Which interviewing technique improves reliability?

• A. Leading questions
• B. Open-ended questions
• C. Yes/no only
• D. Rushed interviewing

Answer: (B)

Open-ended questions improve reliability by inviting the interviewee to describe what happened in their own words, which yields richer, more detailed, and more accurate information. This approach lets people recall events in sequence, provide context, and reveal nuances that a yes/no prompt would miss. Because the respondent isn’t nudged toward a specific answer, the account is less colored by the interviewer’s framing, making it easier to verify against other evidence and to detect inconsistencies through follow-up questions. In contrast, leading questions push toward a particular response, introducing bias that can distort memories and reduce the trustworthiness of what’s reported. Yes/no questions compress complex events into simplistic answers, often omitting critical details, which also harms reliability. Rushed interviewing further harms recall and leaves less opportunity to probe for accuracy. So, open-ended questioning best supports reliable, verifiable information in interviews.