When you build a survey, the order in which you present questions can affect the way people answer them. For example, if people were asked "Should the United States be given unlimited access to inspect weapons in the Soviet Union," they would typically answer, "Yes." Then, if they were asked whether the Soviet Union should have unlimited access to inspect the United States, they would be forced to say yes to maintain the appearance of being fair. Conversely, if they were first asked whether the Soviets should have unlimited access to the U.S. weapons, they'd say no. When this was followed by the question of whether the United States should have unlimited access to the Soviet's reserves, they'd answer no.
This can be a problem when trying to get honest answers in surveys, but it can be a good tool for getting people to realize where they have cognitive dissonance - conflicting logic or loyalties. Here's an example by Ray Comfort using this strategy to get people to see their own inconsistencies:
No comments:
Post a Comment