If you've ever been
screened for a
focus group, you may have encountered an
imagination question.
These are the
weird questions that appear in the
screener, designed to test the creativity of the
respondent, and to give some idea of the
overall brain power available. A successful focus group needs respondents who are
creative,
bright, and (possibly most importantly)
outgoing.
A classic imagination question (for telephone recruitment) is, "What are three uses for a paper clip, other than the obvious?"
The respondent must come up with the answers quickly. A good response would be: "Sculpture, self-defense, cleaning my nails."
Some bad responses would be: "Uh... I don't know. Damn me and my slow wit." or "Holding pieces of paper together."