"She Wanted to Know the Full Story": Children's Perceptions of Open Versus Closed Questions

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Brubacher, Sonja P
Timms, Lydia
Powell, Martine
Bearman, Madeleine
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2019
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Abstract

The current study explored children’s perceptions of open and closed questions in an interview setting. Children aged 7–12 (n = 83) years watched a short film and were questioned about it by an interviewer who asked only open questions and an interviewer who asked only closed questions (counterbalanced). A third interviewer subsequently invited perceptions of each interview by asking children to compare the interviews on 10 attributes (e.g., length, perceived interviewer interest). Children’s comparisons on each of the 10 attributes were analyzed quantitatively and their responses to the follow-up questions underwent thematic analysis. Overall, children tended to find closed questions easier than open questions because they required less thought to answer but felt more listened to and better able to give their stories in response to open questions. Their perceptions frequently matched findings in the literature about the utility of open versus closed questions. The research has implications for interviews with child victims.

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CHILD MALTREATMENT

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24

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2

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© AUTHORS, “She Wanted to Know the Full Story”: Children’s Perceptions of Open Versus Closed Questions, Child Maltreatment, First Published January 7, 2019. Copyright 2019 The Authors. Reprinted by permission of SAGE Publications.

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Subject

Social work

Psychology

Applied and developmental psychology

Forensic psychology

Criminology

Interviewing children

Criminal justice

Descriptive research

Elementary school-age children

Experimental/analog studies

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