Quick answer
A closed-ended question gives respondents a fixed set of answers to choose from, such as Yes/No, multiple choice, a rating scale or a 0–10 NPS scale. Example: “How satisfied are you with your order?” (1 Very dissatisfied – 5 Very satisfied). Closed questions produce quantitative data that is quick to answer and easy to compare. A closed questionnaire is one built mostly from these questions.
What is a closed-ended question?
A closed-ended question (also called a closed question or fixed-response question) is a question where the researcher decides the possible answers in advance. The respondent’s job is to choose, not to write. That is the key difference from an open-ended question, where people answer in their own words.
Because every answer comes from the same list, closed-ended questions produce quantitative data: you can count how many people chose each option, turn the counts into percentages, calculate averages for rating scales and compare groups. This is why most of a typical questionnaire, from a customer satisfaction survey to an employee engagement survey or a market research screener, is made of closed questions.
Two rules make a closed-ended question work. The options should be mutually exclusive (no answer fits two options) and collectively exhaustive (every respondent has an option that fits). When you can’t list every possibility, add “Other (please specify)” or “None of these”.
Types of closed-ended questions
All of these are closed-ended because the answer options are fixed. They differ in how many answers a person can choose and whether the options have an order.
Types of closed-ended questions with descriptions and examples| Type | How it works | Example and options |
|---|
| Dichotomous (Yes/No) | Exactly two answers that split respondents into two groups. | Did you find what you were looking for today? (Yes · No) |
|---|
| Multiple choice, single answer | Three or more options; the respondent picks one. | How did you first hear about us? (Search engine · Friend or colleague · Social media · Event · Other) |
|---|
| Multiple choice, multiple answers | Three or more options; the respondent picks every one that applies. | Which of these features have you used in the past month? (Reports · Exports · Integrations · Mobile app · None of these) |
|---|
| Rating scale | An ordered scale that measures how much: satisfaction, ease, frequency or agreement. | How satisfied are you with your purchase? (1 Very dissatisfied … 5 Very satisfied) |
|---|
| Likert item | A statement rated on a balanced agree–disagree scale, usually 5 or 7 points. | “The onboarding emails were helpful.” (Strongly disagree · Disagree · Neither · Agree · Strongly agree) |
|---|
| Net Promoter Score (NPS) | A standard 0–10 likelihood-to-recommend question. | How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague? (0 … 10) |
|---|
| Dropdown | A single-answer list, compact enough for long lists such as countries or departments. | Which department do you work in? (Engineering · Sales · Marketing · Operations · …) |
|---|
| Ranking | Respondents put options in order of preference or importance. | Rank these factors from most to least important when choosing a supplier. (Price · Quality · Delivery time · Support) |
|---|
Dichotomous questions are the simplest closed-ended format. For a deeper look, with 50+ examples, see our guide to dichotomous (yes/no) questions. Questions are also grouped by the type of data they produce: nominal options have no order (“Which channel did you use?”), while ordinal options do (“Very dissatisfied” to “Very satisfied”). Ordinal answers can be summarized with medians and top-2-box percentages, not only counts.
Closed-ended questionnaire example
Here is a complete example of a closed-ended questionnaire: a ten-question post-purchase survey for an online store. It mixes yes/no, single-answer and multiple-answer choice, rating scales, a Likert item and NPS. Every question has fixed answers, so it takes about two minutes on a phone.
- Is this your first order with us? (Yes / No)
- How did you first hear about us? (Search engine / Friend or colleague / Social media / Advertisement / Other)
- Which product category did you buy from? (Clothing / Shoes / Accessories / Home)
- How satisfied are you with your order overall? (1 Very dissatisfied – 5 Very satisfied)
- How easy was it to find the product you wanted? (1 Very difficult – 5 Very easy)
- Did your order arrive on or before the promised date? (Yes / No)
- Which of these did you use during your order? (Select all that apply) (Product reviews / Size guide / Live chat / Order tracking / None of these)
- How often do you shop online for this kind of product? (Weekly / Monthly / A few times a year / Rarely)
- “The price I paid was fair for what I got.” (Strongly disagree – Strongly agree (5 points))
- How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague? (0–10)
Each question measures one thing, the options cover everyone, and the scales are balanced (as many negative as positive points). To learn why customers answered as they did, end with one optional open question such as “Is there anything we could have done better?”. That turns a closed questionnaire into a mixed one without making it much longer.
Closed-ended question examples by use case
Copy these examples as they are or adapt the wording. The answer options are shown in brackets.
Customer satisfaction and feedback
- How satisfied were you with the support you received? (1–5 satisfaction scale)
- Was your issue resolved on the first contact? (Yes / No)
- How would you rate the speed of our response? (Very slow / Slow / Acceptable / Fast / Very fast)
- Which channel did you use to contact us? (Email / Phone / Live chat / Social media)
- How likely are you to buy from us again? (Very unlikely – Very likely (5 points))
Product and UX research
- How often do you use the app? (Daily / Several times a week / Weekly / Less often)
- Which device do you use most often? (Phone / Tablet / Laptop / Desktop)
- How easy was it to set up your account? (1 Very difficult – 5 Very easy)
- Which of these tasks have you done this month? (Select all) (Created a report / Invited a teammate / Exported data / None)
- “I can find what I need without help.” (Strongly disagree – Strongly agree)
Employee and HR surveys
- How satisfied are you with your current role? (1–5 satisfaction scale)
- How long have you worked here? (Less than 1 year / 1–2 years / 3–5 years / More than 5 years)
- “My manager gives me useful feedback.” (Strongly disagree – Strongly agree)
- How likely are you to recommend this company as a place to work? (0–10 (eNPS))
- Do you have the tools you need to do your job well? (Yes / No)
Education, training and events
- How would you rate this session overall? (Poor / Fair / Good / Very good / Excellent)
- Was the pace of the course right for you? (Too slow / About right / Too fast)
- Which topics would you like covered next? (Select up to three) (List of topics)
- How did you attend? (In person / Online)
- Would you attend another event from us? (Yes / No)
Market research and demographics
- What is your age? (Under 18 / 18–24 / 25–34 / 35–44 / 45–54 / 55–64 / 65 or older)
- Which of these best describes your role? (Individual contributor / Manager / Director / Executive / Other)
- How many people work at your company? (1–10 / 11–50 / 51–200 / 201–1,000 / More than 1,000)
- Have you bought this type of product in the past 12 months? (Yes / No)
- How important is price when you choose a supplier? (Not at all important – Extremely important (5 points))
Closed-ended vs. open-ended questions
Closed questions measure; open questions explain. This comparison shows what each is good at:
Closed-ended questions compared with open-ended questions | Closed-ended | Open-ended |
|---|
| Answer format | Fixed options chosen by the researcher | The respondent’s own words |
|---|
| Data type | Quantitative (counts, percentages, scores) | Qualitative (text to read and code) |
|---|
| Example | How satisfied are you? (1–5) | What could we do better? |
|---|
| Time to answer | A few seconds per question | Longer; needs typing and thought |
|---|
| Analysis | Fast; charts and statistics straight away | Slow; responses must be read and grouped into themes |
|---|
| Best for | Measuring, comparing and tracking over time | Exploring reasons, ideas and unexpected issues |
|---|
| Main risk | Missing options, forced choices | Short or skipped answers, drop-off |
|---|
Most surveys work best with mostly closed questions and one or two open ones placed after the key ratings. If you need ideas for those follow-ups, see these 40 open-ended survey question examples.
Advantages of closed-ended questions
- Fast to answer. Tapping an option takes seconds, which keeps completion rates up, especially on phones.
- Easy to analyze. Answers are already categorized, so you get percentages and charts without reading every response.
- Comparable. Everyone answers the same options, so you can compare segments and track results over time.
- Consistent interpretation. Defined options reduce the ambiguity of free text: “Weekly” means the same for everyone.
- Good for sensitive topics. Ranges such as age or income bands feel less intrusive than asking for an exact number.
- Work with branching. A fixed answer is a clean trigger for showing the right follow-up question.
Disadvantages and limitations
- Missing options. If the right answer isn’t on the list, people pick the closest one or skip, and your data is quietly wrong.
- No “why”. A 2 out of 5 tells you something went wrong, not what. Pair important ratings with an optional open question.
- Forced choices. Without “Not sure” or “Not applicable”, people with no real opinion are pushed into one.
- Response biases. Order effects (favoring the first options), acquiescence (agreeing with statements) and straight-lining (the same answer down a list) are easier with fixed options.
- Researcher framing. The options reflect what you expected to find, which can hide issues you didn’t think of.
How to write good closed-ended questions
- Ask about one thing. “How satisfied are you with our price and quality?” is two questions. Split it.
- Make options exhaustive. Cover every realistic answer, and add “Other (please specify)” or “None of these” when you can’t.
- Make options mutually exclusive. Age bands such as 18–24 and 25–34 must not overlap; “18–25” and “25–34” both include 25.
- Balance your scales. Offer as many negative as positive options, and label every point, not just the ends.
- Keep scales consistent. Use the same direction and number of points throughout, so 5 always means the best answer.
- Offer an opt-out when it’s honest. Add “Not applicable” or “Don’t know” where many people genuinely can’t answer.
- Stay neutral. “How much did you enjoy our new feature?” assumes enjoyment. Ask “How would you rate the new feature?”.
- Randomize unordered lists. Shuffling nominal options reduces the bias toward the first item. Keep ordered scales in order.
How to analyze closed-ended data
- Frequencies and percentages. Count each option and report it as a share of everyone who answered: “64% chose Search engine”. Always give the number of responses.
- Top-2 box for rating scales. The share choosing the top two points (for example 4 and 5 on a 1–5 scale) is easy to explain. It is exactly how CSAT works; score yours with the CSAT calculator.
- Medians and means. For ordinal scales the median is the safest summary; the mean is widely used for 5- and 7-point scales but treats the gaps between points as equal.
- Cross-tabulation. Split one question by another, for example satisfaction by first-time vs. returning customers, and use a chi-square test to check whether the difference is likely to be real.
- Margin of error. Every percentage from a sample is an estimate. Check yours with the margin of error calculator, and use the sample size calculator before you send the survey.
- NPS. For 0–10 recommendation questions, group answers into promoters, passives and detractors with the NPS calculator.
How to create closed-ended questions in Florm
Florm has 12 question types, and most of them are closed-ended: Yes / No, Single choice, Multiple choice, Dropdown, Rating scale (with custom labels for the lowest and highest values) and NPS. To build a closed-ended questionnaire:
- Create a survey in the online survey maker and add each question as a step.
- Pick the type that matches the answer: Yes / No for two options, Single choice or Dropdown for one answer from a list, Multiple choice for “select all that apply”, Rating scale for satisfaction or agreement, NPS for likelihood to recommend.
- Mark key questions as required, and turn on random option order for unordered lists in the form settings.
- On Basic and Professional plans, use logic branching to ask a follow-up only to people who chose a low rating.
- Share by link or QR code, then read per-question statistics, completion and drop-off in form analytics, or export everything to Excel or PDF.
Start freeMore survey guides
