3.12 Rules for asking questions. Answers on questions

The determining influence of a question on the nature of an answer has long been known: “Ask a stupid question, and you will get a stupid answer.” During one of his campaigns, Alexander the Great captured ten Indian philosophers. They were known for their ability to answer questions posed wittily and succinctly. Alexander decided to try the prisoners by asking them hard questions. Fifth, he asked: "What used to be - night or day?". The philosopher replied: “A day earlier at least a day,” but when he saw that Alexander was not very satisfied with such an answer, he added that it should not be surprising that clever questions have equally clever answers. “The ability to put reasonable questions,” said the German philosopher I. Kant, “is already an important and necessary sign of intelligence and insight. If the question itself is meaningless and requires useless answers, then besides shame for the questioner, he sometimes has the disadvantage that leads a careless listener to ridiculous answers and creates a ridiculous sight: one (in the words of the ancients) goats the goat, and the other keeps it sieve.

When asking questions, it is useful to observe the following rules:

1. Questions must be set correctly. They must be properly formulated in content and form. Provocative and vague questions are allowed only in exceptional cases.

2. The question must be formulated briefly and clearly. Long, confused questions make it difficult for them to understand and answer. The question should be as simple as possible. If it is difficult, it is better to break a few simple ones. For example, the difficult question “Did the Karamazov brothers participate in the murder of their father”? ”Should be broken down into two simple questions concerning each of the brothers, since the answers will be different -“ yes ”,“ no ”.

3. It is useful to avoid rhetorical questions. The latter are judgments, since they contain affirmation or negation; ordinary questions are not judgments.

4. From the question should be clear time, place and the context that must be considered when answering.

5. The question should not use multi-valued words.

6. If necessary, specify the answer in the question, you can enter a brief introduction.

7. The formulation of the question and its meaning should, as a rule, take into account the personal personal experience of the respondents in the field to which the question relates.

Answers on questions

The cognitive function of the question is realized in the form of a newly received utterance - the answer to the question posed. In this case, the content and structure of the answer should be built in accordance with the question posed. Only in this case the answer is regarded as relevant, i.e. as a response to the substance of the question, fulfilling its main purpose - to clarify unclear or uncertain information.

If the answer is given though true, but substantively not related to the question judgments, they are regarded as answers not to the point and are usually excluded from consideration. The appearance of such questions in the discussion is either the result of a delusion, when the respondent did not grasp the meaning of the question, but tries to answer it, or a conscious desire to get away from an unfavorable answer to the question posed. Among the answers are distinguished:

- true and false; direct and indirect

- brief and detailed,

- complete and incomplete.

By gnoseological status, i.e. in relation to reality, the answers can be true and false. The answer is regarded as true if the judgment expressed in it correctly, or adequately, reflects reality. The answer is regarded as false if the judgment expressed in it is incorrect, or inadequate, reflects the state of affairs.

Direct and indirect answers are two types of answers that differ in the way information is expressed. Direct is the answer, taken directly from the search for answers, the design of which does not resort to additional information and reasoning. For example, the direct answer to the complementary question “When did the First World War begin?” Would be the judgment: “The First World War began in August 1914.” The direct answer to the clarifying question “Is the whale a fish?” Will be the judgment: “No, the whale is not a fish.” An indirect answer is an answer that is taken from a wider area than the response search area, and from which only a devious response can sometimes be obtained. Thus, for the question “When did World War I begin?” The following answer would be indirect: “The First World War began after 1910.” To the question “Is a whale a fish?” The answer will be indirect: “The whale refers to mammals.”

The grammatical form of the answers can be short and detailed. Concise - these are monosyllabic - affirmative and negative answers: “yes” or “no”. Deployed are the answers, in each of which all elements of the question are repeated. For example, the question “Was Max Weber a sociologist?” Can be answered in the affirmative: a short “Yes”; detailed - “Yes, Max Weber was a sociologist”; negative answers: short - “No”; expanded - "No, Max Weber was not a sociologist."

Short answers most suitable for simple questions; for complex questions, it is advisable to use the detailed answers, since monosyllabic answers in this case are often ambiguous.

According to the amount of information provided in the response, the answer may be complete or incomplete. The problem of completeness most often arises when answering difficult questions. The complete answer includes information on all the elements or parts of the question. For example, to a complex clarifying question: “Is it true that the subject, the predicate and the complement are minor members of the sentence?” The following answer will be complete: “The subject and predicate are the main members of the sentence, the supplement is its minor member”. To the complex question of completion: “Where, when and in what event was the monument to Prince Vladimir erected?” The following answer would be complete: “The monument to Grand Prince of Kiev Vladimir Svyatoslavovich was installed in Kiev in 1853 in honor of the 770th anniversary of the baptism of Russia.”

The logical relationship between the question and the answer means that the quality of the answer is largely determined by the quality of the question. This means that a vague and ambiguous question is difficult to get a clear answer. If you want to get an exact and definite answer, then formulate an exact and definite question. By accuracy and certainty in this case we mean the logical, i.e. conceptual and structural characteristics of the issue. It is expressed in the accuracy of the concepts and interrogative words used, as well as in the rational use of complex questions.