Talk:Response bias

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There is a perfect demonstration of this phenomenon, and also of leading questions, here, from Yes, Prime Minister. Sir Humphrey Appleby has been asked to rubbish an opinion poll which suggests that most British people are in favour of national service. To illustrate how little weight he places in opinion polls, he asks the Prime Minister's assistant one set of questions ("Do you think young people welcome some structure and leadership in their lives?", "Do they respond to a challenge?") and then another ("Do you think it's wrong to force people to take arms against their will?", "Are you worried about the danger of war?"). To each question the answer is yes, and the conclusions are contradictory. It is a classic piece of writing, comedy or otherwise-wise.

I mention this because it might have a place in the article, but I suspect that non-UK readers will revert it away, on the assumption that it is a tiny insignificant trivial nothing, in the same way that all the references to American television mean nothing outside of the US. And also I suspect that some people will feel that it is trivial to use a television programme to illustrate such a weighty subject. Ashley Pomeroy 19:27, 26 March 2007 (UTC)