These questions take the form of a question and an empty text field in which the respondent writes their answer either with text or numbers. There is no need to invent and create answer options to open-ended questions, which makes it very easy to create the entire questionnaire.

Captures the respondent’s true opinion about the question Complicated to process the results
Perfect for questions where it’s difficult to formulate answer options Interpreting the answers correctly
The respondent’s deeper reflection on the question The quality of the answers depends on the respondent’s
expression abilities
Collecting original opinions and thoughts  
Easy to create the questions  
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These are the most common types of open-ended questions:
1. Classical text question
2. Battery of questions
3. Test with unfinished sentences

These are the most common types of open-ended questions:

  1. Classical text question
  2. Matrix with text inputs
  3. Test with unfinished sentences

1. Classical text question

A simple type of question created by writing the question text and adding an empty text field for a text answer.

Example: 

Classical text question 1

Example: 

Classical text question 2

Example: 

Classical text question 3

This question is used very often, especially when you need to obtain unbiased information that could be otherwise influenced by offering answer options (as in closed-ended questions). It is traditionally used in cases when you want to know the respondent’s true opinion or get more detailed information to a closed-ended question. A beautiful example here is the so-called Net promoter score® (read the inspirational series about it), which is almost always supplemented by the open-ended question, in which people can explain their evaluation.


2. Battery of questions

Also known as Matrix with Text inputs. This type of question excels in the ability to combine multiple questions into one while inserting the respondent’s own text in each answer field.

Example: 

Battery of questions

3. Test with unfinished sentences

The test of unfinished sentences is a mutation of a text question. The same or very similar criteria apply to it as to the classical text question. You can use it, for example, when creating a slogan, or when you need to get an original approach to a problem.

Example:

Test with unfinished sentences

Example: 

Test with unfinished sentences

It is advised to only use the text questions if the possible range of answers is too wide. For example, if you are asking about the exact age or subjective opinion of the respondent, it is appropriate to use it. There are however also a number of problems with using the text question, the main one being the large variety of forms of answers. Therefore, always try to incorporate notes into the question. It will guide the respondents on the right path, eliminate their confusion, reduce the rate of them abandoning your survey and, most importantly, make the work of processing answers much easier for yourself.

In the next part, we will focus on specifically focused questions.

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