Many things are essential for a survey’s success, one being how effectively you ask questions. Out of the two major question types, when to use open-ended versus closed-ended questions can determine your survey’s effectiveness.
Where open-ended questions bring deeper insights, close-ended ones are crucial to clarifying minute details and obtaining quantifiable data without any unexpected or unwanted insights. During user research and analysis, asking the right questions can help uncover insights, understand your audiences, and even build rapport with your user base.
Let’s delve deep into a discussion on close-ended and open-ended questions in some detail.
Difference between open-ended and closed-ended questions in a survey
Every survey has two types of questions: close-ended and open-ended. Each type has its purpose and extracts a different set of data you will need for a better understanding.
Use closed-ended questions to collect specific and quantifiable data, including demographic information and preferences. Answers to closed-ended questions can be quickly answered and analysed, which makes them an essential element for large-scale surveys.
On the other hand, open-ended questions are better for a deep dive into more complex topics. They are used to gather detailed feedback, understand the respondent’s perspectives, and describe and explore the reasoning.
Parameter | Closed-ended question | Open-ended question |
Format of the question | It’s a structured question followed by predefined answer choices. These may be multiple-choice questions, Likert scales, rating scales, etc. | The questions ask for a descriptive answer and require the respondents to share personal experiences and opinions as answers. |
Type of data analysis | Quantitative data analysis leads to percentage-wise reports. The percentages calculated according to the responses shared by the participants. The final report signifies the number of participants preferring a single option out of the four. | Qualitative data analysis requires researchers to go through every answer to find actionable information and insights. |
Response time | Faster response time as respondents have to choose from predefined choices. | There will be slower response times as respondents need time to think and frame their answer so that it clearly defines everything. |
Data collection method | It is mostly used to collect data in surveys, polls, and questionnaires. | Mostly asked in interviews, text and video surveys, and focus groups. |
Analytical easiness | The answers can be easily analysed and quantified with a tool. | The answers are more difficult to analyse and require an in-depth analysis to better understand the respondents’ perspectives. |
Example | Has the newly added feature made editing images easier?
| How do you think the newly added feature changed the image editing experience? |
When to use closed-ended and open-ended questions?
Remember that there isn’t a competition between close-ended and open-ended questions. Both questions are essential for a survey, depending on what kinds of insights you wish to gather. Hence, here are a few things to consider: close-ended and open-ended survey questions.
1. What sort of data and insights do you need?
The questions you ask in a survey will directly influence the type and quantum of data. One of the best ways to choose between what sort of questions you need to write is to assess whether you need quantitative or qualitative data points.
For instance, when a restaurant owner wants to know how many people out of 100 liked their restaurant, the question will be, “On a scale of 1 to 5, how satisfied are you with our service?”
It’s a rating question and provides statistical quantifiable data about the qualification levels.
However, for a qualitative analysis, the question will be, “What do you like the most about our dining experience? Do you think we can change anything to make it even better?”
This type of question will generate descriptive feedback, including comments on food, ambience, service, etc. You can use it to allow users to express their thoughts and feelings in some detail and provide valuable insights.
To sum up, use closed-ended questions if you want quantifiable data and need to know the numbers behind user experiences. Go for open-ended questions when you want more than plain data and wish to understand reasoning, details, and the customer’s perception.
2. How interested is your audience in taking a survey?
Your respondents will shape the survey for the better. Without their acceptance and ability to give honest answers, you cannot expect the study to be successful. But how does this matter when choosing between open-ended and closed-ended questions?
Well, it matters in specific contexts. Audiences won’t have much time to devote to a survey, which means they’ll be more comfortable with closed-ended questions.
For example, if you are sharing a survey with your customers immediately after they make a purchase to ask about their checkout experience, keep in mind that they may be willing to spend only a minute to complete it.
Hence, analyse such situations and share a survey accordingly. So with people who want to share their checkout experience (positive or negative), you will have a higher response rate, and with this information, you can keep the survey’s length short. As open-ended questions take more time and effort, many users may choose not to take a survey with such questions.
In such cases, you can make open-ended questions optional. Although it’s nice to gain extra information, your survey script should be such that even if users ignore the open-ended questions, the result won’t matter for your next steps.
Mastering the art of asking open-ended questions
Asking closed-ended questions is easy as you get a lot of assistance through the options included in the survey. But when it comes to open-ended questions, things are more complex than you want.
For instance, if you ask, “How would you rate your overall webinar experience?” at the end of the session, you are collecting quantitative data, which gives you a figure on how many attendees liked attending the website and how many didn’t.
The options you can include are;
- Very helpful
- Helpful
- Not helpful at all
While this type of question keeps things simple, they provide limited information on what changes can be done to improve the attendee’s experience and deliver the value they expect from it.
But if you want them to give detailed answers, frame the questions well. For instance, “What were your key takeaways from the webinar? Were you able to find some specific insights you can implement in your work/life?”
Here are some tips for writing good open-ended questions that will get you answers;
- Follow up a close-ended question with an open-ended one: If you want to extract more information on a topic, you can always follow up a close-ended question with an open-ended one.
For instance, add “Please explain or share more details” to a question like, “On a scale of 1 to 5, how would you rate your first experience using our application?”
The respondents who want to share more will give a detailed answer, while others can ignore it. - Use open-ended questions to start a conversation: When asking open-ended questions, remember it’s possible that answers can lead to offshoots. So, in addition to getting the answers you need, users may provide additional details that are entirely out of context but relevant.
More information from your customers is always beneficial, provided you understand how to filter the noise from good insights. Hence, you should try to frame open-ended questions that bring more information than is required. - Write clear and unbiased questions: Whether you are asking open-ended or closed-ended questions, ensure they are clear and unbiased. Your questions should be unbiased, unambiguous, and easier to understand. The language you use should be clear and without any extra clauses.
In essence, you shouldn’t ask leading questions like, “Don’t you agree that our new product is superior to the ones you have used before?” - Tap into the user’s emotions and experiences: To get honest answers, ensure you are making respondents use their emotions while answering. Questions like, “Can you describe a time when our product made a difference in your day?” will prompt customers to share personal experiences and anecdotes about using the product.
- Learn to embrace negative customer feedback: One of the most essential things in a survey is that you cannot ignore negative feedback. We have seen some people strangely word negative questions, making it hard for respondents to understand the questions.
It may sting to hear negative feedback from your customers, but you can take it as an opportunity to empathise with your customers and fuel improvements in the product.
To sum it up
Open-ended and closed-ended questions are integral to every survey. Both types of questions are necessary, but the trick is to create the right balance between them. Asking too many open-ended questions will ultimately wear out the respondents, and they can leave at midday, while asking too many closed-ended questions will leave a lot out.
Hence, you need to find a compromise. A better approach is to use UserQ for creating and running your survey. We will help you create the survey according to your requirements, whether you want to measure satisfaction, get customer feedback, or get a sense of the market.
Find more about how we can help you by contacting the UserQ team.
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