OPEN ENDED SURVEY

QUESTIONS
BY ZIE KIM
 Explanation

Open-ended survey questions are free-form survey questions that allow

respondents to react in an open text manner, allowing them to respond based on
their own knowledge, sentiments, and comprehension. This indicates that the
answer to this question is not confined to a single alternative.

Unlike a closed-ended question, which limits survey replies to the alternatives

provided, an open-ended question allows you to go deep into the respondent's
responses, gathering useful information on the issue at hand. The answers to
these questions can be used to elicit extensive and descriptive information about
a subject.

Qualitative market research relies heavily on open-ended inquiries. This research

method largely focuses on open and subjective questions and replies on a specific
topic of discussion, with room for further probing by the researcher dependent on
the respondent's answer. Closed-ended questions are commonly used to collect
qualitative data from respondents in a typical scenario.

When creating surveys, we must frequently determine whether to employ open-

ended or closed-ended questions to obtain particular information. However, we
must keep in mind that open-ended and closed-ended questions have various
strengths and limitations and perform in different ways.
 Open-ended question examples

Respondents prefer open-ended questions because they have complete flexibility

over what they want to answer to and are not constrained by a limited number of
possibilities. The beauty of open-ended questions is that they can never be
answered in a single phrase. They will take the shape of lists, phrases, or
something lengthier, such as a speech or paragraph.

So, to help you grasp this better, consider the following instances of open-ended
questions:

How do you propose to use your present expertise to help the company develop
if hired?

Customer-facing open-ended question: Please explain a situation in which our

online marketplace assists you in making day-to-day purchases.

Could you briefly describe the back-end Javascript code template utilized for this
website?

What is your age? This is an open-ended demographic inquiry. (asked without

providing survey alternatives)

How do you usually handle stress and anxiety? (open-ended

personal/psychographic inquiry)

In a Pew Research survey, respondents were asked, "What mattered most to you
when determining how you voted for president?" One group was asked in a
closed-ended question style, while the other group was asked in an open-ended
question format. The outcomes are as follows:

In the close-ended question structure, 58 percent of respondents picked "the

economy," whereas only 35 percent wrote a response indicating "the economy"
in the open-ended format. It is worth noting that only 8 percent of respondents
chose "other" in the close-ended question format. With the open-ended
approach, 43 percent of respondents submitted an answer that would be
classified as "other."

Question Types: Open-Ended vs. Closed-Ended

Open-ended inquiries encourage responders to express themselves verbally

without limiting their views. They lack the objectivity and dominance of closed-
ended queries.