What are the advantages and disadvantages of open-ended questions?
Open ended questions are those that ask for unforced opinions. There are no predetermined set of responses, and the participant is free to answer however he chooses.
Advantages of Open Ended Questions
- These questions are good for soliciting subjective data or when the range of responses is not tightly defined.
- This increases the likelihood of receiving unexpected and insightful suggestions, for it is impossible to predict the full range of opinion.
Disadvantages of Open Ended Questions
- The very nature requires them to be read individually.
- Secondly there is no way to automatically tabulate or perform statistical analysis on them.
- It is more costly in both time and money.
- This may not be practical for lower budget or time sensitive evaluations.
- They are also open to the influence of the reader, as no two people will interpret an answer in precisely the same way.
- A large number of responses can make this impossible.
- These questions require more thought and time on the part of
the respondent.