Open-Ended Questions
Patient
What is your general impression of the ward? Why?
How would you explain quality care concerning bath, sitting area and toilets?
What is the one thing, if anything, related to your general health experience at the facility, that you wish was different?
What is your biggest concern about the quality of care at the hospital?
What would make you come back for the service you received or another service at this facility?
Nurse
What concerns you as an administrator about the length of stay/ excuse days for patients at this facility?
What factors make you feel this issue remains one of the biggest problems in healthcare delivery?
How have your experiences enhanced the ways you practice service delivery to reduce the length of stay/excuse days?
How does your hospital determine its achievements regarding a reduction in the length of days/ excuse days?
What, from your experiences, are causes and effects of increased length of stay/excuse days in patient care management?
Closed-Ended Questions
Patient
Was the accommodation appropriate and worth the length of stay?
Would you come back for another service?
Was your treatment and examination procedures well-planned?
Were the nurses interested in listening to you wherever you had something to say?
Would you say that your general experience at this facility did not meet, met, or exceeded your expectations?
Nurse
Are you concerned as an administrator about the length of stay/ excuse days for patients at this facility?
Do you feel this issue remains one of the biggest problems in healthcare delivery?
Have your experiences enhanced the ways you practice service delivery to reduce the length of stay/excuse days?
Does this hospital determine its achievements concerning a reduction in the length of days/ excuse days?
Does increased length of stay/excuse days positively or negatively influence patient care management?
According to Reja et al. (2003), the primary difference between closed and open-ended questions is their type of response offered. In any case, closed-ended questions have a predetermined number of responses. However, open-ended questions allow respondents a limitless number of responses given responses that use their words. Based on Watkins et al. (2012), in data analysis, open-ended questions would require special coding for response categorization. Needs assessments would also benefit more from open than their closed-ended counterparts.
References
Reja, U., Manfreda, L., Hlebec, V., & Vehovar, V. (2003). Open-ended vs. Close-ended Questions in Web Questionnaires. Developments in Applied Statistics, 159-177.
Watkins, R., Meiers, M., & Visser, Y. (2012). A Guide to Assessing Needs: Essential Tools for Collecting Information, Making Decisions, and Achieving Development Results. Washington, DC: World Bank Publications.
