
Unit 4: Research design
Types of question
There are many different types of question you can use to get the information you need. Generally, the questions will either be open or closed. An open question allows the respondent to use their own words to answer (“What do you think are the main causes of racism?”), whilst a closed question gives pre-defined options (“Which of the following do you think are the main causes of racism: a, b, c, d”). Some advantages and disadvantages of each are in the table below:
Open questions | Closed questions |
---|---|
Gets “rich” qualitative data | Elicits quantitative data |
Encourages thought and freedom of expression | Can encourage ‘mindless’ replies |
May discourage responses from less literate respondents | Are easy for all literacy levels to respond to |
Takes longer to answer and may put some people off | Are quick to answer and may improve your response rate |
Are more difficult to analyse; responses can be easily misinterpreted | Are easy to ‘code’ and analyse |
SMILE - Research design - Questionnaire design by Student Services, University of Bath modified by Marion Kelt, Glasgow Caledonian University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.