Response constraint
Definition
The structural limits on what a witness can say given a particular question type. A yes/no question formally permits only yes or no; volunteering additional information requires the witness to resist the question's format.
Related terms
- Cross-examination
- Questioning of a witness by the opposing party. For an expert, cross-examination probes qualifications, methodology, the basis of opinions, limitations, inconsistencies with...
- Examination-in-chief
- The questioning of a witness by the party who called them. For an expert, this is typically limited because the substance is...
- Leading question
- A question that signals or contains the expected answer. 'You were angry, weren't you?' is leading because the expected answer is embedded....
- Presupposition
- Information built into a question as a taken-for-granted background assumption. Asking 'Why did you go back?' presupposes the person went back. The...
- Tag question
- A short interrogative attached to a declarative, such as 'You left at midnight, didn't you?' The grammatical form invites agreement and is...
Explained in
- Courtroom Discourse: Examination, Cross-Examination, and Question ControlThe structural limits on what a witness can say given a particular question type. A yes/no question formally permits only yes or no; volunteering additional in...