Chapter 3
Questions and
Their Uses
Chapter Summary
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Open and Closed Questions
Primary and Secondary Questions
Neutral and Leading Questions
Common Question Pitfalls
Summary
© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Open and Closed Questions
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Open Questions
• Open questions are broad, often specifying only
a topic, and allow the respondent considerable
freedom in determining the amount and kind of
information to offer.
© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Open and Closed Questions
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Open Questions
• Highly Open Questions
• Moderately Open Questions
• Open Questions Have Advantages
• Open Questions Have Disadvantages
© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Open and Closed Questions
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Closed Questions
• Closed questions are narrow in focus and
restrict the interviewee’s freedom to determine the
amount and kind of information to offer.
© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Open and Closed Questions

Closed Questions
• Moderately Closed Questions
• Highly Closed Questions
• Bipolar Questions
• Closed Questions Have Advantages
• Closed Questions Have Disadvantages
© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Primary and Secondary
Questions
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Primary questions introduce topics or new
areas within a topic and can stand alone
even when taken out of context.
Secondary questions attempt to discover
additional information following a primary or
secondary question. They are often called
probing or follow-up questions.
© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Primary and Secondary
Questions
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Types of Secondary Questions
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Silent Probes
Nudging Probes
Clearinghouse Probes
Informational Probes
Restatement Probes
Reflective Probes
Mirror Probes
© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Primary and Secondary
Questions
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Skillful Interviewing with Probing Questions
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Skillful probing leads to insightful answers.
Be patient and be persistent.
© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Primary and Secondary
Questions
© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Neutral and Leading Questions
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Neutral questions encourage honest
answers.
Leading questions direct interviewees to
specific answers.
Interviewer bias leads to dictated
responses.
Loaded questions dictate answers through
language or entrapment.
© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Neutral and Leading Questions
© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Common Question Pitfalls
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The Bipolar Trap
The Open-to-Closed Switch
The Double-Barreled Inquisition
The Leading Push
The Guessing Game
The Yes (No) Response
The Curious Probe
Complexity Vs. Simplicity
The Quiz Show
The Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Summary
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Questions are the tools of the trade for both
interviewers and interviewees.
Knowing question types, unique uses, and
advantages and disadvantages, allows one to
develop considerable interviewing skill.
© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.