How can I ask more open-ended questions on Yahoo! Answers? I do not want to see just one single answer. I want to see more answers (almost like a paragraph but less)?
[An open-ended question will usually involve someone's opinion. So if you want to ask more open-ended questions, ask for peoples' opinions, because they have a lot of them!]
An closed-ended question has either a yes or no answer or a one-word answer, for example:
Do you like apple pie?
What's your favorite color?
Do you own a teddy bear?
What size shoe do you wear?
An open-ended question requires an explained answer. It cannot be answered with a simple yes or no or with a singe word, for example:
Why do you think so many people like Harry Potter?
What are the reasons for racism in America?
How do planes stay in the air?
Essentially, there are six interrogatives: Who? What? Where? Why? When? How? If you ask a question that starts, "Why?" or "How?" it will be an open ended question. Questions that that start out "What?" can go either way. "Who?" "When?" and "Where?" generally form closed ended questions, as do any questions that start with a word other than these six interrogatives, such as "Did?" "Will?" etc.
SHORT ANSWER:
If you want to form more open-ended questions, start your questions with either "Why?" or "How?"
[An open-ended question will usually involve someone's opinion. So if you want to ask more open-ended questions, ask for peoples' opinions, because they have a lot of them!]
An closed-ended question has either a yes or no answer or a one-word answer, for example:
Do you like apple pie?
What's your favorite color?
Do you own a teddy bear?
What size shoe do you wear?
An open-ended question requires an explained answer. It cannot be answered with a simple yes or no or with a singe word, for example:
Why do you think so many people like Harry Potter?
What are the reasons for racism in America?
How do planes stay in the air?
Essentially, there are six interrogatives: Who? What? Where? Why? When? How? If you ask a question that starts, "Why?" or "How?" it will be an open ended question. Questions that that start out "What?" can go either way. "Who?" "When?" and "Where?" generally form closed ended questions, as do any questions that start with a word other than these six interrogatives, such as "Did?" "Will?" etc.
SHORT ANSWER:
If you want to form more open-ended questions, start your questions with either "Why?" or "How?"