Open-ended question

An open ended question is an inquiry on a questionnaire, survey, exam, or quiz which does not provide any answered to choose from. The respondent must think through the question and provide a response consisting of multiple words. Such questions will usually suggest or require a length, but if this is not specified, an answer could range from one sentence to several pages. It is standard for responses to be provided in complete sentences, although some people consider open-ended questions to be the same as "short answer" questions, so they accept or even expect sentence fragments.

When asking open-ended questions, keep in mind the tools of: What, How, Where, Who and Why.