Interviewing Techniques: Closed, Leading, and Open-ended Questions
Closed-ended questions are specific questions with a specific answer.
Questions that can be answered with a "yes" or "no" come under this heading. I
try never to ask a "yes" or "no" question in an interview. I always want more
than a one-word answer. Sometimes you need to ask a specific question, such as
"When were you born?" That's all right when all you really want are the facts,
such as when building the time line or filling in a lost detail. That's about
the only time you want to use them.
Open-ended questions are questions that leave the answer very open to
what informants wants to say. It gives them a topic, but doesn't tell them what
to say about it or even hint at what you'd like to hear. For instance, "Did you
like your grandfather?" is a CLOSED question. But, "How much did you like your
grandfather?" is not totally closed, but it is a LEADING question—it assumes
they liked their grandfather and guides them to say so.
Leading questions are
poison to a good interview because people almost always try and tell you
what they think you want to hear. A good open-ended question is "How did you
feel about your grandfather?" Practice by inventing a few questions and
answering them yourself. For each question, come up with the closed, leading, or
open-ended version of it.
GENERAL HINT
"How/what do you feel/think about…" are good lead-ins for a general,
open-ended question. If the answer they give to a question seems too short,
follow up with "Tell me more about that."
I often go back, even to the beginning of a time-line, and ask questions like
"What is your earliest memory?" "How did you feel when your older sister got
married?" If they claim they don't remember their childhood, there are several
ways to try and elicit information by being a little specific. You can ask,
"What did you want to be when you grew up?" Or "What games did you play?" "Who
was your first friend?" "…best friend?" Even these specific questions should be
generalized…you don't want to lead too much and put words in their mouths.
Remember to use your open-ended questions.
Gradually fill in all the gaps in the timeline and, as you go, record
anything that comes up, even if it doesn't fit in linear time. Emotional life
doesn't follow time lines. Gather jokes, pictures, stories, and memories of
older folks in the family who are long gone. Stories may be second hand, but the
person telling them now is passing along what is important to them or it
wouldn't come up.