[IxDA Discuss] Asking questions to participants in a positive or negative way ?

[chiwah liu]

2008/5/21 Jeff Gimzek <listserv at jdgimzek.com>:

>
> We actually used a 5 point scale in our rating system (Very Dissatisfied
>  --> Very Satisfied ) specifically to give users a "neutral" option, and not
> force them to show a bias where none exists.
>
> Some people really just dont care, or have factors evenly weighted enough
> that they cancel out.
>


I don't know if I am right, but for me, the "neutral" option depends on the
number of users :
- If we don't have enough user to reach a statistical significance (let's
say less than 100 users) for our survey, we should add a "neutral" option.
The users who don't have any idea can bias the survey.

- Now if we have enough user to reach a statistical significance (200-300+
users), we can force them to choose because they should give a random
answer. That mean if my scale is between 1 and 4, I should have the same
number of users that answer 2 than those who answer 3. If this case happens,
then I can suppose that users don't really have idea about the answer.
Otherwise, they might have preferences and it shouldn't be biased because it
is be statistically significant.


 What do you think?