question

A question is an utterance that the speaker or writer usually uses to challenge an answer to fill a knowledge or understanding gap. Questions can also be used to identify gaps in knowledge or understanding in others, such as exam questions. The answer is a sentence or part of a sentence that fills the space that is always included in a question.

The terms question and answer form a pair of terms . The Linguistics determined questions as speech acts , especially as illocutionary acts , have the stimulative nature: they require a response. Questions are expressed in the form of questions of various types. But there are questions that do not have the same appeal, for example rhetorical questions . Even indirect questions (z. B. "It would interest me how old you are.") Only report the contents of an interrogative sentence, but their expression does not act literally as demand (for example, the listener should nevertheless conclude that a response is desired is; but this is only the case in some cases of indirect questions). The grammatical sentence type “question sentence” must therefore be distinguished from the utterance of a question.

Direct questions (e.g. “How old are you?”) Always end in German with a question mark ; the question mark marks the grammatical type of sentence, not the prompt nature of the utterance.

The question as an instrument for thinking and representing

According to Elias Canetti , “ questions are focused on answers ”. "Where the question is practiced as a means of power, it cuts a command like a knife into the body of what is asked." Any answers on targeted question includes at least an unspoken command to the respondents, namely to answer.

Political issues

In politics, “question” is often used as a catchphrase for a complex problem of great importance that contains an ideological or national component beyond the technical. Examples are: German question , Schleswig-Holstein question , Roman question , Oriental question , Jewish question or the K question . In terms of a required commitment, a commitment to a position or disclosure of your intentions has become the crucial question as a concept, not only in politics, established.

In parliamentarism, Question Time is a regular item on the agenda at which MPs can put oral questions to the executive .

Cardinal legal questions

Lawyers assess civil law issues submitted to them using the question formula: "Who wants what from whom from what?"

So it becomes clear as soon as possible

whose interests are concerned (who)
what desire, e.g. B. Performance, determination, design, abstract is (wants)
What is the specific content of the claim (what)
who is or should be opponent or partner (by whom)
which claim bases can cover the request (from what).

Journalistic representation

The classic message answers the questions Who? , What? , When? , Where? , How? and why? in order of importance. Examples:

The Chancellor traveled to Beijing yesterday to discuss economic and cultural exchange with the Chinese President, accompanied by German business representatives.
A stranger destroyed the door of a cathedral chapel with a crowbar last night. Nothing was removed from the church. Police and church administration are faced with a puzzle.

The question in interviews

Interviews are frequently used in journalism and empirical social research . There the question takes a methodical position.

There are different types of questions:

Closed questions: Such questions can usually be answered relatively briefly and clearly. These questions can basically be answered with yes or no. For example: "Are you married?"
Open questions: These questions can usually not be answered with one word or one sentence. Example: "What were the decisive events in your childhood?"
Alternative questions: Alternative questions (also: yes-yes questions) only give the respondent the opportunity to choose between two or more given answers. They are therefore often used by sellers of all kinds of goods and services in order to reduce the customer's scope for decision-making (see sales pitch ). Example: "Would you prefer the article in white or in black?"
Suggestive questions: A supposedly correct answer is already given in the question, usually by including a rating (e.g. based on a worldview ) in the question. Example: "Don't you also think that the federal government should be voted out of office because of its miserable policies?"
Rhetorical question: No answer is expected. Example: "Do I have to think that's nice?"

Inquisitorial question

No “right” answer is expected, but an apologetic justification. Example: "But do you already realize that this behavior is illegal?"

Questions when assessing requirements

Question catalogs or requirement catalogs are used in many management systems and in politics for certification and to assess whether the respective goal has been achieved. They are used to monitor compliance with standards or to make systems comparable (see also benchmark ).

Questions in expert systems

Just as a learning process generally arises through questions and answers , in expert systems , a sub-area of artificial intelligence , questions are used as important aids to sift through knowledge bases and add new knowledge.

Scientific questions

As in everyday knowledge, the same applies to scientific knowledge : Every statement is an answer to a question. All knowledge is used to solve problems. The basic problems are survival and reproduction; A variety of sub-problems arise from these basic problems. Questions arise from the desire to solve these problems. There are basic, main and sub-questions. The basic questions are the same in everyday knowledge as in scientific knowledge:

What is the problem to be solved?
What are my assumptions about the problem?
How do I define the subject of investigation?
How is the subject? (descriptive, "descriptive" statements)
Why is the object (like this)? (explanatory, "causal" statements)
How will the subject develop in the future? (predictive, " prognostic " statements)
How do I rate the item? (evaluative, " normative " statements)
What should one do about the subject? (recommendations)

Scientific knowledge and questions differ from everyday knowledge and everyday questions in that they are asked and dealt with significantly (and increasingly) more consciously and systematically.

Not all questions can be answered scientifically. A scientific answer to questions is only possible if they

are formulated simply and precisely,
the relationships between the variables are clearly formulated,
the statements can be checked empirically (i.e. through systematic observation).

literature

Aron Ronald Bodenheimer: Why? from the profanity of asking. 2nd Edition. Reclam, Stuttgart 1985, ISBN 3-15-008010-X (= RUB 8010).
Aron Ronald Bodenheimer: Understanding means answering. Reclam, Stuttgart 1992, ISBN 3-15-008777-5 (= RUB 8777; revised version of the first edition published in 1987 by Verlag Im Waldgut, Frauenfeld, ISBN 3-7294-0023-1 ).
Anne Brunner: The art of asking. 2nd Edition. Hanser, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-446-41244-6 ( Pocket Power. Soft skills ).
Richard Geml, Hermann Lauer: Marketing and Sales Lexicon. 4th, updated and completely revised edition. Schäffer-Poeschel, Stuttgart 2008, ISBN 978-3-7910-2798-2 .
Rolf-Michael Hahn, Nicolai Stickel: Well asked is almost won. Successful questioning techniques for work and private life. Rowohlt-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Reinbek near Hamburg 2000, ISBN 3-499-60871-5 ( rororo. Rororo-Sachbuch ).
Carmen Kindl-Beilfuß: Questions can taste like kisses. Systemic questioning techniques for beginners and advanced users. Part: Book (from a combination of media). 2nd Edition. Carl-Auer-Verlag, Heidelberg 2010, ISBN 978-3-89670-624-9 .
Andreas Patrzek: Systemic questions. 2nd Edition. Springer Verlag, Berlin 2017, ISBN 978-3-658-15851-4 .
Rolf Porst: Questionnaire. A work book. VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2008, ISBN 978-3-531-15178-6 ( textbook. Study scripts on sociology ).

Web links

Wikiquote: Question - Quotes

Wiktionary: question - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

↑ Cf. Elias Canetti: Mass and Power . Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1980, pp. 317–323 (question and answer), pp. 335 ff (The command), ISBN 3-596-26544-4 .

[1] Cf. Elias Canetti: Mass and Power . Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1980, pp. 317–323 (question and answer), pp. 335 ff (The command), ISBN 3-596-26544-4 .