Question types 4: Semi-closed / semi-open questions

It is advisable to use these questions if you aren’t sure whether the clarity and scope of answers in closed-ended questions is sufficient. Thanks to the combination of open- and closed-ended question types, the respondent is not limited in any way and so the way of answering is entirely up to them.

Semi-closed are divided to:

• Selective questions
• Enumerated questions

Advantages and disadvantages of semi-closed / semi-open questions:

Clear and easy to fill in	Text responses cannot be automatically processed into the resulting diagrams
A text answer option for accurate results	Too many answer options might make the question confusing

1. A selective question with a text answer

This type of semi-closed question, also called a single choice with text answer, is very popular, both among the respondents and among the researchers who create the questionnaire. It offers the possibility of either providing a clear answer by checking a pre-prepared option, or letting the respondent write their own, creative answer.

Example:

2. An enumerated question with a text answer

This type of question is similar to the previous one, however with a little difference, thanks to which the respondent can choose more answer options as well as write their own answer. This question is very useful for describing certain features, or for a retrospective evaluation of services or products.

Example:

Visualisation of results of a semi-closed question

The following diagram contains both the absolute and the proportional expressions of the ratios of all answers. Text answers are very difficult to evaluate automatically (by an algorithm). We recommend that you process the text entries manually.

In the next part, we will focus on open-ended questions and describe their individual types.

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