Offering a candidate answer: An information seeking strategy

Abstract

Interactants use a variety of strategies to seek information from one another. One strategy involves incorporating a Candidate Answer in a query. In using this strategy, a speaker provides a model of the type of answer that would satisfy his/her purpose‐for‐asking. Supplying a model is useful when a speaker wants to guide, direct, or assist a respondent in providing particular information. In offering a Candidate Answer, a speaker can display having knowledge and familiarity of a circumstance. A Candidate Answer can be read as revealing the speaker's attitude toward, and expectations of, relevant others.