Biographies Characteristics Analysis

Questions requiring specific unambiguous information are called. Psychological communication in tourism

Question during market research- this is some statement, designed to obtain information that allows you to identify the characteristics of the studied subject of research.

There are many different approaches to the classification of questions. The most famous are the following classification features (Table 5.3):

    according to the function performed;

    in the form of the wording of the question;

    by the form of the intended answer (by type of question);

    in the form of the question.

Table5.3 Question classification

classificationsign

Question types

Fact Questions

Questions about behavior

Questions about knowledge or awareness

Questions about attitudes and attitudes

Questions about motives

Questions about intent

By function

Functional-psychological issues

Contact questions

buffer questions

Questions that support the respondent

Questions for removing installations

provocative questions

Test questions

Filter questions

Clarifying questions

In the form of the expected answer

Open questions

Semi-closed questions

Closed questions

In the form of a question

Questions in direct form

Questions in indirect form

In the form of a question

Text questions

Graphic scales

Table questions

Animation questions

Mnemonic questions

Functional purpose of questions

Depending on the goal pursued by the researcher Questions fall into three main groups:

    Questions characterizing the respondent himself (“passport”); these are questions about gender, age, marital status, education, income level, etc.

    Effective questions that are directly related to the objectives of the study.

    Functional questions that govern the process of communication with the respondent. This group is necessary to streamline the polling procedure; the information obtained through them may not be processed for research objectives, but can be used to refine questionnaire design techniques.

In turn, in a row functional questions are presented:

    functional-psychological;

    filter questions;

    test questions;

    clarifying questions.

Functional-psychological help to move on to questions of a different focus or topic, remove psychological barriers to answering questions about the status or specifics of behavior, and complete the conversation. This group of questions, in turn, is also diverse:

    contact questions;

    buffer issues;

    questions that support the respondent;

    questions for removing installations;

    provoking questions.

Contact questions help to establish a trusting relationship with the respondent; as a rule, such questions are pertinent when conducting qualitative surveys.

Buffer questions serve to distinguish between individual thematic blocks and at the same time to neutralize the influence of some answers on others.

Questions that support the respondent, designed to strengthen the respondent's opinion about the significance of his participation in the study.

Questions for removing installations allow to smooth out the influence of prejudices that can lead to distortion of the respondent's answers. For example, for reasons of prestige, the respondent may name a more well-known brand of the product planned for purchase. Or the respondent may regard the proposed response options as socially unacceptable in the eyes of the public.

provocative questions stimulate spontaneous, sometimes very valuable for the researcher, responses.

Other types of functional questions also serve to manage the process of communication with the respondent. Often the question is not addressed to the entire audience, but only to part of it; in this case, filter questions are applicable. Filter Questions are designed to establish the respondent's belonging to any audience, for example, users of a particular product.

test questions(the so-called detector) assess both the sincerity and seriousness of the respondent, and the conscientiousness of the interviewer. In the arsenal of this group there are duplicate questions, contradictory positions, questions with pre-known answers.

Clarifying questions(requested in free survey forms) allow you to return to a previously discussed topic to clarify any nuances.

Question Architecture

Question Architecture implies the composition of a variant of the formulation of the question itself (in a personal or impersonal form), an answer variant (structured or unstructured) and a presentation variant (image).

Direct and indirect questions

Question in direct form appeals directly to the respondent's opinion (eg, "What do you think about...?"). If the topic of the question can cause the respondent to feel unpleasant or desire to embellish reality, then the question should be asked. in indirectnoah form, irrespective of the identity of the interviewee. It is not recommended to use direct questions about the respondent's awareness, say: "Do you know about ...?"; some participants are likely to answer in the affirmative, fearing to appear ignorant of a fact (or subject) that may be widely known. Examples of replacing the wording of direct questions with indirect ones are given in Table. 5.4.

Table 5.4 Examples of direct and indirect questions

Open and closed questions

When choosing a closed or open question form, the respondent's ability to provide reliable information should be taken into account.

Closed questions offer the respondent "hints" in the form of a set of options response. Having a hint, it is easier for the respondent to answer the question posed if an option is offered that corresponds to his opinion or position. However, the absence of the desired option will lead to distortion of information.

open the question form does not imply any hints and may be recommended in a number of cases:

In the absence of information about possible answers;

If the audience has a clear understanding of the problem being studied (for example, experts, specialists);

If necessary, rearrange answers for more in-depth analysis.

Sample questions this type maybe: "Which drink do you prefer?" Most often, you can get an honest answer, although somewhat vague. For example, a customer might say "Soft drinks" (whereas more specific types of drinks would be expected). Therefore, the wording of open-ended questions should be treated with particular care.

To achieve the purpose of the survey open questions should be asked without prompting. If a question is originally asked in the "no prompt" form, the same prompted question cannot be repeated later. For example, it is asked: “When you are thirsty, what drinks do you prefer?” If the interviewee finds it difficult to answer, the interviewer may prompt: “Fruit juice? Beer?" In this case, the interviewer begins to give answers instead of the respondent. Thus, an answer given after a hint will never be as "correct" as an answer given without a hint.

It is not always possible to provide all the answers in a closed question. At the same time, if the researchers have an idea of ​​the most common answers and a closed form would facilitate the processing of respondents' answers, then a semi-closed form of the question can be used. semi-closed question is a combination of some list of possible answers and a free line for the option “other” or “your own answer”.

The form of the questions depends on the nature of the data being collected, the form of the survey, and the methods of analysis. Large-scale quantitative surveys are accompanied by the use of small, highly structured questionnaires that are processed on a computer. Qualitative surveys typically use large, unstructured questionnaires that are usually processed manually.

Types of closed questions

In practice, the following types of closed questions are used:

    dichotomous or simple alternative question, containing two mutually exclusive answers (yes, no). For example, to the question “Do you buy coffee beans?” There are only two possible answers, yes or no.

    An alternative (multi-choice) question that asks you to choose only one option from a given set of answers. For example, to the question “How often do you go to the cinema?” you can offer the following answers: “once a week”, “two to three times a month”, “once a month”, “three to five times a year”, “once or twice a year”, “not at all I visit." Obviously, in this case, you can choose only one answer.

    Question-menu (multi-choice), including a set of answers from which the respondent can choose several. For example, to the question: “Which cinemas in St. Petersburg have you visited?” the respondent can choose several of the above answers: "Aurora", "Coliseum", "Crystal Palace", etc.

    Ranking questions, where the respondent is asked to rank the listed answer options based on subjectively perceived benefits. For example: "Arrange in descending order of importance for you the following characteristics of the product: color, dimensions, material, price, ease of use."

    Semantic questions (multidimensional scales), for example, the semantic differential.

Types of open questions

In practice, the following types of open questions are used:

    A simple (loose) question like: "What do you think about...?" The respondent answers in any form.

    word association. The respondent lists the words that "pop up" in memory with the specified word.

    Completion of the offer. The respondent is asked to complete the sentence at his own discretion.

    The end of the story.

    Completion of the drawing (like comics), which must be supplemented with the statements of the characters.

    Thematic apperception test ("perception" - perception); in this type of questions, it is proposed to come up with a story about what is happening in the picture and how events will develop further.

Question Submission

According to the form of presentation of the question, there are:

Text questions;

Graphic scales;

Tabular questions;

Animation questions;

Mnemonic scales.

Text questions- the simplest option in the form of lowercase text Graphic scales look like a beam with printed answer options. The graphic may be one-dimensional(Fig. 5.4) when a single axis is used to represent response options, or multidimensional. The best-known example of a multidimensional graphical scale is the Respondents' Brand Perception Map, often referred to as the Perception Scale (see Figure 5.5). When constructing a multidimensional scale, characteristics are initially distinguished by which respondents evaluate objects (brands), then scales are developed to obtain a direct assessment of objects according to the selected characteristics.

What time do you visit the computer club?

Rice. 5.4. Graphic scale

Rice. 5.5. Map-scheme of perception

Table questions allow you to evaluate the object according to several parameters. The tabular form may be convenient for the interviewer when conducting a telephone or face-to-face interview, but may be difficult for respondents who fill out the questionnaire on their own. An example of a scale in tabular form, see Fig. 5.6.

5 - excellent, 4 - good, 3 - acceptable, 2 - unsatisfactory, 1 - bad.

Rice. 5.6. Question in tabular form

Animation questions contain drawings, most often in the form of comics, to convey the essence of the issue. Animation questions act as a tool for projection methods of collecting information, when the drawing in an indirect form allows you to identify the real motives of the respondent's behavior. At the same time, figures can be used to illustrate the answer options (Fig. 5.7). Animation adds variety to the presentation of questions, entertains the respondent, and is especially useful in large-volume written surveys.

What time do you visit the computer club? (Please mark the hours on the dial.)

Rice. 5.7. Animated question

Mnemonic scales can be considered as a variant of the animation question, since they also contain drawings. Mnemonic scales make it possible to express the respondent's emotional reaction to a given question, thereby facilitating both the task of the researcher in formulating answer options and the respondent in answering; 5.8).

Do you like the service in our store?

Fig.5.8. Mnemonic scale

To a very large extent, the success of the interview depends on whether the interviewer knows how to ask the right questions. Asking questions is not just a skill: in terms of complexity, it is an art that requires impeccable command of speech, sensitivity to the communicative manifestations of a partner, especially non-verbal signals, and the ability to distinguish sincere answers from evasive ones. Taking a partner as an equal interlocutor, i.e. entering into a parity dialogue with him, a person submits his judgments to him in order to use his experience in evaluating and developing his ideas. The ability to ask questions (and understand them) is extremely important skill manager, which will come in handy in many situations (and not just in personnel conversations), so in this part of the tutorial it makes sense to get acquainted with common types questions, using different situations as examples business speech.
The question is a form of movement of thought, it clearly expresses the moment of transition from ignorance to knowledge, from incomplete, inaccurate knowledge to a more complete and more accurate one. Questions are impulses for activation. They serve to clarify points of view and guide the flow of the conversation. Finally, they are a tool of suggestion that promotes acceptance the right solution.
It is possible to divide questions on the following grounds, essential for the interview:

1. Questions are distinguished by form:

Open and closed questions. An open question (what? why? where? etc.) requires a detailed answer. He names only the topic or subject of the question, and then the respondent is free to structure the answer at his own discretion, for example: What did you like about your previous job? A closed question only requires an expression of agreement or disagreement with the thought expressed (yes or no) If the decision on your enrollment is made, are you ready to immediately go to advanced training courses? Such a question is asked in order to obtain the consent (refusal) of the interlocutor. It has an element of coercion.

This also includes alternative questions. They give the interlocutor a choice. The number of possible options, however, should not exceed three. Alternative questions suggest quick fixes. At the same time, the word “or” is most often the main component of the question, since in this way all other possibilities are cut off: What time of discussion suits you best - Monday 12.00 or Thursday 16.00? Which model color suits you the most: yellow, red or green?

Direct and indirect questions. In a conversation, there may be different kind psychological barriers: the interlocutor cannot answer questions, because he is afraid, shy, does not know how to express what the questioner needs. Indirect questions are used to ease tension. This is necessary, for example, in cases where the opinion expressed may be contrary to what is shared in this social environment. For example, instead of asking Would you like to change jobs? They ask: Would you advise your friend to apply for this job? The same type of questions include methods projective technique when questions are about the future or imaginary situation, such as: What would you do in such a situation? An example of a projective question that helps determine the relationship of the interlocutor with colleagues is a request to describe the appearance, manners, character traits chief. In this case, the response usually shows the attitude of the interlocutor to the described person. Or if we want to find out if a person gets acquainted with the latest literature on his subject, we ask: What would you advise reading on this issue? Such questions allow you to find out the required information and not put the interlocutor in an uncomfortable position (or save face).

Personal and impersonal questions. The choice of the personal or impersonal form of the question is essential. The personal form of the question, as a rule, reveals the individual opinion of the respondent. The impersonal form of the question provokes talking not about personal perception, but about what is required objective reality. For example, if you ask a person: what do you like to watch on TV? - He will report on his tastes and passions. But if you ask: what programs should be shown more on TV? - he will say that, in his opinion, it is useful to watch young people, women, in general it is useful for the people, although he himself may not watch TV at all.

2. According to the function of the question, the following types are distinguished:

Main questions. In preparation for the conversation, first of all, they make up the main questions that should bring basic information. These are the key questions of the conversation. They determine the micro-themes of the upcoming conversation. However, in real situation this question might not work. People are often different reasons go away from the answer.

Probing or additional questions. Using probing questions and analyzing the behavior of the interlocutor, you need to determine the reason for the unsatisfactory answer and ask a series of additional questions in order to obtain the information for which the main question was designed. Most often, probing and additional questions are not prepared in advance, but are asked at the moment when the main question does not work or arises. unexpected turn during conversation. (For example, the applicant vaguely answers the question about his relationship in the former team.) Probing (they themselves cannot help get an answer to the main question, but only determine the field for further questions): Is the team large? Consisted of women or men? What did you do? etc. Additional (they break the main question into fragments and help to find the most significant areas): Who did you get along better with: with women or men? What is his role in the implementation of common affairs? etc.

test questions. They are used more often not in the actual interview, but as an auxiliary element of the conversation. They aim to check the incoming information for accuracy. It is important to ask them during any conversation in order to find out whether the interlocutor is still listening to the conversation, whether he understands the speaker or just agrees. And here it is absolutely not enough to confine ourselves to the question: Do you understand me? The answer to such a question is always in the affirmative, whether or not it actually corresponds to the truth. So it's better to ask: What do you think about it? And what conclusions did you come to? Don't you find what it's about worthwhile cause? After the question is asked, it is necessary to let the interlocutor speak without rushing him. He must concentrate, sort out his thoughts and express his judgment. By the reaction of the interlocutor, you can see whether he is following the thought of the interviewer. If, when answering a security question, rejection or misunderstanding is revealed, you will have to go back a little. Be sure to ask control questions after a detailed story about a complex device or a new type of service, because in such situations, after the fifth sentence, the interlocutor usually mentally turns off. By answering such a question, you can immediately determine what the interlocutor understood and whether he is ready to agree with the speaker's arguments.

relay questions. They strive to get ahead, develop the partner's statement, not interrupting, but helping him. The relay question reveals the ability to listen and catch on the fly the partner's remarks and provoke him to say even more, to say in a different way and beyond what is said. The relay question is designed to serve the interlocutor, to increase his satisfaction with his statements.

Filter questions. With their help, it is determined whether the interlocutor belongs to the group of people who can be asked certain kinds of questions (for example, the degree of awareness of the interviewee in a particular problem is determined). In mass surveys, filtering questions immediately cut off a group of uninformed people who are not asked a subsequent group of questions. This type of questions is very important when selecting a new employee for a vacant position. So, if you start with a question about relevant work experience (if such experience is a prerequisite for admission) or knowledge of a foreign language (if such knowledge is necessary), then after answering this question, there will be no need to continue the conversation with a large number of applicants.

Clarifying questions. They detail the message of the interlocutor and thus perform a dual function: they bring additional information and serve to verify the authenticity of the message.

3. According to the impact on the interlocutor, the following types of questions are distinguished.

Neutral Questions contain no hint of the interviewer's assessment. Care should be taken that questions do not contain clues. The interlocutor does not have to guess which opinion the interviewer approves and which does not approve.

Leading or prompting questions. Typical example- the question of the teacher in case of an error of the respondent. For example, a student talks about epideictic speech, lists genres. Lecturer: Does a rally speech always belong to epideictic genres? From the fact that this is generally asked, we can conclude that not always.

Supporting questions. They ask to come to an understanding. If the interlocutor agreed with the speaker five times on trifles, then he will not answer the decisive sixth question in the negative. The English are somewhat more prudent in this sense than others. Usually any conversation they have begins with an exchange of opinions about the weather. If unanimity is reached on this issue, it is much easier to move on to solving the following problems. In any conversation, you need to intersperse confirming questions and always focus on what connects, and not on what separates. The form of the confirming question is determined by Socrates: You are of the opinion that ...? Surely you are also glad that ...?.

Counter questions. It's actually impolite to answer a question with a question, but a counter-question is skillful. psychological trick reach agreement or not give out their thoughts. For example:

Stirlitz talks with Muller.
Why did you have to bring me here? Couldn't you talk?
- It's quieter here. If everything ends as I want, we will return together, and everyone will know that we were doing business in my department.
- And my boss will know about it?
- Whose jealousy are you afraid of - his or mine?
- And what do you think?
- I like the way you go ahead.
- I have no other choice. And then I always love clarity.
- Clarity is a form of complete fog... I know you, sly one. (Yu. Semenov "17 Moments of Spring")

provocative questions. To provoke means to challenge, to incite. Whoever asks a provocative question should be aware that this is an incitement. Meanwhile, such questions must also be used in a conversation in order to establish what the partner really wants and whether he understands the state of affairs correctly.

"Provocative speech is special type speech, designed internally to receive some response information - either known to the one who provokes, or unknown (in this case, one speaks of "extorting" information). In other words, in this case, the speaker reports on a certain attitude to an object or event or talks about some facts, having as a super task to receive from the addressee some information that he would otherwise hardly want to tell. “Obviously, not all information a person wants to share. In this case, provocative speech acquires special features: its basis is deceit, the desire to outplay the interlocutor. Wed example from the cited manual: "You can't win this match." “No, I can. I went through a series of training sessions with special loads and I am now in very good shape.” Provocative questions are constructed similarly to this: Of course, you know that the conditions at your base do not correspond to the level of all-Russian competitions? You understand that the price of your product will fall already soon? They are designed for the fact that in response the interlocutor will report interesting information for the questioner, defending the honor of his organization.

Unipolar (or mirror) issues. This is just a repetition of the question by the interlocutor as a sign that he understood what was being said. The result of such a question is twofold: the questioner gets the impression that his question is correctly understood, and the answerer gets the opportunity to think carefully about his answer. Are you asking how much does it cost? Do you want to know if we have overtime?

Opening questions(opening talks, conversations) A well-posed question is a good start. Partners immediately become interested, a state of positive expectation arises. For example: Your plant experiences downtime on a daily basis. Would you allow me to suggest a solution to this problem?

Information questions. The one who asks them needs the knowledge, experience and advice of another. It is about collecting the information that is needed to form an idea about something. Information questions are always open questions. This means that the question is about specific subject or state of affairs, while the respondent, giving certain information, gives explanations. Such questions are an obligatory element of any interview, negotiations, etc. In response to such questions, a statement in the genre of an informational message is required: What are the requirements for manuscripts accepted for publication? What are the responsibilities of an advertising manager?

Introductory questions. This type of question can also be considered informational, however, the information that the asker expects to receive concerns the opinions, views, tastes, intentions, etc. of the interlocutor, so these are also open questions that cannot be answered in monosyllables. For example: What effect do you expect when using a new machine? What are your goals? In response to such a question, a statement in the genre of opinion follows.

Guiding questions. With their help, you can take control of the conversation and direct it in the direction that suits the initiator more and not allow the interlocutors to impose an undesirable direction of the conversation. Time passes quickly, if you let things take their course, it may turn out that the time appointed for the conversation has already expired, and the most important information has not yet been received.

Questions should be understandable to the interlocutor and have the same meaning for him as for the questioner. As far as possible, it is necessary to take into account the level of knowledge of the interlocutor and try to structure the question in such a way that the concepts and terms included in the question are familiar to him. You need to be ready to rephrase an incomprehensible question, explain the term.
The question should contain one thought. Otherwise, the interlocutor, as a rule, answers only the last part of the question or the one that is easier for him to remember.
Certifying remarks. With your remark: Good question, This is a very good question - you can make it clear to the interlocutor that he asks smart questions and captures the essence of the conversation well. Or: The fact that you ask me this question proves that... An experienced interviewer inserts affirmative remarks from time to time to maintain contact with the interlocutor, because nothing and no one will please him more than his own rightness.

Hello dear readers. Today I have prepared for you an introductory lesson on the topic - types of questions in English. After studying the material, you will get acquainted with the 5 types of questions that are distinguished in English grammar. We will go into more detail on each of them in the following lessons. And now our goal is to introduce you to in general terms with each of the 5 types of questions, explain their meaning, features and design. Types of questions in English The construction of interrogative sentences is very important topic to learn any language. After all, our speech mainly consists of questions and answers. I want to say right away that the construction of interrogative sentences in English is much more complicated than in Russian. In Russian, to pose a question, it is enough to simply change the intonation. In English, to ask a question, you need to change not only intonation, but also the order of words in a sentence, and very often there is a need to use auxiliary words.

In order to clearly explain the features of each of the types, I will first give examples, and then explain their essence. I advise you to learn the construction of 5 types of questions by heart.

5 types of questions in English

So, in English there are 5 main types of questions: a general question, a special question, a question to the subject and its definition, an alternative question, a disjunctive question. We will start the lesson with a general question, as it is fundamental. Having learned the construction of a general question, it will be easy for you to deal with other types.

1. General question

Question Answer
Do you have a dog?
Does he read that book?
Did you visit your grandmother?
Is she a student?
Was he in Moscow?
Can I help you?
Must children do the homework?
Yes, I do/ No, I don't
Yes, he does/ No, he doesn't
Yes, I did/ No, I didn't
Yes, she is/ No, she isn't
Yes, he was/ No, he wasn't
Yes, you can/ No, you can't
Yes, they must/ No, they must not

As you can see, a general question is asked to the whole sentence, and it can be answered with just one word - yes or no. That is why it is called general.

For correct setting general question you need to use auxiliary:

  • do→ for I, you, we, they
  • does→ for he, she, it
  • did→ for past tense.

So, in the first place we put the auxiliary verb, and then the declarative sentence remains unchanged. Example:

  • Narrative suggestion: You speak English. add an auxiliary verb in the first place, and we get
  • General question: Do do you speak English?

If the verb is the predicate in the sentence to be (am, is, are, was, were - its forms), or modal verbs can (could), may (might), must, shall (should), will (would), then they are taken to the first place as auxiliary ones. Example:

  • Narrative suggestion: I can help you. endure modal verb to the first place, and we get
  • General question: Can I help you?

Summarize! The general question scheme looks like this:
Auxiliary verb (Auxiliary Verb) → subject (Subject) → predicate (Predicate) → other members of the sentence.

Video on the topic: General and alternative questions in English

2. Alternative question

Question Answer
Is this a pen or a pencil?
Does Ann work as a teacher or a doctor?
Is that pencil red or green?
Was Peter in Moscow or in Minsk?
Does Jim like playing chess or watching TV?
It's a pencil.
She works as a doctor.
It's green.
He was in Minsk.
He likes playing chess.

As you may have noticed, an alternative question is a question that asks the respondent to choose between two homogeneous members of the sentence (a pen - a pencil, teacher - doctor, red - green, Moskow - Minsk, playing chess - watching TV). These homogeneous members of the sentence can be expressed by additions, circumstances, definitions, nominal part compound predicate etc. .

An alternative question is very easy to recognize by the union or which offers an alternative. An alternative question is usually given a full answer.

Please note that the alternative question is practically the same as the general question, except for the obligatory presence of the union or.

3. Special question

Question Answer
Where do you have vacation every summer?
When can I see her?
What is your favorite colour?
How does he get to work?
Why are you eating at my desk?
I have a vacation in London.
You can see her today.
My favorite color is blue.
He gets to work by bus.
Because I am hungry.

Special questions in English are asked to obtain additional information. In the first place is always a special question word:

  • what?- what? which?
  • why?- why?
  • where?- where? where?
  • how?- as?
  • how long?- how long?
  • which?- which?
  • who?- who?
  • when?- when?


Special questions in English The word order after the interrogative word is the same as in the general question.

  • General question: Does he see her every day? → add in first place interrogative pronoun, and we get →
  • Special question: Where does he see her every day?

So the diagram will look like this:
Interrogative pronoun (interrogative pronoun) → auxiliary verb (Auxiliary Verb) → subject (Subject) → predicate (Predicate) → other members of the sentence.

Note that in English it is common to see phrasal verbs , i.e. any prepositions are closely connected with these verbs. When special questions are asked in English, these prepositions are placed at the very end of the sentence. For example:

  • What are you busy with? - What are you doing?
  • What are you asking for? - What are you asking for?
  • Who were they waiting for? Who were they waiting for?

Answers to special questions, as a rule, are given in detail.

Video on the topic: Special question in English

4. Question to the subject and its definition

Question Answer
What is going on there?
Who is listening to the tape?
Which of the children is going to the Zoo on Sunday?
Whose children are having dinner now?
A fight is.
Peter is.
John is.
Peter's children are.

Questions to the subject or to its definition always begin with interrogative pronouns:

  • Who- who
  • What- what
  • Which- which
  • Whose- whose

In questions to the subject, the word order of the declarative sentence is preserved.

For example:

  • Narrative Suggestion: They must do it every day. instead of the subject They put Who, the rest of the sentence is left unchanged, and we get
  • Question to the subject: Who must do it every day?

Note that if the sentence refers to the present tense, then the interrogative words who, what, which usually agree with the predicate in the form of the 3rd person singular. Because we do not know what answer will follow, it is customary to use the 3rd person.

For example:

  • Narrative Suggestion: They study at school. instead of the subject They put Who, and add to the verb 3rd person ending, and we get
  • Question to the subject: Who stud ies at school?

You also need to remember that the question word " which- which" involves the choice of a certain number of objects or persons. Therefore, it is often used in conjunction with a noun or pronoun, which is preceded by a preposition of. For example:

  • Which of the children ... - Which of the children ...
  • Which of you… - which of you…

Questions to the subject or to its definition are given short answers, which consist of the subject, expressed by a noun or pronoun, and the corresponding auxiliary verb.

5. Dividing question

Question Answer
He is a student, isn't he?
My friends don't play football, do they?
She can play piano, can't she?
It isn't warm today, is it?
Alex speaks English, doesn't he?
Yes, he is.
No, they don't.
Yes, she can.
No, it isn't.
Yes, he does.

Disjunctive questions in English are asked to test an assumption or express doubt. The peculiarity of the dividing question is that it consists of two parts and is separated by a comma. That's why it's called separating. The first part consists of a declarative sentence in direct word order. The second part is short question, which consists of an auxiliary or modal verb and a pronoun that replaces the subject. A comma is placed between them. In the second part, as you already understood, it is used reverse order words, and it is translated into Russian: isn't it?, isn't it?, isn't it?

Remember that if the first part of the question is affirmative, then the verb in the second part must be in negative form. If the first part of the question is negative, then in the second part the verb must be in the affirmative form.

Let's look at a couple of examples:

  • Narrative suggestion affirmative: She can cook that dish. can, add a piece " not» and the pronoun itself she. We get
  • Separated question: She can cook that dish can't she?
  • Narrative suggestion negative: She can't cook that dish. We rewrite the sentence, put a comma, put the indicator of the question, i.e. in this case modal verb can, you don’t need to add the “not” particle, because it is in the first part of the sentence, and finally the pronoun itself she. We get

The question is expressed in the form interrogative sentence and a request for thought, implemented as a response, aimed at development - clarification or addition of knowledge.

In the process of cognition, questions do not arise independently, without any reason. Any question always relies on already known knowledge, which acts as its basis and plays the role of a prerequisite for the question.

The cognitive function of the question is realized in the form of an answer to the question posed. The answer is a new judgment, clarifying or supplementing the previous knowledge in accordance with the question posed. The search for an answer involves referring to a specific area of ​​theoretical or empirical knowledge, which is called the area of ​​​​answer search. The knowledge obtained in the answer, expanding or clarifying the initial information, can serve as a basis for raising new, deeper questions about the subject of research.

There are questions of different structure and functions. Among them:

Correct and incorrect. Unlike a judgment, a question does not contain either an affirmation or a negation; therefore, the information expressed in it is not evaluated in terms of truth and falsehood, i.e. the question is not spoken of as true or false. At the same time, the question explicitly or implicitly relies on a certain initial or basic knowledge, which is the premise of the question. The quality of basic knowledge significantly affects the logical status of the question, determining the correctness and incorrectness of the question. A question is considered correctly posed, the premise of which is true and consistent knowledge. A question with a false or contradictory basis is considered to be incorrectly posed. An example of a misplaced would be next question: “What shoe size does Bigfoot have?” The premise of this question involves the far from certain idea that Bigfoot exists. Such a question is spoken of as incorrectly or incorrectly posed - before finding out the size of Bigfoot's shoes, it is necessary to establish the fact of the existence of Bigfoot. In the event that an incorrectly posed question is deliberately used to confuse the respondent, such a question is qualified as catching, or “provocative”.

Questions can be closed or open.

Open questions allow for an unlimited number of answers.

Closed questions are questions that can be answered with a limited number of answers. Such questions are most often used during sociological surveys. For example, the question “How do you feel about the activities of the State Tax Administration of Ukraine?” is open, because a person can express his own opinion on this occasion.

According to the logical structure and cognitive function, questions are divided into two main types: clarifying (li-questions) and supplementing.

A clarifying question is a question aimed at revealing the truth of the judgment expressed in it. For example:

“Is it true that the Earth revolves around the Sun?”

“Does the institute really have a third degree of accreditation?”

“Is official forgery a crime?”

The grammatical sign of clarifying questions is the presence of the particle “whether” in the sentence: “Is it true that ...”; "Does it..."; “Is it that...”; “Is it really that...” and other synonymous expressions.

Complementary is a question aimed at identifying new properties of the studied phenomena:

“Where did the 1998 FIFA World Cup take place?”

"Who invented the telephone?"

“When was the last eruption of Mount Vesuvius?”

The grammatical feature of complementary questions is the presence of interrogative words in the sentence: who? what? where? when? as? and others, with the help of which they seek to obtain additional information about what the object under study is.

Both clarifying and completing questions can be simple or complex. A simple question is one that does not include constituent parts other questions. A complex question is a question that includes other questions as components, united by logical connectives.

In relation to the cognitive goal, questions are divided into key and supplementary. Nodal - if the correct answer serves to achieve the goal ("what is a logical characteristic?") Suggestive - prepare a person to understand the key question.

The cognitive function of the question is realized in the form of a newly obtained judgment - the answer to the question posed. At the same time, in terms of content and structure, the answer should be built in accordance with the question posed. Only in this case the answer is regarded as relevant, i.e. as an answer to the merits of the question posed, fulfilling its main purpose - to clarify unclear or uncertain and deliver new information.

If, although true, but not meaningfully related to the question, judgments are given as an answer, then they are regarded as answers that are not on the merits of the question and are usually excluded from consideration. The appearance of such questions in a discussion or in the process of interrogation is either the result of a delusion, when the respondent did not catch the meaning of the question, but tries to answer it, or a conscious desire to avoid an unfavorable answer to the question posed.

"Ask a stupid question and you'll get a stupid answer." Such a determining influence of the question on the nature of the answer has been known for a long time. During one of his campaigns, Alexander the Great captured ten Indian philosophers. They were known for their ability to witty and concise answers to questions. Alexander decided to test the captives by asking them difficult questions. Fifth in a row, he asked: "Which came first - night or day?" The philosopher replied: “A day earlier, at least a day,” but seeing that Alexander was not very satisfied with such an answer, he added that one should not be surprised that tricky questions have equally tricky answers *. Later, the German philosopher I. Kant repeated the same idea. “The ability to put reasonable questions,” he remarked wittily, “is already an important and necessary sign of intelligence and insight. If the question itself is meaningless and requires useless answers, then, in addition to shame for the questioner, it sometimes has the disadvantage that it prompts the careless listener to absurd answers and creates a funny spectacle: one (according to the ancients) milks a goat, while the other holds under it sieve" **.
* Belnap N., Stal T. Logic of questions and answers. - M., 1982. - S. 135-136.
** Kant I. Works: In 6 volumes - M., 1964. -T. 3. - S. 159.

That is why the following rules should be observed when asking questions:
1. Questions must be asked correctly. They must be correctly formulated in content and form. Provocative and vague questions are unacceptable.
2. In accordance with the question, an alternative answer (“yes” or “no”) to clarifying questions should be provided. For example, to the question: “Does Petrov plead guilty to the charges brought against him?” two alternative answers can be given: “Yes, he recognizes” or “No, he does not recognize”.
3. The question is formulated briefly and clearly. Long, confusing questions make them difficult to understand and answer.
4. The question should be simple. If the question is complex, then it is better to break it down into several simple ones. For example, “Were the brothers Ivan and Konstantin Aksakov the publishers of the newspaper The Day?”. This is complex issue should be divided into two simple ones, since the answers will be different - “yes”, “no”. This is due to the fact that Ivan Aksakov was the publisher of the Den newspaper, while Konstantin was not, he was only the author of numerous articles in it.
5. In complex disjunctive questions, a listing of all alternatives is necessary. For example, “What type of court, according to the stage of consideration of cases, does this court belong to: first or cassation instance?”. The third alternative, the supervisory court, is not indicated here.
6. When formulating questions, one should distinguish between their usual formulation and rhetorical one. Rhetorical questions, as you know, are judgments, since they contain an affirmation or a negation; Ordinary questions are not judgments.
It is important to remember that only a correctly posed question is able to fulfill its functions both in scientific knowledge, and in discussion, and in education.
For example, one of the most common methods for studying various problems of public life is a survey. The purpose of the survey is to obtain information about objective and subjective (opinions, moods, interests, etc.) facts from the words of the respondents. Many legal problems cannot be studied at all without resorting to a survey: public opinion on the norms of criminal law, prestige law enforcement, legal consciousness, the effectiveness of legal propaganda, etc.
The main thing in this method is the formulation of questions. The general requirements for the formulation of questions are based on the considered formal-logical rules for their formulation.
First, the question should be specific, concise, understandable, simple in design.
Second, the question should indicate the time, place, and context that must be taken into account when answering.
Thirdly, words with double or more meanings should not be used in the question.
Fourth, control questions should not immediately follow the main ones.
Fifth, the question should indicate all possible alternative answers (positive, negative choices).
Sixth, if you need to specify the answer in the question, you can enter a short preface.
Seventh, the wording of the question and its meaning should take into account the personal personal experience of the respondents in the area to which the question is directed.
Eighth, one should not first pose difficult or disturbing questions to the interviewee *.
* See: Criminology: Textbook / Ed. V. V. Orekhova. - St. Petersburg, 1992. - S. 19.

An answer is a judgment prompted by a question. The main functions of the answer are: a) reducing the uncertainty contained in the question, or b) indicating the incorrect formulation of the question. At the same time, the same question can have many different answers that are not equivalent in terms of their logical and informational characteristics. Hence, the following types of responses are distinguished.
1. According to the search area, answers are divided into direct and indirect. A direct answer is one that is taken directly from the answer search area, without additional information or reasoning. The indirect answer is taken from a wider area than the area of ​​the search for answers, it is connected with the direct answer by some logical relation in truth. For example, to the question “Did Citizen Kuzin commit this crime?” you can answer: "At the time when the crime was committed, citizen Kuzin, together with his family, was in another city visiting relatives." This answer is indirect. It, like the scheme of its construction, that is, its basis, is not contained under question mark, however, a direct answer logically follows from it: "Citizen Kuzin did not commit this crime." Compared to a direct answer, an indirect answer often contains additional information and is therefore used for a comprehensive consideration of the issue,
2. According to the amount of information, full and partial answers are distinguished. A complete answer eliminates the uncertainty implied by the question and makes the unknown known. It is any direct answer, as well as any consistent judgment from which a direct answer follows. A true complete answer is called exhaustive. Thus, every exhaustive answer is complete, but not vice versa. A partial answer only to some extent eliminates the uncertainty conveyed by the question and brings the unknown to the known closer. It is any judgment that follows as a consequence of a direct answer on the basis of accepted provisions, but not vice versa. For example, to the question “Is the government ready to firmly take power into its own hands and implement economic reform? The deputy answered: "The government cannot carry out economic reform, since its concept has not been developed." Partial answer: no answer to the first part of the question.
Knowledge of the rules for posing a question and its relationship with the answer allows us to formulate the following rules for formulating an answer:
1. The answer should be clear, unambiguous and short. This largely depends on how the respondent understands the question and whether he wants to answer it.
2. The answer should reduce the uncertainty of the question, be more informative than it. Many disputes and discussions are fruitless due to deviations from this rule. “Pound water in a mortar” - they say in such cases.
3. If the question is incorrectly formulated, the answer must also contain an indication of this incorrectness. In some cases, it is sufficient to say that at such and such a point the question is not clear and requires clarification. In others - that the issue does not deserve discussion, since it is finally resolved and the answer is known. Thirdly, that it is still premature to demand an answer, since the question is unresolvable due to the lack of some data, the lack of suitable solution methods, etc. special attention deserve questions whose source of incorrectness is the falsity of their premises. The only possible way to answer such questions is to reject these false premises.
Thus, the question-answer complex plays important role in the process of cognition of legal reality. Therefore, a lawyer needs to know the logical essence of questions and answers, their types, the rules for posing questions in order to correctly ask and answer them, distinguishing and pointing out tricks that interlocutors can use unknowingly or deliberately.

correct and not correct questions.

Although the question itself does not express a judgment, it is based on a judgment or a set of judgments. For example, the question "When will the Trinity Bridge, located in St. Petersburg, be repaired?" relies on true judgments that such a bridge exists, that it needs to be repaired, and that it is possible that this repair is expected. The condition for the meaningfulness of the question is the truth of those judgments that serve as its implicit premise. If such a bridge did not exist in St. Petersburg, and the corresponding judgment would be false, then the above question would be meaningless.

If the question is constructed in such a way that it cannot be unambiguously understood, then it is called incorrectly constructed, or syntactically incorrect. For example, this would be the question "When was a war adventure film shown in the last month?" His premise - "an adventure film about (we don't know what) war was shown in the last month" - is not a judgment. To make such a question syntactically correct, either (1) introduce additional parameters into the premise, for example, "When was any adventure film about the Great Patriotic War shown on television last month?", Or (2) make the question complex: "When , where and what adventure films about any war have been shown over the past month?"

Syntactically correct questions can be semantically correct or semantically incorrect. A semantically correct question is a question whose premise is a true proposition, and semantically incorrect is a question with a false premise. So, the question is, "In what year was St. Petersburg founded?" is semantically correct, since his premise - "St. Petersburg was founded" - is a true proposition, and the question "In what year was the first city on the moon founded?" is currently semantically incorrect, as it is based on the false premise that cities have already been founded on the Moon.

If a semantically incorrect question is deliberately asked, then it is called provocative. It does not matter if it is personal or general and whether it has any ethical connotation. Equally provocative are the examiner's question "How to limit the concept of" Moon "?" Do you beat your wife?" if the questioner knows that you do not beat her, and the question "In what year was the first city on the moon founded?" if the questioner knows that there are currently no cities on the moon.

Correctness problem simple questions is of practical importance in the conduct of the discussion. There is a simple method for establishing the correctness of simple questions. It consists in following a number of rules: 1. First, you should try to establish the true answer. If the answer is found, then the question is correct. If the answer is not found, then the second rule must be used. 2. Establish the possibility of a true answer to the question by analyzing the explicit premises of the question. If all explicit premises are true, then such a possibility exists, and therefore the question is semantically correct with respect to explicit premises. If, with the truth of all explicit premises, a paradoxical situation arises, that is, such a situation when there are two true opposite answers, another rule is used. 3. The implicit premises of the question should be clarified. For this, the key concept of the premise of the question is singled out. (A key concept is a concept that designates an object, information about which is necessary to answer the question.) Then, either the operation of dividing the concept or the operation of defining it is applied to it. The division operation is used when no additional information about understanding is required to answer the question. key concept, however, information about the members of the division (special cases) of the concept is required. The definition operation is used when it is required to clarify the meaning and meaning of a concept.

6. According to the correctness of the formulation of questions, they are divided into correct and incorrect. Correct (from lat. correctus - polite, tactful, courteous) question is a question, the premise of which is true and consistent knowledge. An incorrect question is based on the premise of a false or contradictory judgment, or a judgment whose meaning is not defined. There are two types of logically incorrect questions: trivially incorrect and non-trivially incorrect (from Latin trivialis - hackneyed, vulgar, devoid of freshness and originality). A question is trivially incorrect, or meaningless, if it is expressed in sentences containing obscure (indefinite) words or phrases. An example is the following question: "Does critical metaphysication by abstractions and discrediting the tendency of cerebral subjectivism lead to ignoring the system of paradoxical illusions?"
In the process of communication, situations may arise when questions are asked that are generally correct, but are perceived as trivially incorrect due to the fact that their formulations contain expressions that are unknown to these individuals or this audience or are misunderstood. In such cases, it is necessary either to explain unknown or misunderstood expressions, or to replace them with known ones.
A question is called non-trivially incorrect if its premise is a false statement. There is no true answer to such a question. For example, they say that the English king Charles II (XVII century) asked the following question at the Royal Society: “Why does a dead fish not increase, but a living one increases the weight of a vessel with water?”. It was a provocative question. He deliberately based himself on a false premise and assumed the agreement that a dead fish does not increase, but a living one increases the weight of a vessel of water.
If the question posed is based on simple ignorance of the basis asking about the falsity, then the question is simply incorrect. If the questioner knows about the falsity of the basis of the question and asks the question with the aim of provocation, confusing his opponent, then such a question is called provocative, and its posing is a sophistical device. Through provocative questions, they sometimes put logically unprepared people in a difficult position. Thus, during the discussion on the humanization of criminal penalties, opponents of the abolition death penalty questions were asked: “Are you for the inevitability of punishments or for their toughening?”, “Are you personally now, are you ready to carry out the death sentence here?”. These questions were not answered. How should such questions be answered? Answering the first question, it should be noted that the question is incorrect, provocative, since its premise “A person must speak either for the inevitability of punishment, or for tougher punishment” is a false statement. Then it is advisable to suggest correcting the question - “breaking” it into two questions: “Are you for the inevitability of punishment or against inevitability?” When answering the second question, you must say that it is also provocative, and indicate the premise: “If a person does not exclude the death penalty as capital punishment, then he should be ready to carry out such a sentence at any time, in any place.” This premise is false.


Similar information.


It would seem, what could be easier than asking a question? However, there are many rules and varieties of questions in both English and Russian. In addition, their use in conversation always depends. And as we will see, the situations in both English and Russian conversation are very similar to each other. We will analyze the types of questions in more detail in this article.

What questions exist in Russian?

In this paper, we will consider 5 types of questions. There are a number of other classifications, the number of questions in which may vary, but today we will focus on this one.

So, according to our classification, there are five closed, open, critical, rhetorical, questions for reflection. Note that open and closed questions are distinguished in almost all types of classifications. This fact makes them essential.

Now let's look at each type in more detail, and also give examples.

Open question

Open-ended questions are questions that require a detailed answer and some explanation. They cannot be answered either "yes" or "no". Such questions begin with the following interrogative words: “how”, “who”, “what”, “why”, “how much”, “which”, etc.

Such questions allow your interlocutor to choose the information for the answer at their own discretion. On the one hand, this can lead to the fact that the interlocutor will hide what he does not want to disclose. But on the other hand, if you ask a question in a suitable emotional situation, the interlocutor can open up and tell much more than the question you asked required.

Open-ended questions allow you to turn your monologue into a conversation. However, there is a danger that you will lose control of the conversation, and it will not be easy to regain control.

Here are some examples of such questions:

  • Why do you want to study at our university?
  • When did you decide to agree to this conversation?
  • How much do you earn per month?
  • Who is cleaning your house?
  • What do you usually do in the evenings?

closed question

Closed-ended questions are questions that can be answered with either “yes” or “no”. Often in closed questions, the particle “li” is used. They limit the freedom of the interlocutor as much as possible, leading him to a monosyllabic answer.

In addition, closed questions have a number of negative features:

  • the information received when answering them will be superficial;
  • two response options create an impression of coercion, so the interlocutor will gradually feel more and more uncomfortable, which ultimately hello to the fact that he wants to end the conversation as soon as possible;
  • they lead to the reluctance of the interlocutor to open up and provide more information.

Closed questions are recommended to be used in cases where it is necessary to collect a lot of information in a short time. For example, when conducting various studies. If you plan to get to know the interlocutor better and assume that your acquaintance will continue, closed questions must be alternated with open ones, allowing the partner to speak.

  • Do you like to run?
  • Would you like to learn how to swim?
  • Do you play musical instruments?

Rhetorical question

We continue to consider types of questions. Next in line - rhetorical question, which serves for a deep and detailed consideration of the subject of conversation. It is impossible to give an unambiguous and unbiased answer to such questions. Their purpose is to point out unresolved issues and raise new questions, or to elicit support for your opinion by the participants in the discussion by tacit agreement. When composing such questions, the particle “li” is also often used.

  • We all share the same opinion on this issue, don't we?
  • Can we accept such actions as normal?

Tipping point

Another basic type of question is the tipping question. These are questions that help keep the discussion in a certain direction. They can also serve to raise new issues. They are set in those situations when you have received comprehensive information on the problem under consideration and would like to switch the attention of the audience to another, or when there is resistance from your opponent and you want to overcome it.

The interlocutor's answers to such questions make it possible to find out the vulnerable points in his judgments.

  • Tell me, do you think it is necessary? ..
  • How is it really going for you?..
  • What do you think?..
  • What do you see in the future?

Question for consideration

These types of questions encourage the interlocutor to reflect and carefully consider what was said earlier and prepare comments. In such a speech situation, the interlocutor gets the opportunity to make his own changes to the position already stated by someone. This allows you to look at the problem from several angles.

Examples of such questions:

  • Do you think that?..
  • Have we correctly understood your judgment about what? ..
  • Do you agree that...

Thus, we have considered the meaning and examples of the types of questions used in the Russian language.

How many types of questions are there in English?

There are also several types of questions in English. There are five of them, as in Russian. The use of questions will depend on the situation, the context, and the purpose for which you ask them. So, let's look at the types of questions in English with examples.

General question

General questions are identical to closed ones in Russian, that is, they require a one-word answer: “yes” or “no”. They are used to obtain general information only.

Such questions are composed without interrogative words, but begin with auxiliary verbs. And as you remember, in English for each tense there are certain

Word order when composing a question: auxiliary verb - subject - semantic verb - object - definition.

  • Is he a good driver?
  • Did he go to the disco today?
  • Do you play basketball every day?

Separated question

We continue to consider the types of questions in English with examples. This type is called separating because it consists of two parts, which are separated by a comma:

  • 1st part is a statement;
  • 2nd part - "spine", a question regarding this statement.

"Spine" is usually the opposite of a statement. That is, the purpose of the question is to verify the authenticity of the statement made.

  • You play basketball every day, don't you?
  • Steven is a famous artist, isn't he?

Special question

Question types can also be used to obtain additional information. For example, It necessarily begins with question words. The following are commonly used: when, why, where, which, how etc. These words do not apply what and who when they act as subjects.

Thus, the question has the following structure: interrogative word - auxiliary verb - subject - semantic verb - object.

  • What is your name?
  • When did you go to England last time?

Questions from or("or")

These questions involve choosing between two different answers. The word order here is the same as in the general question, but it is imperative to suggest an alternative possibility.

  • Do you like tea or coffee?
  • Will you go to Moscow by plane or by train?
  • Does your father or your mother help you with your homework?

Question from who (what)

This type is used when it is necessary to ask a question to the subject in a sentence. It will start with the words what or who. The main feature of this type of question is that the word order in its composition remains the same as in the statement. That is, the word order will be as follows: who / what - semantic verb - addition.

Here are some examples:

  • Who is this man?
  • What was that?

So, we have considered possible types of questions both in Russian and in English. As you can see, in both languages, despite the huge difference in origin and grammar between them, questions perform approximately the same functions. This tells us that the conversation in any language is conducted with certain goals. Moreover, the reasoning control mechanisms governed by questions also appear to be similar.