In-Depth Interview – Type of questions

[Marcel Mitraszewski]

Types of questions and interview structure
According to Teresa Szustrowa, a prominent Polish specialist in psychological research and one of the authors of the APIS test, which measures general intelligence, we can distinguish questions, among others, by the way and form in which they are asked:

• Open questions - do not limit the scope of the answer, often contain the words "how" or "what" in their content; used most often, they allow you to explore a given topic without fear of limiting the respondent; example: "What is your day like at work, from morning to evening?"
  
• Closed questions - detailed, limiting the answer to the possibilities contained in the question, often contain the word "whether" in their content; used when you want to clarify or confirm the information heard; example: "Do you read blogs on psychology?"
  
• Direct questions - refer directly to the client's experience; used when we want to learn about a specific experience, opinion or situation in which the client / patient participated; example: "What do you think about how your child behaved in the company of other children?"
  
• Projective questions - are based on the assumption that the client will project their own opinions and feelings onto an undefined, neutral question that does not directly concern them; used when it is difficult to directly ask for the client's, because it is likely that we will not get an honest answer; example: "What traits of other people do you pay attention to?" - it is likely that the client will project (cast) how they perceive themselves;
  
• Neutral questions - do not contain an explicit or hidden suggestion; good practice dictates the use of neutral questions only, so as not to impose your own opinion or expectations on the client / patient; example: "What are your feelings about expressing your opinion directly?"
  
• Leading questions - the opposite of neutral questions, they contain a suggestion that the specialist expects; it is not recommended to ask leading questions, because they focus the client's attention on a specific answer; example: "Virtually everyone uses public health care and it's good, right?"
  
• Alternative questions - a type of leading question, contains two or more possible answers to a given question; example: "Some patients use the services of the National Health Fund, others only private institutions - which ones do you use?"
  

Open, neutral, projective questions are more diagnostic (give more true information) and less threatening than closed, leading and direct questions. Sometimes, however, it is worth deliberately asking directly about a specific experience or using closed or alternative questions to clarify certain issues.

From the perspective of the context in which the specialist places the questions, we distinguish the following types of questions:

1. Foreground and background questions
   
2. Proper and transitional questions
   
3. Embedded, deferred and progressive questions
   

• Foreground questions introduce a new topic of conversation; example: "What prompted you to see a dermatologist?"
  

• Background questions serve to deepen the topic of conversation; example: "How did you feel during this visit?"
  

Proper questions are questions that allow you to answer specific issues that interest us as psychologists. However, you should not limit yourself to asking only proper questions, because the client may feel interrogated. In order to ensure a smooth and natural conversation, transitional questions are introduced, which serve to smoothly transition to another topic.

• Embedded questions are woven into other questions that are less threatening than the actual question. They are used when, for various reasons, we want to mask the actual question, e.g. when it concerns socially unacceptable or embarrassing topics. example: if we want to ask if the client has a tendency to petty theft, we can use a series of embedded questions "How often do you shop in discount stores?", "What do you buy most often?", "Prices have gone up in recent months, how do you look at it?", "Some people, in order to show their dissatisfaction with globalization, deliberately do not buy in international chains, eat bars or sweets while in the store and do not pay for them, or deliberately take out some products without paying - what is your attitude to this?", "Do you think that you should buy from local suppliers or support global brands?"
  

• Deferred questions are questions that we should ask at a specific time, but we deliberately do not ask them, believing that the client may not be ready for them. Asking such questions should be postponed until we deem the situation appropriate.
  

• Progressive questions are questions that gradually move from less related to the actual topic to questions that relate directly to the topic of interest to us. They have a similar use to embedded questions, when asking a specific question immediately could cause reluctance or avoidance of the client. In the case of progressive questions, we ask the proper question at the end of the series, and in the case of embedded questions - in the middle.
  

FUNNEL CONSTRUCTION
When conducting an interview, it is recommended to start the conversation with more general questions, less related to the topic of interest to us, and slowly move on to more detailed questions. This way of conducting an interview is called funnel construction. The funnel makes the interview more like a natural conversation, allows you to relieve tension at the beginning of the conversation and prepare the client / patient for more difficult, specific issues in the further part of the conversation.

What you do think of that? Do you have any other suggestions or examples?