Page 65 - Nutrition Counseling and Education Skills: A Guide for Professionals

Open Gives interviewee control Time consuming
Communicates trust/interest Supplies unneeded information
Closed Less threatening
Tells what the person thinks is Provides incomplete answers
Primary important Short answers force more questions
Secondary Gives interviewer control
Leading Provides quick answers Directs person’s answer
Verifies information Reveals bias of interviewer
Introduces new topics
Elicits further information

Neutral More accurate answers

Table 3-2 ■ Advantages and Disadvantages of Questions

Primary and Secondary Questions
Questions may also be classified as primary or secondary. Primary questions or requests are used to introduce
topics or new areas of discussion. The following are examples:

“Now that we have discussed your most recent position, please tell me about your former job with Smith & Company.”
“Now that we have discussed the foods you eat at home, please tell me about what you eat when you go to restaurants.”

Note that mentioning what was just said shows that you have been listening.
Secondary questions, also referred to as “follow-up” questions, are requests to obtain further information or

explanation that primary questions have failed to elicit.3 Interviewees may have given an inadequate response
for many reasons, including poor memory, misunderstanding of the question or amount of detail needed, and
the feeling that the question is too personal or irrelevant. Specific follow-up questions, such as the following,
may be asked:

“What do you have for dessert?”
“What other beverages do you drink?”
“In your previous position, how many people did you supervise?”

Probing

Although the client may not be able to answer the preceding questions on the spur of the moment, short-term
memory of foods can be improved with some prompting. The client may be reminded of the day of the week,
where he or she spent the day, whether meals were eaten at home or at a restaurant, whether others were
present, and so on.

Probing questions are secondary questions that ask clients to clarify partial responses or to continue.26 For
example:

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