Descriptions and examples of question types with mean (M), standard deviation (SD) and the minimum (min) and maximum (max)
| Question type | Description and example | M | SD | Min | Max | % of total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open question | Give the witness an opportunity to provide an elaborate answer (e.g. “What happened next?”) | 18.27 | 9.48 | 6 | 37 | 17.1 |
| Closed question | Can only be answered with a short and specific answer (e.g. “Where were you at that moment?”) | 18.80 | 14.14 | 2 | 52 | 14.9 |
| Yes/no question | Can only be answered with yes or no (e.g. “Did the perpetrator have a gun?”) | 18.07 | 10.61 | 3 | 37 | 15.5 |
| Multiple-choice question | Give the witness several options to choose from (e.g. “Did you go left, right or straight?”) | 3.00 | 2.00 | 0 | 6 | 2.6 |
| Clarifying question | Aim to clarify information in the form of a question or paraphrase (e.g. “If I understand correctly, you went over the victim at that moment?”) | 61.93 | 43.21 | 6 | 134 | 46.6 |
| Questions about inconsistencies | Address an inconsistency between statements of two witnesses or between multiple statements of one witness | 0.93 | 1.28 | 0 | 4 | 1.7 |
| Checking with other witness | Questions that checked whether a witness agreed with or could elaborate upon the other witness’ story (e.g. “What do you think about what he said?”) | 1.20 | 2.15 | 0 | 7 | 1.7 |
| Total | 122.20 | 63.40 | 32 | 249 | 100 |
| Question type | Description and example | M | SD | Min | Max | % of total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open question | Give the witness an opportunity to provide an elaborate answer (e.g. “What happened next?”) | 18.27 | 9.48 | 6 | 37 | 17.1 |
| Closed question | Can only be answered with a short and specific answer (e.g. “Where were you at that moment?”) | 18.80 | 14.14 | 2 | 52 | 14.9 |
| Yes/no question | Can only be answered with yes or no (e.g. “Did the perpetrator have a gun?”) | 18.07 | 10.61 | 3 | 37 | 15.5 |
| Multiple-choice question | Give the witness several options to choose from (e.g. “Did you go left, right or straight?”) | 3.00 | 2.00 | 0 | 6 | 2.6 |
| Clarifying question | Aim to clarify information in the form of a question or paraphrase (e.g. “If I understand correctly, you went over the victim at that moment?”) | 61.93 | 43.21 | 6 | 134 | 46.6 |
| Questions about inconsistencies | Address an inconsistency between statements of two witnesses or between multiple statements of one witness | 0.93 | 1.28 | 0 | 4 | 1.7 |
| Checking with other witness | Questions that checked whether a witness agreed with or could elaborate upon the other witness’ story (e.g. “What do you think about what he said?”) | 1.20 | 2.15 | 0 | 7 | 1.7 |
| Total | 122.20 | 63.40 | 32 | 249 | 100 |