Sunday, February 19, 2012
Effects of Question Wording on Responses
A concept in chapter 7 that I found interesting was the effects of question wording on responses. According to THINK by Judith A. Boss, bias may result from the way a question is worded (207). The book gave an example of a poll from 1980 for the National Abortion Rights Action league asking people’s views on amending the constitution to ban abortions. They asked the same question worded differently. The main difference between the questions was the use of ‘prohibiting abortions’ in one question and in the other ‘protecting the life of an unborn child.’ According to the book, 21% more people favored the amendment that when the use of ‘protecting the life of an unborn child’ was in the wording. The second question was an example of a slanted question which is written to elicit a certain response (207). This type of questioning worked because when it was asked in that manner more people agreed with the amendment. I thought this concept was interesting because there was such a big difference in favoritism by just using different wording and It’s crazy to me how such a simple change can make such a huge impact.
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I also found the concept on how a question is worded can have effects on the responses to be interesting. It may not be apparent to us all of the time but the way things are worded or displayed can have a large impact on our thoughts and actions. I think that is one of the major reasons someone who is in a position of power needs to be a eloquent speaker, or at the very least have someone writing their speeches who is. Words can be a powerful tool, and if used correctly they can have a major impact on other people.
ReplyDeleteI agree. The way someone phrases a question can have a big impact on the response he gets. I wonder how much they account for other factors in this study. There have been studies that show that close to 90 percent of communication is based on body language and vocal tonality. It would be interesting to see how people respond to someone who smiles, has a nice voice and good posture, compared to someone who looks bored, slouches and has an uncomfortable voice. Would the respondent be more likely to agree or disagree with the second poll taker? Even if they asked the question in a neutral way, it would be interesting to see if responses change for different poll takers.
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