Open-ended Questions: Some Implications for Mail Survey Research

This study analysed data from a mail survey to test two hypotheses about responses to open -ended questions and found that providing more space for responses to an open-ended question produced marginally more words and ideas per response, but did not generate a greater total number of ideas.

Abstract

This study analysed data from a mail survey to test two hypotheses about responses to open-ended questions. Providing more space for responses to an open-ended question produced marginally more words and ideas per response, but did not generate a greater total number of ideas. Similarly, encouraging respondents to write positive or negative comments to an open-ended question did not produce either more words or more ideas. However, the question cue provided influenced both the number and content of the responses received. Thus researchers need to decide on their objective for using an open-ended question and use the cue most likely to achieve it.