1. Questions and Their Uses COMM 3420

2. Open Questions  Broad questions  Specify only a topic  Allow respondent freedom to determine the amount and kind of information to offer.

3. Kinds of Open Questions  Highly open  No restrictions  Moderately open  Some restrictions (like limiting the topic to a specific area).

4. Open Questions  Advantages  More information  Communicate trust  Reveal the respondents level of knowledge.

5. Open Questions  Disadvantages  Time consuming  Possibility of irrelevant information  Important to keep respondents on track.

6. Closed Questions  Narrow the focus  Restrict the interviewee’s freedom to determine the amount and kind of information.

7. Closed Questions  Moderately closed  Ask for specific and limited pieces of information.  Highly closed  Ask respondents to select appropriate answers.  Typical of an employment assessment or a physician interview.

8. Closed Questions  Bipolar questions  Responses are limited to two choices.  Advantages:  Interviewers can control the length of answers  Interviewers can guide interviewees.  Responses are easily tabulated.

9. Closed Questions  Disadvantages  Less information means more questions.  Do not reveal interviewee’s attitudes.

10. Types of secondary questions  Silent probes  Don’t say anything  Nudging probes  And…. So…  Clearinghouse probes  Ask them for fill in any missing information  Informational probes  To get additional information from a given answer.  “What do you mean by ‘a long time?’”

11. Types of secondary questions  Restatement probes  When interview doesn’t answer all of the primary question, repeat the question.  Restatement with vocal emphasis in a specific area.  Reflective probes  Reflects the answer received to verify or clarify the information.  They allow you to verify your interpretation of the information.

12. Types of secondary questions  Mirror probes  Ensures that you have understood a series of answers or have retained the information accurately.  Mirror does not reflect but summarizes a series of answers to make sure that the interviewer has an accurate understanding.

13. Supply the Probe  R: Define team work for me.  E: No response  R:

14. Supply the Probe  R: Are you going to buy season basketball tickets this year?  E: It depends  R:

15. Supply the Probe  R: Are you thinking of going to Florida this summer?  E: I’m still paying off my car loan.  R:

16. Supply the Probe  R: Why did you decide to study civil engineering?  E: I’d like to work outdoors.  R:

17. Neutral and leading questions  Neutral questions  Respondents decide on answers without pressure from the interviewer.  Promote (presupposes) honest answers.

18. Neutral and leading questions  Leading questions  Direct interviewees to specific answers.  Tempts the interviewee to make it easier to answer one way than another.  Leading questions will manifest interviewer bias.

19. Neutral and leading questions  Loaded questions  Dictate answers through language or entrapment.  Often they depend not just what the question is but HOW it is asked.

21. Identify the question  Tell me about your summer job at the dude ranch in Colorado?  Did you take the GRE exam last week?  Don’t you think you should start interviewing for positions before you graduate?  When did you first join the Marines?  Have you stopped padding your expense account?

22. Pitfalls in questions  The bipolar trap  Eliciting a yes/no response when you really want more information.  Reserve bipolar questions for probes to clarify information with a yes or a no.  Tell me everything  An extremely open question with no restrictions or guidelines.  “Tell me about yourself”

23. Pitfalls in questions  Open-to-closed switch  Begin with an open question but then add a closed question.  Double-barreled inquisition  Asking two questions instead of a one clear question.  Leading push  Asking a question that suggestions how a person ought to respond.  “Don’t you think that…?”

24. Pitfalls in questions  Guessing game  Trying to guess information instead of asking for it.  Yes (No) response  Asking a question that has an obvious answer.  An question that could be answered by “That’s what I just said.”

25. Pitfalls in questions  Curious probe  Asking for information because you’re curious, not because it fits your purpose.  Quiz show  Asking questions above or below the respondent’s capacity to answer.

26. Pitfalls in questions  Don’t ask, don’t tell  Asking questions that are socially, psychologically or situationally inappropriate.