What does it mean when a question is closed?
James Craig
Published Apr 10, 2026
A question to which an answer must be selected from a limited set. Questionnaire items with fixed response categories are closed questions, and questions in interviews or informal conversations can be open or closed.
What is a closed question Example?
For example, in standard parlance, “Is it ever right to lie?” would be regarded as a closed question: it elicits a yes–no response. Any initial yes–no answer to it can be “opened up” by the questioner (“Why do you think that?”, “Could there be an instance where that’s not the case?”), inviting elaboration and enquiry.
How do you ask a closed question?
Closed-Ended Questions. Open-ended questions prompt the beginning of a longer conversation by asking questions starting with “why,” “how,” and “what if?” Closed-ended questions can be answered with single-word answers, such as “yes” or “no.”
Are Closed questions valid?
Closed-ended questions are often good for surveys, because you get higher response rates when users don’t have to type so much. Also, answers to closed-ended questions can easily be analyzed statistically, which is what you usually want to do with survey data. No statistical significance, whatsoever.
What is a closed-ended question to ask?
Closed-ended questions are questions that can only be answered by selecting from a limited number of options, usually multiple-choice, ‘yes’ or ‘no’, or a rating scale (e.g. from strongly agree to strongly disagree). Closed-ended questions give limited insight, but can easily be analyzed for quantitative data.
What are the disadvantages of closed questions?
Disadvantages of Closed questions in your Course Evaluations:
- May not have the exact answer the respondent wants to give.
- Can put ideas into respondents’ minds.
- Respondents may select answers most similar to true response, even though it is different.
- Many options may confuse the respondent.