During a visit to a mental asylum, a visitor asked the Director what the criteria is that defines if a patient should be institutionalized.

"Well," said the Director, "we fill up a bathtub. Then we offer a teaspoon, a teacup, and a bucket to the patient and ask the patient to empty the bathtub."

Okay, here's your test:
• 1. Would you use the spoon?
• 2. Would you use the teacup?
• 3. Would you use the bucket?

"Oh, I understand," said the visitor. "A normal person would choose the bucket, as it is larger than the spoon."

"No," answered the Director. "A normal person would pull the plug."

http://www.braingle.com/

The question itself will determine what answers are possible. But how it is asked will influence what that answer will be.

To ask "how much you dislike" something is an active and coercive question. It is not the same as "do you dislike" something, or even, do you "like" the same something. This is why it is impossible to eliminate all "bias" from a survey.

The current state of the art as used in politics and advertising (the Dark Side) is all about bias, or "spin" as it's now reffered to. On the other hand, a scientific survey should make every effort to minimize the effects of this bias. For here what the answers are (and what they might reveal) is not as important and how "true" one is to the protocol one applies.?