Four-category taxonomy of question types crossing open-closed with possibility-non-possibility dimensions

Research Method · All research methods
Evidence · 1 claim (1 for) · 1 study (1 associational), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 1 claim rests on one study

Description

Building on Acar and colleagues' framework, the article proposes crossing two dimensions — open versus closed questions and possibility versus non-possibility thinking — to yield four categories: open non-possibility (O-NP), open possibility (O-P), closed non-possibility (C-NP), and closed possibility (C-P). The article states possibility thinking questions "explicitly invite speculation, imagination, or the consideration of alternatives via words such as '…might…' and '…could…'". Because the taxonomy is grounded in lexical features, it was implemented as an automated rule-based classifier with weighted F1 = 0.896 against human labeling of 1,807 sentences, enabling large-scale analysis of question-posing intent in naturalistic data.

Accounts

• Four-category taxonomy of question types crossing open-closed with possibility-non-possibility dimensions: Building on Acar and colleagues' framework, the article proposes crossing two dimensions — open versus closed questions and possibility versus non-possibility thinking — to yield four categories: open non-possibility (O-NP), open possibility (O-P), closed non-possibility (C-NP), and closed possibility (C-P). The article states possibility thinking questions "explicitly invite speculation, imagination, or the consideration of alternatives via words such as '…might…' and '…could…'". Because the taxonomy is grounded in lexical features, it was implemented as an automated rule-based classifier with weighted F1 = 0.896 against human labeling of 1,807 sentences, enabling large-scale analysis of question-posing intent in naturalistic data. (Ali et al. (2026))

Claims

• During exam uncertainty, child question types became dependent on parent question types, with preliminary evidence of possibility-thinking transmission [+M]

Related Research Methods

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Key Sources

• Ali, F., Yang, Y., & Poh, J.-H. (2026). Curious behaviors in times of uncertainty: dynamics of student question-posing in online educational discussion. npj Science of Learning. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-026-00440-8

Page metadata

Field	Value
type	research-method
id	four-category-taxonomy-of-question-types-crossing-open-closed-with-possibility-non-possibi
title	Four-category taxonomy of question types crossing open-closed with possibility-non-possibility dimensions
description	Building on Acar and colleagues' framework, the article proposes crossing two dimensions — open versus closed questions and possibility versus non-possibility thinking — to yield four categories: open non-possibility (O-NP), open possibility (O-P), closed non-possibility (C-NP), and closed possibili
status	review
generated	by process:settle-candidates on 2026-10-26
trust	unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content

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