<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by danr55:<BR><STRONG>That's great folks. I really appreciate the help. As for some of the comments, please remember that this has to be written so that soccer Moms will understand what it says. That's part of the game. <BR>Terms like "assault weapons" and "Gun Violence" are the parlance of the day. It's a term that Joe and Joann Citizen can relate to. The validity of the survey would be questionable if it were only submitted to people who owned one of more guns and thought they were OK. Gotta give the other side, no matter how disillusioned they are, an equal shot. <BR>Thanks again for your help.<BR> [img]images/icons/cool.gif" border="0[/img]</STRONG><HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><BR>Sorry, but I think you're wrong. If loaded terms like "assault weapon" and "gun violence" are the "parlance of the day" as you say, then it's because the general public has an inaccurate idea of what those terms mean. Using such terms in a survey you hope to be unbiased only perpetuates the error. An assault weapon, for instance is illegal for most of us. To use the term when you REALLY mean a legal semi-auto that LOOKS like an assault weapon simply prompts the uninitiated to answer as though you were referring to the illegal weapon. <BR>Likewise "gun violence" is a buzzword that in the eyes of Jane Soccermom referrs to an act that WOULD NOT HAPPEN if there were just some "common sense" laws on the books. That it's unlawful anyway is not part of the thought process. <BR>In fact, loaded terms bypass the thought process. They evoke an EMOTIONAL response and answer. If your survey seeks reasoned responses you have to ditch the loaded, misleading and inaccurate terms you employ. I believe the term is "semanticlly neutral."<BR> <BR> [img]images/icons/crazy.gif" border="0[/img]
