A folder question is a type of open-ended question that allows for a broad range of responses. Unlike a yes/no question or a question with a single factual answer, a folder question invites the respondent to provide their opinion, perspective, or analysis on a particular topic. Folder questions help generate discussion and allow the asker to gather more in-depth, nuanced information from the respondent. They are frequently used in interviews, surveys, focus groups, and other qualitative research.
Some examples of folder questions:
– What do you think about the new company policy on remote work?
– In your opinion, what are the most important qualities in a good leader?
– How does the current political climate affect your day-to-day work?
As these examples illustrate, folder questions often begin with phrases like “In your opinion…” or “What do you think about…” to cue the respondent that their subjective perspective is being sought. This distinguishes folder questions from more objective questions that have definite right/wrong answers.
Defining Characteristics
Folder questions have the following key characteristics:
Open-Ended
Unlike closed-ended questions that can be answered with a simple yes/no or specific data point, folder questions are intentionally open-ended to elicit more detailed responses. There may be no single “right” answer to a folder question.
Exploratory
Folder questions allow for the exploration of ideas, opinions, and insights. They encourage respondents to think through a topic and verbalize their thoughts, rather than simply stating generic answers.
Nuanced
By prompting respondents to share their perspectives, folder questions uncover nuances that may not emerge from closed-ended questions. Follow-up folder questions can reveal deeper layers of complexity.
Insightful
Folder questions elicit subjective, experiential information that provides meaningful insights into how people think and feel about a given subject. Their responses are analytical rather than definitive.
Generative
Folder questions stimulate critical thinking and generate discussion. The open-ended nature provides room for people to interpret the question and frame their responses in individual ways.
When To Use Folder Questions
Here are some of the most common situations where folder questions are effective:
Interviews
Asking thoughtful folder questions during interviews allows you to gain a deeper understanding of a candidate beyond their skills and qualifications. For example, “What do you enjoy most about your current position?” or “In your opinion, what is the biggest challenge facing our industry today?”
Focus Groups
Moderators use folder questions to spark discussion and obtain qualitative feedback on products, messaging, campaigns, and other topics from a targeted consumer group.
Surveys
While surveys often rely heavily on closed-ended questions, including a few folder questions can provide additional context and reveal themes. For example, “Why do you feel that customer service has declined over the past year?”
Meeting Icebreakers
Folder questions are great icebreakers to get colleagues or strangers opening up and thinking in a low-pressure environment. “How do you unwind after a stressful day?” or “What’s your biggest pet peeve about meetings?”
Presentations
Posing a folder question like “In what ways can we improve this process?” to your audience is an effective way to spur engagement and discussion during a presentation.
Customer Research
Asking folder questions of customers, such as “How could we make this product more useful to your everyday life?” provides valuable insights for innovation and product development.
Performance Reviews
Managers can gain key insights into challenges and goals by asking folder questions like “What aspects of your work do you find most meaningful?” during performance reviews.
Exit Interviews
HR professionals use folder questions to understand employee perspectives on their time at the company in exit interviews.
How to Write Effective Folder Questions
Follow these tips to craft folder questions that yield substantive, illuminating responses:
Keep it open-ended
Tightly targeted or narrow questions will limit the response possibilities. Maintain open-ended phrasing to spark thoughtful replies.
Ask “what” and “how”
“What” and “how” questions encourage sharing and analysis rather than yes/no answers. “What challenges do you anticipate” or “How do you prioritize tasks?”
Use “you” phrasing
Personalized “you” phrasing elicits more personalized responses. “What do you enjoy most…” rather than “What does one enjoy most…”
Avoid leading or loaded questions
Leading or loaded questions that make assumptions or reveal bias will influence answers. Keep questions neutral.
Follow the conversation
Listen carefully and ask follow-up folder questions to gain deeper, more detailed responses.
Give time to think
Give respondents adequate time to process the question and formulate thoughtful answers rather than replying immediately.
Ask one question at a time
Pose questions individually to avoid confusion and allow focused responses. Separate questions on different aspects.
Use clear, easily understood language
Avoid complex vocabulary or jargon so respondents comprehend exactly what you are asking.
Test your questions
Pilot your folder questions with colleagues to identify any issues before interviewing respondents.
Prompts for Folder Questions
The following prompts can help generate effective folder questions for interviews, surveys, focus groups, and other applications:
Opinion
– What do you think about…
– In your opinion…
– How would you characterize…
– What is your view on…
Analysis
– In what ways…
– How would you compare/contrast…
– What factors influence…
– What evidence supports…
Perspectives
– What has been your experience with…
– What challenges have you encountered with…
– In what ways has this affected you personally?
Problem-Solving
– How could we go about improving…
– What approach would you take to address…
– What potential solutions do you see for…
Prioritization
– What do you see as the most critical issues?
– How would you prioritize…
– What is most important to focus on?
Evaluation
– What value does this provide?
– What are the costs and benefits of…
– How would you assess the effectiveness of…
Implications
– What impact would this have on…
– How do you think this will affect…in the long run?
– What consequences are likely?
Recommendations
– What actions would you recommend?
– If you were in charge, what changes would you make?
– What advice would you give to…
Folder Question Mistakes to Avoid
While folder questions elicit more detailed qualitative data, they can backfire if poorly executed. Avoid these common mistakes:
Multiple Questions at Once
Flooding respondents with several questions simultaneously will overwhelm them. Pose one folder question at a time.
Yes/No Phrasing
Phrasing folder questions as yes/no questions defeats the purpose of open-ended inquiry. “Do you think this product is useful?” becomes “How useful is this product and why?”
Leading Questions
Leading questions reveal bias and prime respondents to answer a certain way. Keep questions neutral.
Lack of Follow Up
Failing to ask follow-up questions risks missing out on deeper insights. Continue probing with additional folder questions.
Forcing Responses
Respondents should feel comfortable declining to answer a question. Do not force answers if someone doesn’t have feedback to share.
Interruptions
Cutting respondents off mid-answer can derail their train of thought. Allow space for complete thoughts.
Narrow Focus
Hyper-specific questions may limit the breadth of feedback. Leave room for wider interpretations.
Jargon
Technical or industry jargon may confuse respondents unfamiliar with niche terminology. Use plain, accessible language.
Changing Questions
Tweaking questions repeatedly makes analyzing results difficult. Stick to your original folder questions.
Incorrect Assumptions
Phrasing questions based on false assumptions will skew responses. Validate any premises.
Qualitative Data Analysis
Folder questions generate qualitative rather than quantitative data. Analyzing subjective responses requires:
Identifying Themes – Look for common topics, perspectives, attitudes, and experiences that emerge across responses. These become the main qualitative themes.
Organizing and Coding – Categorize responses based on identified themes using codes to tag relevant excerpted quotes and examples.
Contextualization – Situate themes and patterns within the broader contextual factors at play to derive deeper meaning from the responses.
Examining Outliers – Consider any outliers and exceptions to the main themes to account for dissenting perspectives.
Finding Patterns – Determine where certain themes and codes converge around specific attitudes, behaviors, pain points, or experiences.
Summarizing – Synthesize key takeaways, insights, and implications from the major response themes in a summary report.
Data Visualization – Charts, graphs, and word clouds can help visualize major themes and response patterns.
Recommendations – Provide recommendations based on your qualitative analysis to inform decisions and next steps.
Validating Findings – Have stakeholders and participants review your analysis to confirm it aligns with their perspectives and feedback.
Thoughtful questionnaire design, effective moderation, comprehensive analysis, and insightful reporting are key to extracting maximum value from folder questions.
Pros and Cons
Folder questions offer several benefits:
Pros:
– Elicit more detailed, nuanced responses
– Reveal subjective insights and perspectives
– Generate open discussion and dialogue
– Uncover deeper meaning and significance
– Provide qualitative contextual data
– Flexibility for respondents to answer freely
Cons:
– More time intensive than closed-ended questions
– Increased effort required for analysis of responses
– Standardization and quantification difficult
– Less focus and control over conversation
– Requires skillful framing and moderation
– Can produce irrelevant or off-topic information
Examples
Market Research Focus Group
Moderator: What are your impressions of the new packaging we’ve introduced across our product line? How does this affect your perceptions of our brand?
This folder question allows respondents to elaborate on subjective factors like aesthetics, visual appeal, quality associations, and brand image related to the new packaging.
Manager Conducting a Performance Review
Manager: What aspects of your current role do you find most rewarding? What parts are frustrating or challenging for you?
This provides actionable insights into an employee’s motivations, goals, and obstacles to inform professional development and workforce planning.
Exit Interview
HR: In your own words, what would you say are the greatest strengths of our organization’s culture? And what areas do you think could be improved?
This folder question taps into the employee’s candid perspective to provide useful input on company culture.
Doctor-Patient Consultation
Doctor: Tell me, in what ways has your knee pain affected your daily activities and quality of life?
This elicits contextual lifestyle and health insights the patient may not think to volunteer otherwise.
Customer Research Survey
Question: How could we improve our mobile app to make it more useful and enjoyable for your everyday banking needs?
This provides qualitative customer feedback for developers to improve app functionality and user experience.
Folder Questions in Qualitative Research
Qualitative research methodologies rely heavily on folder questions to gather meaningful insights. Key applications include:
In-Depth Interviews
Open-ended interview questions explore personal histories, perspectives, beliefs, and mental models of subjects. For example, “Take me through a typical day at your job. What activities do you find most enjoyable?”
Focus Groups
Moderators use folder questions to spur discussion and obtain reactions, attitudes, and feedback from a small group of people.
Ethnographic Research
Ethnographers ask folder questions during fieldwork observations to understand behaviors, motivations, and cultures. For example, “Walk me through your thought process when making a purchase decision.”
Grounded Theory
Investigators pose open questions to develop conceptual frameworks and theories grounded in respondents’ experiential data.
Phenomenology
Researchers describe peoples’ subjective interpretations, perspectives, and lived experiences related to a phenomenon using folder questions.
Heuristic Inquiry
This methodology relies on dialogic folder questioning focused on the meaning-making processes between researchers and subjects.
Action Research
PractitionersResearchers examine organizational or community issues through iterative questioning to fuel continuous learning and change.
Thus, across various traditions of qualitative research, purposeful folder questions generate impactful subjective insights, stories, interpretations, and meanings.
Question Types
There are some common categories and types of folder questions:
Opinion Questions
These ask for perspectives, thoughts, views, beliefs, evaluations, and personal stances about issues, policies, products, services, events, or decisions. For example, “How do you feel about the new work schedules?”
Probing “Why” Questions
These request explanations, rationale, and motivations behind behaviors, choices, preferences, and opinions. For example, “Why do you believe that strategy would be most effective?”
Interpretive Questions
These ask participants to analyze meaning, assess impacts, or explain thought processes. For example, “How did you interpret the message conveyed in that advertisement?”
“Imagine” Scenario Questions
These present hypothetical situations and ask respondents to share reactions. For example, “Imagine you owned a small business. What challenges might you face?”
Ideal Situation Questions
These inquire about hopes, desired outcomes, or optimal scenarios. For example, “In an ideal situation, what would motivate employees most?”
Storytelling Questions
These prompt personal anecdotes, experiences, memories, or journeys related to the topic. For example, “Tell me about a time you felt a strong sense of team spirit at work.”
Critical Incident Questions
These ask about significant moments, turning points, or notable events relevant to the subject. For example, “Recall a time you faced a major challenge in your career. What occurred?”
Knowledge Questions
These inquire about expertise, personal skills, capabilities, education, training, and competencies around a topic. For example, “What do you know about lean manufacturing processes?”
Feeling Questions
These explore emotional responses, sentiments, concerns, apprehensions, motivations, and inner states related to an issue or experience. For example, “How did you feel when faced with that problem?”
Visualization Questions
These prompt mental visualization of hypothetical scenarios. For example, “Visually imagine the city 20 years from now. What do you see?”
Conclusion
Folder questions require thoughtful construction and skillful facilitation but deliver powerful qualitative insights. By encouraging open, expansive responses, they reveal rich subjective data on beliefs, motivations, emotions, interpretations, perceptions, contexts, behaviors, and imaginings that quantitative data cannot capture. Folder questions serve as a cornerstone of effective interviewing, focus groups, ethnographic research, and many other forms of qualitative inquiry across the social sciences, humanities, and business. With practice and persistence, researchers can master the art of probing beyond surface responses to understand participants at a deeper human level.