Survey

Open-Ended Question
Question Example
What components of food quality need improvement in your dining hall?
Question Strengths and Limitations
The open-ended question above has the advantages of allowing for an unlimited range of responses and revealing respondent’s thought about the issue under investigation. Responses from such questions also help in clarifying and expanding closed responses. It, however, has the limitations of requiring a lot of time to respond to, difficulty in analyzing responses since analysis requires coding, and different level of detail in responses by different respondents. The researcher’s control over the response length is also restricted.
Close-Ended Question
Question Example
Does the quality of food in your dining hall need improvement?
Question Strengths and Limitations
The main strength of the question above is that it allows for people who are less experienced in expressing their views and opinions to respond to the survey. It also takes limited time to respond to, and the responses are easy to analyze. Lastly, the person conducting the survey controls the length of responses. The question, however, has the limitations of restricting the depth of inquiry into the issue under investigation since respondents can only provide a yes or no response. It also does not reveal what the respondent thinks about the issue under investigation.
Partially Open-Ended Question
Question Example
What class of nutrients lacks most in your dining hall meals?
Proteins
Carbohydrates
Fats
Vitamins
Minerals
Other
Question Strengths and Limitations
This type of question has the strengths of allowing for quick answers and easy analysis.

It, however, suffers two limitations. It does not allow for thorough exploration of the question. It also leads the respondent into quicker pre-categorization which increases the potential for information loss.