Opening your mind: A reappraisal of the open-ended question

This paper assesses the value of open-ended questions in survey design, in light of new text analysis capabilities, and finds that this can provide more nuanced and differentiated data than close-ended questions.

Opening your mind: A reappraisal of the open-ended question

Alexander Wheatley GMI

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Introduction: The implications of text analytics and the search for an effective means of evaluation

The background

Open-ended questioning is often overlooked in traditional survey design. Seen as a purely qualitative tool associated with complex coding and analysis, this is however a misrepresentation of what can be a greatly effective and easily implemented tool of quantitative analysis.

Social media research and the implications of big data have re-established text analysis within the realm of market research. The detailed...

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