Elaborative Inquiry Method
Updated 2026-08-13
INTRODUCTION
English translation pending.
CORE DEFINITION
Elaborative inquiry is a questioning technique that refuses to accept a general answer and instead asks successive questions about the particulars, using prompts such as what exactly, when, who, and how much, until the statement becomes concrete enough to act on. The core proposition is that vague statements are usually not deliberate evasions but compressed summaries, and that each layer of questioning recovers detail the speaker had not thought to mention. The key qualification is that the questioning must remain collaborative, since if it feels like an interrogation the speaker becomes defensive and supplies less rather than more.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
- Refusal rule: do not accept a general answer as a basis for action. - Layered prompt: ask what specifically, when, who, and how much in sequence. - Record and confirm: write the concrete answer down and read it back to the speaker.
Anchor fast decisions
Speakers compress experience into summaries, dropping the details they assume the listener already shares. Each specific question forces retrieval of one of those dropped details, and the answer often reveals a different problem than the summary suggested. Repeating the process peels away layers until the description matches the underlying event.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/1Practice this model in one real situation:
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Source support: Explicit
- en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elaborative_interrogationverified
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