Identify the disadvantages of closed-ended questions in survey research. A. It…

Concept

Closed-ended questions supply a fixed set of response alternatives. Their design trades expressive breadth for uniform, quick, and easy-to-code responses.

Because the categories are fixed in advance, quality depends on coverage of possible answers and on how much free expression respondents need.

Application

1. Statement A: Making forced-choice responses exhaustive requires the researcher to anticipate every relevant response category. An omitted viewpoint can force a respondent into an imperfect choice, so A is a disadvantage.

2. Statement B: Fixed categories reduce respondents’ freedom to answer spontaneously or in their own words, so B is a disadvantage.

3. Statement C: An interviewer ordinarily reads predefined choices and records a standardized response. This generally saves administration time rather than consuming more of it, so C is not a disadvantage.

Cross-check and contrast

• A and B only includes the two genuine drawbacks without adding the administration-time statement.

• B and C only includes the administration-time statement and omits the difficulty of exhaustive categories.

• A and C only includes the administration-time statement and omits the loss of spontaneity.

• A, B and C treats standardized administration as time-consuming, although fixed choices usually make recording faster.

Result

Therefore, the disadvantages are A and B only.