Identify the characteristics of open ended questions in survey research: A.…

CONCEPT

Open-ended survey questions leave the response categories unspecified, so respondents answer in their own words.

This flexibility helps researchers discover unanticipated themes, but probing, recording, and coding unrestricted responses generally require more time than fixed-response items.

APPLICATION

1. Statement A describes a restricted or leading format because suggesting kinds of answers narrows the response space; it is not a characteristic of an open-ended question.

2. Statement B follows from the unrestricted response space: respondents can introduce ideas that the researcher did not anticipate.

3. Statement C follows from the extra work needed to probe, record, transcribe, and code free-form responses during and after an interview.

CONTRAST

• A and B only includes the response-guidance claim A, which conflicts with the absence of predetermined answer categories.

• B and C only groups the exploratory benefit with the additional administration burden created by unrestricted responses.

• A and C only combines a restricted-response feature with the time burden associated with unrestricted responses.

• A, B and C retains claim A even though suggested answer categories describe a closed or leading format.

CROSS-CHECK

Replacing an open-ended item with preset categories would reduce the chance of discovering new themes and would usually make administration and coding faster. That reversal supports B and C while excluding A.

RESULT

Therefore, the correct combination is B and C only.