Which type of questions are best for a fieldwork questionnaire?

• A. Only open-ended questions to gain depth
• B. A mix of closed questions for quantitative data and a few open questions for qualitative insights
• C. All questions should be multiple-choice
• D. Questions should avoid any open-ended responses

Answer: (B)

Designing fieldwork questionnaires works best when you capture both numbers and personal perspectives. Closed questions give clear, easy-to-analyze data that you can compare across groups or sites, turning responses into percentages, averages, and graphs. A few open-ended questions add depth by letting respondents explain their choices, describe local conditions, or share examples, giving context and reasons behind the patterns you see in the numbers. Too many open questions can be time-consuming to analyse, and too many closed questions can miss the why behind the data. By combining closed questions for quantitative data with a few open questions for qualitative insights, you get a fuller, more reliable picture of the fieldwork situation.