use of open-ended items for giving feedback during the ... - ERIC
Oct 3, 2022 · Abstract: Feedback plays an important role in classroom learning and teaching process. This study focuses on how feedback can be more ...<|separator|>
[48]
Do Written Responses to Open-Ended Questions on Fourth-Grade ...
Second, online formative assessment often involves open-ended questions that students answer in writing. These types of questions in online formative ...
[49]
[PDF] 60 Formative Assessment Strategies | Oklahoma.gov
Using open-ended questions allows you to determine ...
[50]
Innovative Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners
Jul 6, 2022 · Include open-ended questions in your lessons; Provide daily low-stakes writing opportunities in all content areas. 4. Promote Classroom ...
[51]
Increasing Student Talk Time in The ESL Classroom
Aug 9, 2019 · And since the words are written down, it feels a lot safer and easier for the learner to get started with English. Ask open-ended questions.
[52]
Qualitative Study - StatPearls - NCBI Bookshelf - NIH
Qualitative research, at its core, asks open-ended questions whose answers are not easily put into numbers, such as "how" and "why."[2] Due to the open-ended ...
[53]
[PDF] The Craft of Using NVivo12 to Analyze Open-Ended Questions
Jun 22, 2022 · The aim of this paper is to explore and explicate a method for using NVivo12 to analyze the responses to open-ended questions in surveys. It ...
[54]
Ethical Considerations in Research | Types & Examples - Scribbr
Oct 18, 2021 · Ethical considerations in research include voluntary participation, informed consent, anonymity, confidentiality, potential for harm, and ...Missing: open- comfort
[55]
Confidentiality and Anonymity of Participants
Confidentiality and anonymity are ethical practices designed to protect the privacy of human subjects while collecting, analyzing, ...
[56]
chapter 3 - choosing a mixed methods design - Sage Publishing
The data-validation variant is used when the researcher includes both open- and closed-ended questions on a questionnaire and the results from the open-ended ...
[57]
Types of Questions | People & Culture - UC Berkeley
Open-ended questions are basic to any effective interview because they call for candidates to relate information and ideas that they feel are important.
[58]
Person-Centered Therapy (Rogerian Therapy) - StatPearls - NCBI
Feb 9, 2023 · Person-centered therapy, also referred to as non-directive, client-centered, or Rogerian therapy, was pioneered by Carl Rogers in the early 1940s.Missing: open- | Show results with:open-
[59]
Witnesses' own words and open questioning - College of Policing
Nov 24, 2020 · An open-ended question, for example one which begins with 'tell me', 'explain' or 'describe', is the best kind of question for gaining good ...
[60]
Introduction to Investigative Journalism: Interviewing Techniques for ...
Nov 26, 2024 · Open-ended questions are, of course, favored most of the time. Nevertheless, in some exceptional cases, direct and specific questions can be of ...
[61]
[PDF] Interviewing Across Cultures
If invited to ask questions, the expectation may be that the questions are more general, open-ended, and exploratory in nature rather than detailed and ...
[62]
Integrating open- and closed-ended questions on attitudes towards ...
Oct 16, 2023 · The main benefit of using open-ended questions in research is that participants' responses are freely constructed rather than suggested by the ...
[63]
Teachers' use of open questions: investigating the various functions ...
Nov 22, 2021 · This study identifies the various functions of open questions in whole-class teaching in language arts classrooms in primary school.
[64]
Qualitative Research: Essence, Types and Advantages
The use of open-ended questions and probes offers respondents the opportunity to respond freely in their own words, than having to choose from a fixed set of ...
[65]
What kind of questions do creative people ask? - ScienceDirect.com
In this study, we investigated the relation between creativity indicators—fluency and originality—and three types of questions: Open- vs. Closed-Ended questions ...<|separator|>
[66]
Better Brainstorming - Harvard Business Review
Better Brainstorming: Focus on questions, not answers, for breakthrough insights. by Hal Gregersen From the Magazine (March–April 2018)
[67]
[PDF] Open-Ended Survey Questions: Item Nonresponse Nightmare or ...
Although there are several strengths of this study, some limitations should be noted. Given the data collection procedures and response rates, the sample.
[68]
"Any other comments?" Open questions on questionnaires – a bane ...
Nov 8, 2004 · The habitual "any other comments" general open question at the end of structured questionnaires has the potential to increase response rates.
[69]
How to Ask Open-Ended Questions (& The 150 Best to Ask)
Aug 14, 2025 · Are you feeling okay? How are you feeling today? Medical Appointment, Do you have any symptoms? What symptoms have you been experiencing?
[70]
Small Talk | Practice | Greater Good in Action
Stick to open-ended questions. Questions about who, what, when, where, or why can help sustain your conversation, while questions that can be answered with ...
[71]
Family Conflict Resolution: 6 Worksheets & Scenarios (+ PDF)
Nov 22, 2021 · This article explores how to resolve conflict in family relationships and introduces strategies and activities that can help with kids too.
[72]
Asking Open-Ended Questions Helps New Managers Build Trust
Sep 17, 2015 · Asking Open-Ended Questions Helps New Managers Build Trust ... In many companies and organizations, new managers are selected as a result of their ...
[73]
The Surprising Power of Questions - Harvard Business Review
Asking questions is a uniquely powerful tool for unlocking value in organizations: It spurs learning and the exchange of ideas, it fuels innovation and ...
[74]
The art of asking open-ended questions - HubSpot Blog
Jul 25, 2025 · Examples of Open-Ended Questions. What are the top priorities of your business at the moment? What are some of the best decisions you've made ...
[75]
Direct Examination: How to Lead Your Witness in a Non-Leading ...
Sep 18, 2013 · Questions should be short and open-ended, and begin with “who,” “what,” “where,” “when,” “why,” or “how” or short phrases such as “tell us” or “ ...
[76]
The Art of Storytelling: 10 Techniques to Ensure Your Witnesses Win ...
Nov 5, 2024 · Encourage witnesses to share full, nuanced answers by asking open-ended questions, which allow their story to flow naturally and appear genuine.
[77]
Peer Review Examples - F1000Research
Peer reviews can include good explanations of relevance, detailed analysis, critical re-review, positive feedback, and concise reviews with suggestions.
[78]
Sample Forms - Peer Review - SERC (Carleton)
Dec 21, 2006 · A list of open-ended questions can encourage students to provide more detailed feedback. Inform the students that the amount of space you leave ...