A hypothetical questionnaire was handed out to elderly residents. The questionnaire was designed to assess the elderly's perceptions of and experiences with neighborhood crime. One of the questions was the following:
The police are to blame for crime problems and should do more to protect its residents.
a. agree
b. disagree
-Which guideline identifies the main problem in the preceding question?
A) Avoid vagueness.
B) Avoid negatives and double negatives.
C) Avoid making either disagreement or agreement disagreeable.
D) Make response choices mutually exclusive.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The main problem with the question is that it combines two different statements into one, making it difficult for respondents to agree or disagree if they only agree with one part of the statement. This violates the guideline of avoiding making either disagreement or agreement disagreeable, as respondents might agree that police should do more but not necessarily blame them for crime problems.

A Hypothetical Questionnaire Was Handed Out to Elderly Residents