How to ask a good question
Three things make a question easy to answer: what you want to know, where and when. Two tips make the answer better.
Say what you want to know
Write a measure that can be counted, for example the number of inhabitants, unemployment or the policy rate.
Give an area
Write where: the whole country, a county or a municipality. If the area is missing, Siftica may ask you.
Give a period
Write when: a year, a month or a period, for example 2021 to 2025. Write latest or right now for the newest value.
Compare in one question
You can ask about two areas or two years. Ask the next question as a follow-up in the same conversation.
Name the source if you want
You can write, for example, according to the Riksbank. You do not have to.
From a weak to a better question
- Hard to answer
How many people live in Malmö?
No period.
BetterHow many people lived in Malmö municipality on 31 December 2024?
Ask this question - Hard to answer
How has the birth rate gone?
Does not say which measure or period you mean.
BetterHow has the number of live births in Sweden developed from 2021 to 2025?
Ask this question - Hard to answer
Is the interest rate high?
Asks for an opinion, not a measure. Siftica gives figures, not opinions.
BetterWhat is the Riksbank's policy rate right now?
Ask this question