Survey Methodology - Response Formats

Response Formats

Usually, a survey consists of a number of questions that the respondent has to answer in a set format. A distinction is made between open-ended and closed-ended questions. An open-ended question asks the respondent to formulate his own answer, whereas a closed-ended question has the respondent pick an answer from a given number of options. The response options for a closed-ended question should be exhaustive and mutually exclusive. Four types of response scales for closed-ended questions are distinguished:

• Dichotomous, where the respondent has two options
• Nominal-polytomous, where the respondent has more than two unordered options
• Ordinal-polytomous, where the respondent has more than two ordered options
• (bounded)Continuous, where the respondent is presented with a continuous scale

A respondent's answer to an open-ended question can be coded into a response scale afterwards, or analysed using more qualitative methods.