Open-Ended Questions

Advantages of open-ended questions

First, it permits participant to answer in own words, and on own terms. You can understand topic as seen by participant. It reduces but does not eliminate researcher bias. It allows discussion of context, and meaning.

No structure

How do you feel about...? OR What is your opinion about...?

Disadvantages of open-ended questions

It takes more time during and after interview. The response may be irrelevant to the question/problem/issue of interest. It is hard to get comparable data.

Some structure

Tell me about your feelings regarding the size of the class. OR Tell me something about the class that you don't like.

Prompts

This is used to generate discussion when participants either do not respond to an initial question or have a very limited response. It aids by trigger a reminder or an association.

Probes

This is used to generate discussion when participants either do not respond to an initial question or have a very limited response. It clarifies a response and gets more specific information.

Do not use dichotomous questions

A guideline for writing open-ended questions -> no yes or no responses

Be prepared to use prompts and probes

A guideline for writing open-ended questions -> used to elicit further information

Illustrative role format

A guideline for writing open-ended questions; Instead of (Did you like the Self, Social and Global Awareness workshop during orientation?) -> use this (Some people did not like the Self, Social and Global Awareness workshop at all, and others liked it very much. Tell me how you felt about it.)

Role-play simulation

A guideline for writing open-ended questions; Instead of (Is the Young Men's Clinic welcoming to gay young men?) -> use this (Suppose I was a young gay man coming to this clinic for the first 0me, tell me what that would be like?)

Prefactory statement

A guideline for writing open-ended questions; Instead of (What are your thoughts on IV drug use?) -> use this (This next set of questions is about drug use, specifically using IV drugs. These questions about IV drugs are very important because ...)

Use the question "why?" sparingly

A guideline for writing open-ended questions; Instead of (Why did you come to this clinic) -> Consider what you really want to know (e.g. the influence of social norms on choosing a clinic? A characteristic of the clinic that drew the patient in)

Supposition lead-in

A guideline for writing open-ended questions; Instead of (have you ever had sex?) -> use this (how many sexual partners have you had?)

Supportive

A type of probe -> Examples: "you've really been working hard to help us understand this issue" and "thank you, your answers are valuable."

Clarification

A type of probe -> I was a bit confused about when you described your experience with x,y,z, can you clarify that for me?

Detail

A type of probe -> can you give me a specific example of what you just described?

Summary Transition

A type of probe -> so far we've heard about x, y, and z, do you have any other thoughts before we move on?

Elaboration

A type of probe -> tell me more about that...