How Wording Effects Polls and Issues

Here we will examine some survey questions and how well they actually reflect the underlying issues.

These particular questions were perhaps deliberately worded to identify various inclinations or party affiliations participants might have rather than their stance on any one "real" issue. Some of the questions were merely reworded perhaps to see whether participants were paying attention and consistent. Perhaps the rewording was intended to determine the degree to which a participant held a view.

As interesting as the way issues are worded in surveys and polls is the way they might be worded in ordinary conversations around the dinner table or at political gatherings. Some of the wordings you see here might be the way some people see the issue however askew the wording.

 

Issue 1

Choice 1 Stricter environmental laws and regulations cost too many jobs and hurt the economy

Choice 2 Stricter environmental laws and regulations are worth the cost

The Real Issue 1 Choices Although that presentation of the issue balances easily for debate students, it ignores more complex facets. The problem with the laws is not so much that they divert resources away from people. The problem is that they present opportunities for the abuse of power. Most sensible people in all "typologies" accept that some environmental protection regulations make sense. The issue is that the ones that make the most sense are the ones that people would follow either naturally or by economic pressures in a free market. The major criticism against the economic pressures of the market is that they haven't worked well to constrain the number of poor and needy people.

 

Issue 2

Choice 1 The growing number of newcomers from other countries threatens traditional American customs and values

Choice 2 The growing number of newcomers from other countries strengthens American society

The Real Issue 2 Choices Although the number of legal, documented immigrants is regulated by laws, those laws are generally not in controversy.  The laws in controversy are the ones that regulate whether the immigrant is documented, and what to do if he is not.  The situation is comparable to license plates on automobiles. Automobiles require license plates because the enforcement of law generally would be overwhelmed without them. Crimes might be committed far from the criminal's home making it especially difficult to find him. Similarly, too easy flow of people across borders would overwhelm law enforcement. Therefore immigrants are required to be documented. The number who come to the United States is not the issue, so long as they are documented.

 

Issue 3

Choice 1 Religion is a very important part of my life

Choice 2 Religion is not that important to me

The Real Issue 3 Choices The problem with this issue is that everyone believes something.  The people who are aware theirs is a belief system often prove to be the better skeptics.  People who believe in "science" often prove not to exercise the such skeptism.  So you have "religious" people who are aware their prayers might not cure a disease and "scientific" people who blindly believe science can cure things the evidence suggests it cannot any better than prayers can.

 

Issue 4

Choice 1 It IS NOT necessary to believe in God in order to be moral and have good values

Choice 2 It IS necessary to believe in God in order to be moral and have good values

The Real Issue 4 Choices Nothing in the definition of atheism outlines any moral code at all.  Such morals or "values" that atheists possess must therefore be borrowed from other systems.  A remarkable shortcoming of atheists' codes is the absence of a directive or plan to minimize coercion such as found in religious systems.  A better way to ask the question would be whether there is a means to minimize coercion.  The Ten Commandments are a formula to minimize coercion.  It is postulated that where tyrants fail a minimization of coercion develops.

 

Issue 5

Choice 1 Poor people today have it easy because they can get government benefits without doing anything in return

Choice 2 Poor people have hard lives because government benefits don't go far enough to help them live decently

The Real Issue 5 Choices More important than how comfortable people might be, so far as government is concerned, is whether government should be concerned in the first place.  It has long been held that ensuring the comfort of all citizens is not a proper role for government.  It has been suggested that the "general welfare" in the constitution refers to only public properties like roads, postal service, parks, and other things that are not better handled by private enterprises.  Lately postal service has been taken over by private means, however wise that is.

 

Issue 6

Choice 1 Most people who want to get ahead can make it if they're willing to work hard	Choice 2 Hard work and determination are no guarantee of success for most people
The Real Issue 6 Choices Although it has been widely recognized that it is not function of government to give anyone anything, it is also widely recognized that it is a proper role of government to equalize rights.  This is often expressed as equality of "opportunity."  That has been considered to be no guarantee of "success" or any particular economic status.

 

Issue 7

Choice 1 Using overwhelming military force is the best way to defeat terrorism around the world	Choice 2 Relying too much on military force to defeat terrorism creates hatred that leads to more terrorism
The Real Issue 7 Choices In addition to whether the use of the military creates hatred is what else might be creating hatred, since most countries have a military.  The question then becomes how much the use of the military compounds the problem.

 

Issue 8

Choice 1 Business corporations make too much profit	Choice 2 Most corporations make a fair and reasonable amount of profit
The Real Issue 8 Choices That wording of the issue and most discussions fail to establish any criteria for determining what is a fair profit.  A presumption often develops that any large profit is unfair, however it was obtained.

 

Issue 9

Choice 1 Homosexuality should be accepted by society	Choice 2 Homosexuality should be discouraged by society
The Real Issue 9 Choices The issue should perhaps be considered within the larger picture of marriage laws generally.  People who have little respect for marriage or too frequently remarry can be as much a detriment to society as homosexuals.

 

Issue 10

Choice 1 Too much power is concentrated in the hands of a few large companies

Choice 2 The largest companies do NOT have too much power

The Real Issue 10 Choices Certain types of businesses such as electric, gas and telephone companies were considered "natural monopolies" and thus were allowed to maintian their control over entire wiring or piping systems on the condition that the government be allowed to regulate those monopolies, since competition could not.  Over time much has been done to increase competition, especially with telephone companies, but it is still not the same competition found in other businesses.  The longstanding view has been that other companies are subject to enough competition to regulate them without government intervention, excepting some details, and the anti-trust laws that students of American History should know well.  Without a monopoly businesses don't have any special power at all.