What is the primary characteristic of open-ended questions?

Open-ended questions are designed to encourage respondents to express their thoughts, feelings, and opinions freely, allowing for a more nuanced and in-depth understanding of their perspectives. The primary characteristic of these questions is that they enable respondents to answer in their own words, without being confined to predetermined response options. This approach is particularly useful in qualitative research, where the richness of data obtained from respondents can lead to deeper insights, themes, and patterns that might not emerge from closed-ended questions, which limit responses to specific choices or binary answers. By facilitating open expression, these questions enhance the ability to capture the complexity of human thoughts and emotions.