This week I chose to discuss the Effects of Question Wording on Responses. This is important to me because I am in an Intro to Psychology class and in groups we had to design surveys to conduct. Writing an efficient survey is more difficult than I first thought. You don’t want to lead the participants to an answer or dissuade them from answering a certain way either. To do this you must stay away from slanted questions. A slanted question, as according to the text, is “a question that is written to elicit a particular response.” For example, most people might be put off by the wording of the following question and therefore answer in a way inconsistent with their true values:
A slanted question:
“Do you believe there should be an amendment to the Constitution protecting the life of the unborn child, or shouldn’t there be such an amendment?”
A better phrasing for the same topic:
“Do you believe there should be an amendment to the Constitution prohibiting abortions, or shouldn’t there be such an amendment?”
The slanted question received 50% of the populations support whereas the second version received only 29%. Although the topic of the question is the same, the emphasis of each is on different aspects, one on the right of a fetus, and the other on the rights of the mothers to have an abortion.
So next time you participate in a survey, carefully read the questions and see if your answers are influenced by the wording of the survey.
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