What are the advantages and disadvantages of using open-ended questions? In general, do the advantages or disadvantages predominate?

What are the advantages and disadvantages of using open-ended questions? In general, do the advantages or disadvantages predominate?



Answer: The main advantage of open-ended question is that they can follow-up on things that arise during the interview that the researcher didn't think of in advance. The main disadvantage is that open-ended questions are very difficult to codify (i.e., boil down to simple data during pre-processing). This disadvantage is so great that open-ended questions are avoided (unless you're planning to write a pop- psych book, instead of publish in a journal).

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