Final answer:
A question that cannot be reasonably answered with a simple "yes" or "no" is an open-ended question, which asks for more elaborate, subjective responses and often leads to qualitative data collection.
Step-by-step explanation:
A type of question that cannot reasonably be answered with "yes" or "no" is called an open-ended question. Open-ended questions require more elaborate answers and often involve subjective responses. These questions generally invite individuals to share their thoughts, feelings, and reasons, resulting in a rich collection of qualitative data. Examples of open-ended questions include: "How do you plan to use your college education?" and "Why do you follow a particular artist around the country and attend every concert?" Open-ended questions support conversation and exploration of topics that involve personal experiences, goals, beliefs, and values, which cannot be simply captured with binary answers.
Moreover, these types of questions are excellent for sparking meaningful dialogue and for research purposes, as they help uncover a broader spectrum of information and insights. They also prevent the limitation of responses to predefined choices, therefore offering a more detailed understanding of the individual's perspective. They are particularly useful in qualitative research, where the goal is to understand the complexity of human behavior and experiences.
Open-ended questions also lend themselves to discussions in areas like philosophy, law, and ethics, where questions may revolve around debatable topics such as "What are human rights?" or "Does mathematics exist independently of human minds?" These inquiries go beyond the scope of simple 'yes' or 'no' and enrich our understanding by invoking diverse opinions and reasoning.