Dear Marcel,

Your question is excellent. Sometimes, the students are victims to exam questions which lack precision. For example, one of the favorite types of questions in universities exams is the multiple choice questions. Some instructors will phrase "Encircle the correct answer" while the proper phrasing ought to be "Encircle the best answer" & vice versa. Add to it that 4 choices are usually enough but some will use more choices which will cause the students to fall into a "trap". Also, there is bad need to estimate the time properly for answering such questions by the students. If you as instructor need 30 minutes, then give the students 60 minutes or something closer.

Dear Marcel,

Your question is excellent. Sometimes, the students are victims to exam questions which lack precision. For example, one of the favorite types of questions in universities exams is the multiple choice questions. Some instructors will phrase "Encircle the correct answer" while the proper phrasing ought to be "Encircle the best answer" & vice versa. Add to it that 4 choices are usually enough but some will use more choices which will cause the students to fall into a "trap". Also, there is bad need to estimate the time properly for answering such questions by the students. If you as instructor need 30 minutes, then give the students 60 minutes or something closer.

Dear Marcel

I really like your question. Often,  people do not frame questions thoughtfully in the sense in which they want it to be understood, leaving them subject to different interpretations. I often have argument with my wife on this issue. I have to tell her that your question is flawed, and needed more appropriate words. It really puts me in a difficult situation when people ask questions as if they are in a hurry.

The questions must be precise, accurate, and clear. If a question is clear, it helps students to solve it,

@Marcel et al., there are times when our questions are not precise enough.  So the advantage is that it invites others to question us back for clarification.  Then I can judge my students by their questions, instead of being stereotype, judging them by answers only.  

Sometimes RG questions are vague, and I didn't interpret them correctly.  So to be fair, I removed my answer.  And I am not motivated to answer questions from the same person, especially if it's not within the body of ready knowledge.

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Judge_a_man_by_his_questions_rather_than_by_his_answers_Do_you_agree?_tpcectx=profile_questions

Good question :) Your son wasn't incorrect even if he didn't answer what you were looking for. You'd probably have had to frame it as ' what ALL do you see?' in order for him to hit all the possibilities. And convey to him your expectation of 'parts of the whole' rather than a generic whole. It would also depend on how old he is. 

The one asking does exert a greater power over the one responding, because only s/he knows exactly what s/he is looking for. There are phenomenological hermeneutics that govern the equations between the two, but a 'good' question is often specific to the extent possible, gives some kind of implicit direction, and is charitable enough to accommodate some degree of rational deviation. There is a flipside to being too specific, which narrows down the scope of the question, and makes it close-ended. Open-ended questions are better suited to maturer students (but can also aid cognitive development in younger ones). A good performance doesn't have to stick to a definite formula. A question that demands one and only one correct answer is probably not the best one. 

Questions are designed for various porpuses some questions are directive, some are convergent and some are divergent. Depending on the level of thinking you want your students to go into. Direct presice questions do no normally induce a lot of thinking!!!!!! they are great to test student memorization skills but not much more.

As the "asker" you are in the position to formulate the question in such a way that you will generate the response you want hence it is you who can "estimate" if your question is "precise enough", considering of course the "estimated" level of comprehension of the "answerer".

Questions are an excellent example of the complexity of human communication.  Politicians and lawyers are expert and adept at hearing a question and using it as a platform for their own purposes, not only evading the appropriate answer but manipulating the questioner.  

When a question is asked it generates multiple interpretations, even the inquirer may have more than one meaning in the question and the more that receive the question the more complex the set of replies.

This is probably the source of the old cliche "there are more questions than answers".

Dear @Nazir and Monica

I fully agree with what you have said. You have written it so beutifully, I unconditionally endorse the threads of both of you without saying anything else.

Cheer

Dear @Marcel and friends, the question should be clear and precise enough! Please, take some tome and have a look in every field of attached page! It is nice Logic Model! Pass through eight fields! This is quote from one field "Questions which target the question"!

"What is the question I am trying to answer?

What important questions are embedded in the issue?

Is there a better way to put the question?

Is this question clear? Is it complex?

I am not sure exactly what question you are asking. Could you explain it?

The question in my mind is this: How do you see the question?

What kind of question is this? Historical? Scientific? Ethical? Political? Economic? Or…?

What would we have to do to settle this question?" Good reading!

http://www.criticalthinking.org/ctmodel/logic-model1.htm

So very well said and presented dear Ljubomir. This is indeed very useful in ensuring that the my subject matter is appropriately communicated. But the irony is that most of us do not practice this, and leave the message subject to different interpretations. Somtimes, it is difficult toeven  make out any sense from the question.

No, is my answer! Many a times questions are not precise enough and difficult to answer. One should formulate questions with more care and precision, if they really want good answers.

An example of a question that only can provide one answer: What is the normal boiling point of  pure water in degrees Celsius?

One & only one answer : 100 oC .  99.9 or 100.1 are definitely wrong answers.

Hi Nizar,

You think there is one answer because of a human-defined convention what pure water is and that there is boiling at 100°C. But what is the exact moment that 'boiling' starts? After the first perceived bubble, the second perceived bubble, etc....? What is the precision of the measurements of 100°C (how much figures behind the comma, etc..)? Would statisticians provide one answer in empirical research dealing with boiling water? ...

Thus there is one answer for a 'precise' question based on a human-defined convention what the answer should be? Is this 'education' or 'science'?

Hi Marcel, Pure water never boiled at 100 oC, in the place I work in , but  at lower than that. The "normal" boiling point is one detected under atmosheric pressure equal to 760 mm Hg. The first bubbles we see, upon heating water, ar those of dissolved gases in water. Boiling occurs when the vapor pressure is equal to atmosheric pressure so as the vapors escape appreciably to the atmosphere. This occurs at the accepted & proved temperature of 100.00 oC.

However, I agree with you that all of this is conventional & within the human context & with best "available" equipment & calculations. Who knows ,for sure,what the grandson of one of us will say about it in possibly the near future? It "may be" a more accurate value than what we accept today ,e.g. 100.001 !  My best regards.

Dear Nizar,

I like your response.

All the best again

I totally agree with Dr. Nizar. Our students can be victims to some taught, unclear, or ambiguous questions. Teachers should pay much attention to the clarity of their questions.

Questions need sometime to be unprecise so that they can envoke thinking and stimulate a disscussion. A very good example is the question posed here.

Dear @Marcel, fine discussion that I will attach:Must I be precise when asking questions, or will readers fill gaps based on context? brings some good observations!

http://meta.mathoverflow.net/questions/724/must-i-be-precise-when-asking-questions-or-will-readers-fill-gaps-based-on-cont

Sometimes, when answer a vague question, one has to go to cases, and answer, if you mean thiis.... then ....

If the list is exhausted, then we have a very good answer!

Is the word "precise" precise enough, dear Marcel?! 

Dear Marwan,

A question is "precise" if it takes a unique answer. Otherwise is imprecise.

Yours is a unique answer, dear Costas!

“Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers.”

― Voltaire

One of the more potent weapon in teaching is good question. 

Epiphany is the only precise truth, dear Marcel!

But when do we know what is a good question? Should the question be judged by the answer or by the man that provides the answer?

Both the question and the answer should be judged by the QUALITY and SUBTLETY of thought, dear Marcel.

There are three types of questions:

1. asking for facts or known information

2. questions of interpretation or evaluation

3. asking someone to think deeper and come up with a creative answer not previously discussed. 

Lays it on the line and very easy to understand. No matter what your chosen career is, great communication skills will give you a competitive edge. 

Exam questions: How often is additional information provided as in RG questions, e.g. to make the exam questions more precise?

Precise questions are parsimoniously and precisely answered with little effort or some effort, if fundamentals are shared between questioner and answerer. However, these are hazy or dumb questions which need efforts in terms of thinking and structured logic for convincing others and therefore need indepth research.