Which type of questions is most likely to yield rich, descriptive information in an assessment?

• A. Open-ended questions
• B. Yes/No questions
• C. Leading questions
• D. Rhetorical questions

Answer: (A)

Open-ended questions invite respondents to describe experiences, feelings, and perspectives in their own words, which yields rich, descriptive information. Because there isn’t a fixed set of response options, people can share nuances, contexts, exceptions, and patterns across their narratives. This depth helps assessors understand how a client experiences a situation, what factors influenced them, and how they make sense of events—information that fixed yes/no items often miss.

Yes/no questions restrict responses to two options and typically fail to reveal the reasons, context, or complexity behind a choice. Leading questions steer the answer and can bias the data, compromising authenticity. Rhetorical questions aim to provoke thought or emphasis rather than elicit actual information, so they don’t provide substantive descriptive data. Open-ended prompts like “Tell me about…” or “Describe what happened” are the best way to capture rich descriptive information.