Human sciences - the language of questionnaires

by landofconfusion (student)

International Baccalaureate Theory of Knowledge

Theory of Knowledge - 11th Grade

29 March 2012

How might the language used in polls, questionnaires and other information-gathering devices of this sort influence the conclusions reached? If there is an influence, does it, or a similar one, occur in natural science research? Does the extent of the influence relate to the degree of certainty attributed to the natural sciences and the human sciences respectively, or to the social status or value associated with each?

First of all it is necessary to understand what human sciences are: a human science is the study and interpretation of the experiences, activities, constructs, and artifacts associated with human beings. Human sciences, as psychology and economics, often have experiments through polls and questionnaires. I believe there is a strong correlation between the language used in information-gathering devices and the conclusion that is reached because of them. I also believe the conclusion changes because of the degree of certainty attributed to human sciences caused by the fact that human beings can be easily affected by external factors. In natural sciences, that have a larger degree of certainty, language does not change the results.

There are several reasons for which my point of view can be considered righteous. As a first example, in 1974 two researchers whose names are Loftus and Palmer decided to make an experiment regarding this issue. The participants were 45 students who were asked to answer questions regarding a video in which two cars bumped each other. The critical question was "About how fast were the cars going when they *** each other?". With the different students a different word was used to fill in the blanck. The words were: smashed, collided, bumped, hit, or contacted. The dependent variable was the speed estimated by the participants. Based on the word used, the speed given was affected too.

A similar procedure was used in which 150 students were chosen to participate. They saw a one-minute film which contained a scene in which several cars were involved in an accident. These students were divided into three groups. The first group was asked "How fast were the cars going when they hit each other?", the second group was asked "How fast were the cars going when they smashed each other?" and finally the third group was not interrogated regarding the vehicle's speed. After one week the participants were asked to return ...

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These results shows that what people remembered was affected by the verb used, so by the language used.

The experiments made in the natural sciences usually do not comprehend people's response to something or polls and questionnaires. This is why in the natural sciences, the language used won't affected the conclusion. How could language affect a blood test, a pendulum or the formation of a certain compound in chemistry?

Even though I researched several websites and asked to many people, apparently, I only found one person believing the language used in polls and questionnaires does not affect the results. A friend of mine, Ilaria Buratti (high school student), said, "If the question is the same and only synonyms are used, why would the result change?". I did not find any other evidence of someone thinking differently from myself.

The ways of knowing can be applied to this situation in several ways.

Language is defined as: communication of thoughts and feelings through a system of arbitrary signals, such as voice sounds, gestures, or written symbols. Language is the main point of the issue, the question focuses on the use of language in human sciences and how it affects or does not affect the results of an experiment.

Logic is instead defined as: the system and principles of reasoning used in a specific field of study. Logic can be implemented in the issue by the simple fact that someone, when he or she hears a certain language used in a question, will react in a logical way to that type of language. For example, if someone asked something in a very formal tone, the person answering would use logic to understand how to answer and with what type of language. An other example can be when someone is asked a question in a certain language, logically this person will answer in that language.

Emotion is defined as: A mental state that arises spontaneously rather than through conscious effort and is often accompanied by physiological changes; a feeling. In this situation, emotion can also be reconnected to language. A certain type of language in polls can cause different emotions in someone. A person could answer differently to polls or questionnaires because of a different emotion felt caused by a different language.

Sensory perception is instead defined as: the process, act, or faculty of perceiving with the senses. In the present issue, sensory perception can be implied because of the fact that one can see or listen to a certain type of language in polls. If someone is deaf he or she will see someone's gestures and body language to understand what it is being asked, in other cases people will listen to certain words used. That will affect that person's response to the question.

People who are part of experiments in the human sciences are often asked to answer to some questions. These questions are formulated so to have a certain language used instead of another one. I believe the participants in the experiments affect their answers (with or without knowing) because of the language used in the questionnaires or polls. This would never happen in the natural sciences since these sciences have a higher degree of certainty because there is not the human variable in the experiment.

Word Count: 918

Bibliography:

http://www.holah.co.uk/summary/loftus/

http://www.lutz-sanfilippo.com/library/general/lsfscience.html

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/

Psychology Course Companion, by John Crane and Jette Hannibal