what makes a question good?

Answer 1

every question is "good" the problem starts with the answers! :)

Answer 2

You are right. There are obviously some qualifications that make some questions better than others. If there weren't, how would anyone choose which of the thousands around here to respond to?

One thing that make a question good is specificity. Even well-intentioned answerers cannot answer a question well that is vague... some are so vague as to be completely meaningless as questions ("Why?"). Similarly, some questions may have a lot of parts, but addressing all of them at once can prove unwieldy. So try to figure out what you need to know FIRST or MOST.

Ideally as well, a good question should be answerable. There isn't much point in responding to a question with no possible answer ("Assuming I'm not wearing pants, what colour are the pants I'm wearing?"), nor in one where you require or presuppose an answer (religious questioners do this sometimes). Which is not to be confused with one that people might not happen to know the answer to right now ("What is the chemical composition of the Earth's core?").

Another thing that makes a question good is having a subtle answer. If you don't understand something that is obvious to other people, there's nothing wrong with that... especially if you're precise (see above) about what, exactly, you don't understand and what you do understand. But there are many things that SEEM obvious but aren't ("Why is the sky blue?" or "Why do I get a stitch in my side when I run?"). Any question whose answer may be found in less than thirty seconds on the Internet is probably not a good question... particularly ones that have been asked and answered in precisely the same way many times before ("What is the meaning of life?").

That's my opinion, anyway. Make of it what you will. I'd put this question in the 'good' category. ( :

Answer 3

What makes a question good is the idea that you ask something that someone, somewhere, has the knowledge to answer, or the knowledge to find the answer for you and then take the time to tap it down in here..
Also, being an intelligent question is a very good thing, ie, don't ask some question that even an idiot could answer...

Answer 4

Well, every question is good in the sense that someone is putting him/herself out there to ask something. Who would we be to judge good & bad? It's subjective. As long as the question is valid to the asker & elicits the answer they're looking for then who cares what anyone thinks? Of course people may judge the question (as answers are judged) based on how interesting, original or eloquent it is, whether it makes grammatical sense, whether it is even a question, is it spelled properly etc. You get points for spelling (though the W in what should technically have been capitalized if we were picky), punctuation and originality -- I haven't seen anyone ask this question before.

Never worry what people think. Ask whatever you like. If people don't like it then they don't have to answer!

:)
Cheers!

Answer 5

A question that makes you think

Answer 6

A good question would envoke a persons mind to think deeper than usual. It would cause a person to analyze things beyond what they would usually think.

Answer 7

If both parties involved get the ultimate satisfaction from the act, and if one gets fulfillment from the question before the other does, they make sure the other one gets what they're after too, before they roll over and go to sleep.

Answer 8

One that makes you think outside the box, that promotes creative thought, or one that makes you investigate your deep thoughts and challenge your assumptions.

Answer 9

one that makes you think outside the box .. like is a tree realy a tree ?? after all we only know it as a tree because that is what we have been told it is ..and that red is red it might be black or green we only know it as red cause we are told it is red

Answer 10

If it makes the others use critical thinking, relations, analyzing, calculations, and identifying.