Closed versus open questions. Two basic types of questions are closed questions and open questions. A closed question asks the subject for one or more of a fixed set of responses. An open question allows the subject to answer in his or her own words; the interviewer writes down the responses and classifies them later. An example of an open question is What do you believe about the afterlife?

An example of a closed question is What do you believe about the afterlife? Do you believe

a. there is an afterlife and entrance depends only on your actions?

b. there is an afterlife and entrance depends only on your beliefs?

c. there is an afterlife and everyone lives there forever?

d. there is no afterlife?

e. I don’t know.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of open and closed questions?AppendixLO1