Asking Questions - The Definitive Guide To Questionnaire Design ...

ASKING AND RECORDING QUESTIONS 153
9. In face-to-face interviewing, even very complex ratings can
be accomplished by means of card-sorting procedures.
Using Open-Answer Formats
A potentially valuable part of any survey questionnaire consists of
open-ended questions. Respondents answer open-ended questions
in their own words, rather than just tick one of the limited list of
alternatives provided by the surveyor. The interviewer simply
records verbatim the respondent’s answer to the question. Blank
spaces or fields are left in the questionnaire after the question, and
the respondent or the interviewer writes or types in a response.
Interviewers are expected to indicate by probe marks (usually an X
placed after a respondent’s answer) where they intervened to ask a
question or to seek clarification. An example of a respondent and
interviewer dialogue in the open-answer format might be as follows:
Interviewer: What are the most important problems facing the
nation today?
Respondent: I don’t know. There are so many.
Interviewer: That’s right; I’d just like to know what you think
are the most important problems.
Respondent: Well, there’s certainly government spending.
Interviewer: Government spending. How do you mean? Could
you explain that a little? What do you have in
mind when you say “government spending”?
Respondent: There’s no end to it. We have to cut down federal
spending somehow.
Interviewer: Any others?
Respondent: No, I think those are the most important ones.
The first response indicates that the respondent may need more
time or more license to think about the question. The interviewer’s
probe gives the respondent encouragement and time to think. The