Structured and Unstructured Questions
One slide carries the only comparison of two collection choices anywhere in the week: eight advantage and disadvantage cells in two blocks that the source never labels. Here is that comparison, the inference required to use it, and the definition beneath it that contradicts three of the deck's own later slides.
The slide, exactly as it was extracted
The slide is titled "Types of questions". It contains a table in two blocks, each with an advantages column and a disadvantages column and two rows, and beneath the table three short statements. Nothing else appears on it — no worked question of either type, and no cross-reference to the wording rules on The Wording of Questions, which apply to both.
THE EIGHT CELLS, WITH THE BLOCK ASSIGNMENT MARKED AS INFERRED
| Block | Advantages, as printed | Disadvantages, as printed |
|---|---|---|
| Block 1 — reads as fixed-response questions (inferred) | "Helps respondents reply quickly and easily" · "Helps researcher summarise information efficiently" | "Constrains responses to limited information" · "Researcher does not get deep understanding" |
| Block 2 — reads as open questions (inferred) | "Rich, deep information obtained" · "Can explore a range of leads" | "Takes time and may be costly" · "Challenging in summarising and analysing" |
The two block descriptions in the first column are this page's inference. The source labels neither block and never ties either one to a question type.
Two senses of "structured", on one slide
The definitions beneath the table and the table above them are not using the two words in the same way, and the difference is not a subtlety. It changes what the comparison is a comparison of.
The sense the table's content follows
- A structured question fixes the response options in advance
- An unstructured question leaves the answer open
- This is what "Constrains responses to limited information" describes
- It is the distinction that produces the advantages and disadvantages listed
- It is also the sense that makes the later slide title "Choices of responses in structured questionnaires" mean something
The sense the slide's definitions state
- "Structured: respondent writes reply"
- "Unstructured: interviewer writes reply"
- This is a distinction about who holds the pen, not about the answer
- It is the same criterion the deck used four slides earlier to divide questionnaires from interviews
- Under it, every questionnaire is structured and every interview is unstructured
What each type can capture
The two sides of the comparison, in the source's own terms
Speed at both ends
The advantages given are that respondents reply "quickly and easily" and that the researcher can "summarise information efficiently". Both are about effort — the respondent's when answering, yours when the answers arrive.
A ceiling on what can be said
The cost is stated twice over: responses are constrained "to limited information", and the researcher "does not get deep understanding". What a fixed set of options cannot capture is anything you did not anticipate when you wrote the options.
Depth and unanticipated leads
The advantages given are "Rich, deep information obtained" and "Can explore a range of leads". The second is the one that matters most in practice: an open question can return something you had not thought to ask about.
Time, cost and analysis
The costs are "Takes time and may be costly" and "Challenging in summarising and analysing". No time, no cost and no analysis method is attached to any of the three.
Read as a pair, the eight cells describe one trade: you can have answers that are quick to give and quick to summarise, or answers that can surprise you. The material states the trade and states nothing about how to strike it — no ratio, no rule about which questions in an instrument should be open, and no guidance about mixing the two in one instrument at all. The design rules that govern both types equally are on Designing a Questionnaire.
What each type costs at the analysis stage
This is where the comparison bites, and where the material stops. Two of the eight cells are about analysis rather than collection: fixed responses help you "summarise information efficiently", and open responses are "challenging in summarising and analysing".
It is worth knowing, once, where this table sits. The week's single stated learning objective is to evaluate methods of data collection, and the delivery audit of the week records that verb as undelivered: no two methods are compared with each other on any criterion anywhere in it. These eight cells are the closest the week comes, which is why one unlabelled table carries more weight than it should have to.
THE ANALYSIS COST OF EACH CHOICE, AND WHAT THE SOURCE SUPPLIES FOR IT
| Question type | What the source says about analysing it | What the source supplies to do it with |
|---|---|---|
| Fixed responses | Helps the researcher summarise information efficiently | Three response formats on a later slide, and the following week's tables, graphs and measures of central tendency |
| Open responses | "Challenging in summarising and analysing" | Nothing in this week. The next week's coding content is defined as transformation into a form understandable by computer software |
The asymmetry is the finding. The instrument the material warns you about is the one it gives you no method for.
The choice is really a decision about your analysis plan
The source presents the two types as a comparison and gives no rule for choosing. The decision table below is this page's construction, built from the source's own eight cells and from nothing else — the conditions are yours to test, and the material supplies the consequences.
Working the choice backwards from your analysis
What this slide does not settle
- No measure attaches to any disadvantage. "Takes time and may be costly" states no time and no cost; "deep understanding" is never defined.
- No guidance on mixing the two in one instrument, although the following slides plainly assume an instrument containing both.
- No rule about how many open questions an instrument should carry, or where they should sit in the sequence.
- No connection to the response formats slide, which arrives two slides later and supplies the fixed options this slide's block 1 depends on.
- No treatment of the middle ground — a fixed list with an "other, please specify" option is nowhere in the material.
- No labels on the table itself, which is where this page began.
What to carry forward
- The eight advantage and disadvantage cells are the only comparison of two collection choices in the entire week.
- The two blocks are unlabelled in the source. Any assignment of them to structured and unstructured questions is an inference and should be declared as one.
- The slide defines structured and unstructured by who writes the reply, which contradicts its own later slides on structured interviews and structured questionnaires.
- The table's content follows the conventional sense — fixed options against open answers — so two senses of the same word sit on one slide.
- Fixed responses buy speed for the respondent and efficient summary for you; open responses buy depth and unanticipated leads.
- Open responses are named as challenging to summarise and no method for summarising them appears anywhere in the week.
- Choose question types from your analysis plan backwards, because the material gives you the trade-off and no rule for striking it.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a structured and an unstructured question here?
The slide says structured means the respondent writes the reply and unstructured means the interviewer writes the reply. That is a statement about who records the answer, not about whether the answer is constrained, and it conflicts with the same deck's later references to structured interviews and structured questionnaires. The table above the definitions uses the conventional sense instead — fixed options against open answers.
Which block of the advantages table belongs to which question type?
The source does not say. Block 1, which mentions constrained responses and efficient summary, reads as fixed-response questions; block 2, which mentions rich information and exploring leads, reads as open questions. That reading is an inference from the content and the order of the statements beneath, and it should be declared as an inference if you reproduce the table.
How do I analyse open-ended answers using this material?
You cannot. The material states that open responses are challenging to summarise and analyse and supplies no method, no coding scheme and no worked example. The following week's coding content is defined as transforming data into a form understandable by computer software and never links back to open text. Choose a method from a second source before you collect.
How many open questions should a questionnaire have?
The material states no number and gives no rule for mixing question types in one instrument. What it does supply is the trade-off: open questions buy depth and unanticipated leads at the price of time, cost and analysis difficulty, all three of which are stated without any measure.
Can I offer a fixed list with an "other, please specify" option?
Nothing in the material addresses it. The slide presents two types as an either-or and never discusses hybrids, so a mixed item is neither endorsed nor prohibited by this source. If you use one, decide in advance how the free-text answers will be handled, because that is the half the material gives you nothing for.
Is this comparison enough to justify my choice of question type in a write-up?
It gives you four advantages and four disadvantages and no criteria for weighing them, so on its own it is thin. State the analysis you intend for each question type and let the choice follow from that; the trade-off the source names is real, and your justification is stronger when it rests on what you will be able to do with the answers.
References and source attribution
- Bryman, A. 2016, Social Research Methods, 5th ed., Oxford University Press, Oxford.
- O'Leary, Z. 2017, The Essential Guide to Doing Your Research Project, 3rd ed., Sage Publications, London.
- Veal, A. J. 2005, Business Research Methods: A Managerial Approach, Longman.
- Trochim, W. M. K. 2006, Research Methods Knowledge Base.
- The supplied teaching source: the week 10 slide deck on collecting data, the "Types of questions" slide and its two unlabelled advantage and disadvantage blocks.
Suggested questions for Ask KEVOS
- Go through my draft instrument and tell me which questions should be fixed and which open.
- Write the expected result sentence for each of my draft questions so I can test my analysis plan.
- How should I describe my question types in a methodology chapter without using the word structured?
- What do I need from a second source before I can analyse my open-ended answers?
- Help me decide where in the sequence my open questions should sit.