I recently posted a poll on social media to find out what my followers thought about various food choices. While I did get responses, the responses were short and often only one word. That’s fine for a fun poll of social media acquaintances but not for in-depth research. My discovery is that to find out the right answers, I have to ask open ended questions that are specific, but avoid leading and allow room for the respondent to share in greater detail.

For example I asked “does peanut-butter count as a meal or is it only an ingredient?” Of the four responses, I got only 1 that was more than 2 words. So let’s look at another way I could have asked the question. “What are some ways you like to eat peanut butter?” This question is much more open ended. Or “What are your favorite ways to eat peanut-butter?” could also work. My answers are: In a spoon, on bread with jelly, or in noodles with chili, fish sauce, garlic, chicken and broccoli! Another question I asked was “Is pizza the true Breakfast of Champions (sorry Wheaties)?” While the question is a joke and could evoke many different responses, the structure of the question will likely only get a yes, no, or “who eats pizza for breakfast?!” response.

Let’s try to rephrase a few questions in a way that will lead to more open ended answers…

Have you ever sent a text message while driving?
What are some of the silliest text messages you’ve sent while driving?
or
How do you feel about texting while driving?

Would you say you travel abroad frequently?
If you could travel anywhere right now, what are some places you’d want to visit?
or
Where are your favorite places to visit?

Do you post a lot of pictures on Instagram?
What kind of pictures do you post on Instagram?
or
How do you use Instagram?

Do you prefer to shop at big boxes or locally owned stores?
What kind of stores do you like to shop at?
or
How do your prefer to shop?

Do you have an iPhone or an Android phone?
Why do you think some people use Android phones and other use Iphones?
or
Why did you choose your type of phone versus the other type of cell phone (android vs iphone)?

How often do you eat sweets?
What kind of desserts do you like?
or
When do you usually eat sweets?

Do you tend to buy things that are on sale?
How do you shop for good deals?
or
Where do you look for the best stuff on sale?

Some pizza for thought…er um food for thought… Thanks for reading. I hope you now have more questions than answers. Asking the right questions can lead to more open communication and a better understanding in our personal & professional relationships.

Cheers,
Daniel