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ChaPter 4 • InformatIon GatherInG: InteraCtIve methods 117

Figure 4.11
Closed questions on
questionnaires help ensure
responses.
Answer questions 23 and 24 by checking the appropriate box.
23. available. Please check the software package(s)
Below are the six software packages currently
you personally use most frequently.
[ ] Microsoft Excel
[
] Microsoft Access
[ ] Microsoft PowerPoint [
[ ] Oracle SCM ] Microsoft Windows Live Mail Closed questions
[ may require the
] Visible Analyst
24. respondent to
[ "The sales figures are usually late." check a box …
] Agree
[ ] Disagree
25.
Answer questions 25 and 26 by circling the appropriate number.
services they are late."
"When the sales figures are prepared by computer data
Never Rarely
1 Sometimes
2 Often
3 Always
4
5
… or circle a
number …

Answer questions 45–48 by circling the appropriate response.
45. The division I am currently in is called
Investments
Operations
Marketing
… or circle the 46.
answer itself. My educational background can best be described as
High School
Some College
Bachelor’s Degree
Master’s Degree or Higher
My gender is
Male
Female

Open-ended questions are particularly well suited to situations in which you want to get at
organizational members’ opinions about some aspect of the system, whether product or process.
In such cases you will want to use open-ended questions when it is impossible to list effectively
all the possible responses to the question.
closed Questions. Recall that closed questions (or statements) are those that limit or close
the response options available to the respondent. For example, in Figure 4.11 the statement in
question 23 (“Below are the six software packages currently available. Please check the software
package(s) you personally use most frequently”) is closed. Notice that respondents are not asked
why the package is preferred, nor are they asked to select more than one, even if that is a more
representative response.
A systems analyst should use closed questions when it is possible to effectively list all the
possible responses to the question and when all the listed responses are mutually exclusive, so
that choosing one precludes choosing any of the others.