I WANT TO FIND OUT
all I can about myself!!

PREVIOUS: Types of Qs (Part 1a)

SITE: The Incredible Power Of The Right Qs

TYPES of Questions – Subsidiary (Qs)
ESSENTIAL // SUBSIDIARY == Closed, Convergent, Divergent

ELABORATING
🔎 Qs that extend & stretch the meaning of info being gathered. They take straightforward (obvious) facts & see where they lead, searching below the surface to find implications in the original content (explicit –> implicit). (Reading between the lines, “what does this text really mean?”)

EVALUATIVE
🔎 Qs that determine the importance, effectiveness, or worth of something or someone. Answers usually require sophisticated levels of thinking & feeling, wasting the responder (person asked) to make evaluations & judgements based on analyzing info – at multiple levels & from different perspectives. (“What kind of a teacher was Mr Smith?”)

FACTUAL
🔎 Qs that ask for reasonably simple, straight forward responses based on obvious facts or awareness. Usually aimed at the most basic level of thinking or feeling (“Did you go to a City College or an Ivy League School”?)

FUNNELING
🔎 Qs that channel the respondent’s answers with a series of Qs that get narrower at each step, starting with Open Qs, & ending with Closed ones, or vice-versa:
a. From SPECIFIC to BROAD (Deductive)
Starts by asking a person to remember as many specifics of a situation as possible, & then work toward more general observations (“You saw that hit-&-run accident. What can you tell me about the man & his car?”)

b. From BROAD to SPECIFIC (Inductive)
Here the responder is asked for an overview of a situation, & then using the big picture, try to remember as many specific details as they can (“If everyone has the ability to learn, then why do you think you can’t?”)

HYPOTHETICAL
🔎 Qs designed to explore possibilities & test relationships. They usually project a theory or an option out into the future, wondering what might happen IF… Especially helpful when trying to decide between a number of choices, trying to solve a problem, or deciding IF hunches, suppositions or hypotheses that have any merit (“What do you think would happen of you let yourself be successful?”)

INFORMATIONAL
🔎 Qs that ‘power’ all learning, designed to gather facts, searching for info needed in a specific context, re. some aspect, concept, issue, or problem.  (“How many inches in a mile?”)
EXP : categories to focus = Day-to-Day Tasks, Career Paths, Industry Trend

INVENTIVE
🔎 Qs that turn findings inside out, upside down – shattering routine thinking, open up deep conversation, or fresh paths to problem solving. They adjust, alter, distort, modify & rearrange bits & pieces of info – until they produce a Eureka moment – the discovery of something brand new (“If I combine these 5 yarns, I wonder if it would make a beautiful sweater?”)

IRRELEVANT
🔎 Qs that are off-topic inquiries that don’t connect to the current discussion –  made to distract, sidetrack or divert from the task or conversation at hand. This may be a tactic to keep others off-balance, get away from a sensitive topic or protect the speaker from being caught out.They can distract from goals, create awkward moments, or test how people handle unexpected situations (“So, what were you saying about your relationship?”)
✔️However, this type of Q can also be beneficial, since the creating new knowledge almost always requires some wandering off course.
“The search for Truth requires the courage to venture out & away from the familiar & the known ….” From Moby Dick (”How can we understand the unconscious”?)

IRREVERENT
🔎 Qs that explore ideas or facts generally considered off-limits or over-the-top. maybe weird & slightly unhinged – to break the ice, defy polite convention & force people to rethink beliefs. They challenge far more than conventional wisdom, holding no respect for authority, institutions or myths, leaping over, under or through walls, rules & regulations. They are considered disrespectful, or at the very least impolite, but are often used in comedy routines (“Why is the Emperor not wearing any clothes?”)

NEXT: Types of Qs – Part 1c