<blockquote>
  <p>Can asking a leading question in a poll change the opinion of the
  respondent?</p>
</blockquote>

<p><strong>Yes, apparantly everyone is susceptible to leading questions.</strong></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Conside rable attention has been devoted to <strong>suggestive questions</strong> and its
  effects. Experimental research by Elizabeth F. Loftus, an American
  psychologist and an expert on human memory, has established that
  <strong>trying to answer such questions can create confabulation in
  eyewitnesses</strong>.[8] Loftus conducted and experiment where participants
  all viewed the same video clip of a car crash. Participants were then
  assigned at random in one of two groups. Group one was asked, "How
  fast was the car moving when it passed by the stop sign?" The
  participants in the other group are asked a similar question that does
  not refer to a stop sign. The results showed <strong>participants from the
  first group are more likely to remember seeing a stop sign in the
  video clip, even though there was in fact no such sign</strong>.[9] Elizabeth
  Loftus stated that <strong>everyone is affected by suggestive questioning</strong>, and
  it comes from environmental factors instead of innate factors, meaning
  that everyone is affected by suggestive questioning.</p>
</blockquote>

<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suggestive_question" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suggestive_question</a></p>

<p><strong>Less educated people are more affected:</strong></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>One of the most common formats used in survey questions is <strong>the
  “agree-disagree” format</strong>. In this type of question, <strong>respondents are
  asked whether they agree or disagree with a particular statement.
  Research has shown that, compared with the better educated and better
  informed, less educated and less informed respondents have a greater
  tendency to agree with such statements.</strong> This is sometimes called an
  “<strong>acquiescence bias</strong>” (since some kinds of respondents are more likely
  to acquiesce to the assertion than are others). <strong>A better practice is
  to offer respondents a choice between alternative statements</strong>. A Pew
  Research Center experiment with one of its routinely asked values
  questions illustrates the difference that question format can make.
  Not only does the forced choice format yield a very different result
  overall from the agree-disagree format, but the pattern of answers
  among better- and lesser-educated respondents also tends to be very
  different.</p>
</blockquote>

<p><a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/methodology/u-s-survey-research/questionnaire-design/" rel="nofollow">http://www.pewresearch.org/methodology/u-s-survey-research/questionnaire-design/</a></p>

<p><strong>Children are the most susceptible:</strong></p>

<blockquote>
  <p><strong>Children are particularly susceptible to leading questions and are
  more likely to take the lead for an answer from an adult</strong>.  Something
  simple like, ‘Did you have a good day at school?’ points the child
  towards thinking about good things that happened at school.  By
  asking, ‘How was school today?’ you are not asking for any judgement
  about how good or bad the day has been and you are more likely to get
  a more balanced, accurate answer.   This can shape the rest of the
  conversation, the next question may be, ‘What did you do at school?’ 
  - the answer to this may vary based on the first question you asked – good things or just things.
  <a href="http://www.skillsyouneed.com/ips/question-types.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.skillsyouneed.com/ips/question-types.html</a></p>
</blockquote>

<p><strong>Examples of leading questions:</strong></p>

<blockquote>
  <ul>
  <li>With an assumption: "How late do you think that the project will deliver?". This assumes that the project will certainly not be
  completed on time.</li>
  <li>By adding a personal appeal to agree at the end: "Lori's very efficient, don't you think?" or "Option 2 is better, isn't it?"</li>
  <li>Phrasing the question so that the "easiest" response is "yes" (our natural tendency to prefer to say "yes" than "no" plays an important
  part in the phrasing of referendum questions): "Shall we all approve
  Option 2?" is more likely to get a positive response than "Do you want
  to approve option 2 or not?". A good way of doing this is to make it
  personal. For example, "Would you like me to go ahead with Option 2?"
  rather than "Shall I choose Option 2?".</li>
  <li>Giving people a choice between two options, both of which you would be happy with, rather than the choice of one option or not doing
  anything at all. Strictly speaking, the choice of "neither" is still
  available when you ask "Which would you prefer of A or B", but most
  people will be caught up in deciding between your two preferences.</li>
  </ul>
</blockquote>

<p><a href="http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_88.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_88.htm</a></p>

<p><strong>A humourous example</strong> of the phenomenon can be found in the British sitcom Yes Prime Minister:</p>

<p><a href="http://mktresearch.org/wiki/Ordering_the_Questions_in_the_Questionnaire" rel="nofollow">http://mktresearch.org/wiki/Ordering_the_Questions_in_the_Questionnaire</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-08-16T13:10:35.310Z
2015-08-16T13:10:35.310Z
Berit Larsen
<p>Poll* questions if phrased in a way to suggest a fact to the reader, may force the person to think of explanations to support the view expressed in the question. This belief may then last on its own because of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belief_perseverance#Persistence_of_discredited_beliefs">belief perseverance</a>.</p>

<p>For example, if a poll ask questions of the form :</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>How do you think 90% of people behave in {situation}?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>or, political questions</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Which party do you believe is trusted by over 70% of the voters? Options:{Plausible Party A} {Small unknown party B}</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Or from the opposition party,</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Which party do people relate to when thinking of corruption? Options: {Ruling Party} {Small unknown party}</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Or, another of the commercial flavour,</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Which company comes to the mind of 70% of the people when they think of clean water? Options : {Big company A} {Small unknown company B}</p>
</blockquote>

<p>By choosing options wisely, the poll creator can force certain ideas into the minds of individuals under the banner of "popular opinion" without them even realising it. By trying to rationalise why or how the most likely option is correct, individuals giving the poll will essentially think up of or create evidence. This will then further reinforce and plant the suggested idea with varying degrees of permanence.</p>

<p>So, does the concept of belief permanence thus imply (as explained above) that polls can be used to plant incorrect ideas/information in people? </p>

<p>Also, can polls thereby be an effective marketing technique for companies and/or political parties when trying to shape public opinion?</p>

<p><sub> By poll, I mean any form of interaction which involves Q&amp;A with or without the provision of correct feedback at the end. I do not mean only elections or opinion polls.</sub> </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-08-30T13:10:29.527Z
There certainly seems to be an assumption among those who make/use polls that their results can create belief perseverance; it seems not illogical to think this would extend to taking the poll alone.  I'm looking forward to the answers on this one!
Krysta
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-08-30T16:57:08.310Z
Yes, when I find myself on the side of the majority, it's time to pause and reflect - Mark Twain
Randy
<social-psychology><political-psychology>
Can asking a leading question in a poll change the opinion of the respondent?
asheeshr
# Can asking a leading question in a poll change the opinion of the respondent?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-08-30)

Poll\* questions if phrased in a way to suggest a fact to the reader, may force the person to think of explanations to support the view expressed in the question. This belief may then last on its own because of [belief perseverance](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belief_perseverance#Persistence_of_discredited_beliefs).

For example, if a poll ask questions of the form :

> How do you think 90% of people behave in {situation}?

or, political questions

> Which party do you believe is trusted by over 70% of the voters? Options:{Plausible Party A} {Small unknown party B}

Or from the opposition party,

> Which party do people relate to when thinking of corruption? Options: {Ruling Party} {Small unknown party}

Or, another of the commercial flavour,

> Which company comes to the mind of 70% of the people when they think of clean water? Options : {Big company A} {Small unknown company B}

By choosing options wisely, the poll creator can force certain ideas into the minds of individuals under the banner of "popular opinion" without them even realising it. By trying to rationalise why or how the most likely option is correct, individuals giving the poll will essentially think up of or create evidence. This will then further reinforce and plant the suggested idea with varying degrees of permanence.

So, does the concept of belief permanence thus imply (as explained above) that polls can be used to plant incorrect ideas/information in people?

Also, can polls thereby be an effective marketing technique for companies and/or political parties when trying to shape public opinion?

By poll, I mean any form of interaction which involves Q&A with or without the provision of correct feedback at the end. I do not mean only elections or opinion polls.

**Tags:** social-psychology, political-psychology

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: There certainly seems to be an assumption among those who make/use polls that their results can create belief perseverance; it seems not illogical to think this would extend to taking the poll alone.  I'm looking forward to the answers on this one!  
> **username_2**: Yes, when I find myself on the side of the majority, it's time to pause and reflect - Mark Twain  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2015-08-16. Score: 4

> Can asking a leading question in a poll change the opinion of the
> respondent?

**Yes, apparantly everyone is susceptible to leading questions.**

> Conside rable attention has been devoted to **suggestive questions** and its
> effects. Experimental research by Elizabeth F. Loftus, an American
> psychologist and an expert on human memory, has established that
> **trying to answer such questions can create confabulation in
> eyewitnesses**.[8] Loftus conducted and experiment where participants
> all viewed the same video clip of a car crash. Participants were then
> assigned at random in one of two groups. Group one was asked, "How
> fast was the car moving when it passed by the stop sign?" The
> participants in the other group are asked a similar question that does
> not refer to a stop sign. The results showed **participants from the
> first group are more likely to remember seeing a stop sign in the
> video clip, even though there was in fact no such sign**.[9] Elizabeth
> Loftus stated that **everyone is affected by suggestive questioning**, and
> it comes from environmental factors instead of innate factors, meaning
> that everyone is affected by suggestive questioning.

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suggestive_question>

**Less educated people are more affected:**

> One of the most common formats used in survey questions is **the
> “agree-disagree” format**. In this type of question, **respondents are
> asked whether they agree or disagree with a particular statement.
> Research has shown that, compared with the better educated and better
> informed, less educated and less informed respondents have a greater
> tendency to agree with such statements.** This is sometimes called an
> “**acquiescence bias**” (since some kinds of respondents are more likely
> to acquiesce to the assertion than are others). **A better practice is
> to offer respondents a choice between alternative statements**. A Pew
> Research Center experiment with one of its routinely asked values
> questions illustrates the difference that question format can make.
> Not only does the forced choice format yield a very different result
> overall from the agree-disagree format, but the pattern of answers
> among better- and lesser-educated respondents also tends to be very
> different.

<http://www.pewresearch.org/methodology/u-s-survey-research/questionnaire-design/>

**Children are the most susceptible:**

> **Children are particularly susceptible to leading questions and are
> more likely to take the lead for an answer from an adult**. Something
> simple like, ‘Did you have a good day at school?’ points the child
> towards thinking about good things that happened at school. By
> asking, ‘How was school today?’ you are not asking for any judgement
> about how good or bad the day has been and you are more likely to get
> a more balanced, accurate answer. This can shape the rest of the
> conversation, the next question may be, ‘What did you do at school?’
> - the answer to this may vary based on the first question you asked – good things or just things.
> <http://www.skillsyouneed.com/ips/question-types.html>

**Examples of leading questions:**

> * With an assumption: "How late do you think that the project will deliver?". This assumes that the project will certainly not be
>   completed on time.
> * By adding a personal appeal to agree at the end: "Lori's very efficient, don't you think?" or "Option 2 is better, isn't it?"
> * Phrasing the question so that the "easiest" response is "yes" (our natural tendency to prefer to say "yes" than "no" plays an important
>   part in the phrasing of referendum questions): "Shall we all approve
>   Option 2?" is more likely to get a positive response than "Do you want
>   to approve option 2 or not?". A good way of doing this is to make it
>   personal. For example, "Would you like me to go ahead with Option 2?"
>   rather than "Shall I choose Option 2?".
> * Giving people a choice between two options, both of which you would be happy with, rather than the choice of one option or not doing
>   anything at all. Strictly speaking, the choice of "neither" is still
>   available when you ask "Which would you prefer of A or B", but most
>   people will be caught up in deciding between your two preferences.

<http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_88.htm>

**A humourous example** of the phenomenon can be found in the British sitcom Yes Prime Minister:

<http://mktresearch.org/wiki/Ordering_the_Questions_in_the_Questionnaire>


---

