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%T Some Methodological Uses of Responses to Open Questions and Other Verbatim Comments in Quantitative Surveys %A Singer, Eleanor %A Couper, Mick P. %J Methods, data, analyses : a journal for quantitative methods and survey methodology (mda) %N 2 %P 115-134 %V 11 %D 2017 %K open questions; verbatim comments %@ 2190-4936 %~ GESIS %X "The use of open-ended questions in survey research has a very long history. In this paper, building on the work of Paul F. Lazarsfeld and Howard Schuman, we review the methodological uses of open-ended questions and verbatim responses in surveys. We draw on prior research, our own and that of others, to argue for increasing the use of open-ended questions in quantitative surveys. The addition of open-ended questions - and the capture and analysis of respondents' verbatim responses to other types of questions - may yield important insights, not only into respondents' substantive answers, but also into how they understand the questions we ask and arrive at an answer. Adding a limited number of such questions to computerized surveys, whether self- or interviewer-administered, is neither expensive nor time-consuming, and in our experience respondents are quite willing and able to answer such questions." (author's abstract) %C DEU %G en %9 journal article %W GESIS - http://www.gesis.org %~ SSOAR - http://www.ssoar.info