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Home > Blog > Data Visualization > Add-ons > Microsoft Excel >

Open-Ended vs Closed-Ended Questions: Difference & Examples

Do you want to know how your customers perceive your product? Or are you looking to understand your target market? Surveys are a dependable method for determining what people think and want.

open-ended vs closed-ended questions

Questions round out communication. They allow us to understand the situation and gain new insights in both professional and personal settings.

There are two kinds of inquiries: open-ended questions and closed-ended questions.

Surveys require you to ask or answer questions. To conduct a successful survey, you must learn how to employ these questions successfully.

Table of Content:

  1. What is an Open-Ended Question?
  2. What is a Closed-Ended Question?
  3. Advantages and Disadvantages
  4. Examples of Open-Ended and Closed-Ended Questions
  5. How to Analyze Closed-Ended Questionnaire Data in Excel?
  6. Tips for Writing Open-Ended and Closed-Ended Questions
  7. Wrap Up

Continue reading to learn more about open-ended vs. closed-ended inquiries. We will also provide the necessary information you need to ask them correctly.

What is an Open-Ended Question?

A query without a predetermined response is an open-ended question. It challenges the respondent to reflect and offer an answer based on their perspectives and experiences. You can use open-ended inquiries to understand someone, their thoughts, and feelings and explore ideas.

Why, how, or what are the common opening words for open-ended questions. They take the form of a question and do not contain assumptions or presuppositions.

What is a Closed-Ended Question?

A question with a predetermined response is referred to as closed ended. The question must be answered with no further details from the response. The purpose of closed-ended questions is to elicit information or a yes-or-no response.

Closed-ended queries frequently begin with the words “is,” “are,” “do” or “did.” They take the form of a statement and don’t ask the respondent for extra details.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Below are some advantages and disadvantages of open-ended and closed-ended questions:

Advantages and Disadvantages of Open-Ended Questions

Open-ended questions have the advantage of provoking thought. They prompt responses based on the respondent’s unique experiences and viewpoints. You gain insights into the respondent’s ideas and feelings while fostering an interesting dialogue.

Open-ended inquiries generally have the drawback of being challenging to respond to. The person may be hesitant to answer or need help responding. Consequently, the conversation could become awkward or unpleasant.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Closed-Ended Questions

Closed-ended questions are easy to answer. The respondent only needs to say yes or no; they don’t need to give any other information. Because of this, they are ideal for gathering facts or getting a yes or no answer.

The main disadvantage of closed-ended questions is that they can limit what people can say. They do not leave room for more information or new ideas and can make conversations one-dimensional.

Examples of Open-Ended and Closed-Ended Questions

Below are some examples of open-ended and closed-ended questions:

Examples of Open-Ended Questions

Here are some examples of open-ended questions:

  1. What do you think about the current political situation?
  2. What inspired you to pursue this career?
  3. How do you feel about the recent policy changes?
  4. What do you think about the situation of international politics at the moment?
  5. What changes do you want to see at your workplace?
  6. What do you think are the biggest challenges facing your organization right now?
  7. How can we improve our customer service?
  8. What unique insights or perspectives do you bring to this project?
  9. What do you think is the most important issue facing our society today?
  10. How can we use new technologies to improve our lives?
  11. What kind of changes would you like to see in your community?
  12. How can we foster more meaningful relationships between people?
  13. What would you do if you had unlimited time and money?
  14. What comes to your mind when you hear the word ”freedom”?

Examples of Closed-Ended Questions

Here are some examples of closed-ended questions:

  1. Is the sky blue?
  2. Are you happy?
  3. Do you like ice cream?
  4. Did you attend the meeting?
  5. Is the current policy effective?
  6. Do you agree with the statement?
  7. Are you a student?
  8. Do you like pizza?
  9. What is your favorite color?
  10. Do you like going to the movies?

How to Analyze Closed-Ended Questionnaire Data in Excel?

Excel is effective tool for organizing data, but it is not the best for analysis of survey data. The truth is that spreadsheet is difficult to analyze survey data. It’s overwhelming to look at a wall of numbers and derive meaning.

The Likert Scale Chart visually expresses responses along a scale to show how prominent each selection is. The more people that choose an answer, the wider the section becomes.

Unfortunately, the Likert Scale Chart isn’t an option among chart types offered by Excel. For the easiest way to make this survey data visualization in this application, we recommend ChartExpo.

ChartExpo is an add-in tool for Excel. It is a chart gallery offering new visualization options and a more efficient way of making charts.

You can use ChartExpo to make Likert Scale Charts in minutes from your survey data. You can also make visualizations for any other type of data you may deal with regularly.

How to Install ChartExpo in Excel?

  1. Open your Excel application.
  2. Open the worksheet and click on the “Insert” menu.
  3. You’ll see the “My Apps”.
  4. In office Add-ins window, click on “Store” and search for ChartExpo on my Apps Store.
  5. Click on “Add” button to install ChartExpo in your Excel.

ChartExpo charts and graphs are available both in Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel. Please use the following CTA’s to install the tool of your choice and create beautiful visualizations in a few clicks in your favorite tool

Example

A software company wants to evaluate the response of its customers to a specific software. Use the five-point Likert Scale presented below:

    • 1 = Strongly Disagree
    • 2 = Disagree
    • 3 = Neutral
    • 4 = Agree
    • 5 = Strongly Agree

Let’s say you have obtained the following data.

Questions Scale Responses
The checkout process was easy 1 269
The checkout process was easy 2 270
The checkout process was easy 3 463
The checkout process was easy 4 797
The checkout process was easy 5 730
The software fulfilled your requirements 1 117
The software fulfilled your requirements 2 197
The software fulfilled your requirements 3 471
The software fulfilled your requirements 4 722
The software fulfilled your requirements 5 730
You are happy with your purchase 1 182
You are happy with your purchase 2 134
You are happy with your purchase 3 447
You are happy with your purchase 4 907
You are happy with your purchase 5 720
  • To get started with ChartExpo, install ChartExpo in Excel.
  • Now Click on My Apps from the INSERT.
insert chartexpo in excel
  • Choose ChartExpo from My Apps, then click Insert.
open chartexpo in excel
  • Once ChartExpo is loaded. Click on “Likert Scale Chart” from the list of charts.
search likert scale chart in excel
  • Click “Create Chart From Selection” button after selecting the data from the sheet, as shown.
Create Chart From Selection CE228
  • The Likert Scale Chart will look like as follow.
Edit Chart CE228
  • If you want to have the title of chart, click on Edit Chart, as shown in the above image.
  • To change the title of the chart, click on the pencil icon that is available very next to Chart Header.
  • It will open the properties dialog. Under the Text section, you can add a heading in Line 1 and enable the Show option. Give the appropriate title of your chart and click on Apply button.
  • To persist these changes made to the chart, you can click on the “Save Changes” button.
Apply Button CE228
  • The final chart will look like as below.
Software survey analysis CE228

Insights

  • Out of the customers surveyed, 61% found the checkout process simple, and 22% found it difficult.
  • 65% said the software met their needs, while 13% said it did not.
  • 68% expressed satisfaction with their purchase, while 14% were dissatisfied.
  • In summary:
    • 64% thought the software was worth the money they spent on it.
    • 30% had an amazing experience with it.
    • 16% were dissatisfied with its performance.
    • The remaining 19% were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied.

Tips for Writing Open-Ended and Closed-Ended Questions

Writing both closed-ended and open-ended questions can be difficult. Following are some guidelines for writing them:

  • For open-ended inquiries, use the question format and avoid assumptions or presumptions.
  • Avoid making assumptions or presuppositions when composing closed-ended questions by framing them as statements.
  • Provide the respondent ample time and space to answer questions, whether they are open-ended or closed-ended.

Open-Ended vs. Close-Ended Questions: Which Is Better for a Survey?

There is a debate about using open-ended and closed-ended questions in surveys.

You can obtain wide-ranging, in-depth information from answers to open-ended questions since they encourage creativity. They allow the respondent to elaborate more. Thus, you can better grasp the respondent’s feelings.

On the other hand, closed-ended questions yield precise and constrained responses, facilitating quantification of the outcomes.

You should take survey goals into account when deciding which kind of question is best to ask. A respondent’s attitudes, ideas, and feelings are better understood by using open-ended questions. However, closed-ended inquiries work better when attempting to elicit more precise, quantitative information.

Difference between Open Ended and Close Ended Questions

  • Time

Open-ended questions are more time-consuming to answer than closed-ended questions. The respondent has to think of a response and then write it down or speak it out. On the other hand, closed-ended questions require less time and effort. The respondent needs to select one of the given options.

  • Insights

By asking open-ended questions, you can learn more about a person’s thoughts, feelings, and opinions. This question can show how someone feels about a certain topic or issue.

On the other hand, closed-ended questions help you get facts that you can use to draw conclusions. They let you compare how different people answered or look for patterns or trends in the data.

FAQs:

What are 3 examples of open-ended questions?

Open-ended questions call for more than a yes or no response.

Examples:

  1. What do you like about your job?
  2. Why do you think this issue is important?
  3. How can we enhance the quality of our customer service?

What is an example of a closed-end question?

Closed-ended questions have only two possible outcomes: yes or no, or a limited number of possibilities.

Examples of closed-ended inquiries:

  1. Do you like pizza?
  2. Do you own a business?

What is the difference between open-ended and closed-ended questions?

Open-ended questions don’t have a set yes or no answer. Instead, they allow for a variety of responses. Contrarily, closed-ended questions feature one or more predetermined solutions. They offer multiple choice, true/false, or yes/no answers.

How can I use open-ended and closed-ended questions together?

You can use open-ended and closed-ended questions together to understand a topic comprehensively. Open-ended questions allow the respondent to provide detailed answers. On the other hand, closed-ended questions provide options that limit the response to a specific choice.

How can open-ended and closed-ended questions help to create meaningful conversations?

By providing structure and directing the topic, open-ended and closed-ended questions can facilitate meaningful conversations.

Participants are free to express themselves when responding to open-ended questions. Whereas closed-ended questions help focus discussions to the heart of a given problem.

Wrap Up

We have exhausted the topic of open-ended vs. closed-ended.

In today’s business environment, it is crucial to ask the appropriate questions. Knowing whether to ask open-ended or closed-ended questions can have a significant impact. These are two highly effective methods for acquiring insights into the thoughts and emotions of your clients.

By understanding the differences, you can determine which type of question suits your needs. Open-ended questions allow respondents to provide a more detailed answer. Whereas closed-ended questions limit responses to a set of predetermined answers. Integrating these questions allows you to get the most useful customer feedback.

Open-ended questions are preferred for surveys because they encourage creativity which is always valuable to businesses. However, closed-ended questions are better for quantifying information.

The distinctions between open-ended and closed-ended questions are now clear. You can begin utilizing them in your market analysis and consumer feedback campaigns. With the right questions, you can gain valuable insights and make informed decisions.

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