Every so often a business runs a poll on their social media.
To vote, people are told to click an emoji.
In this example, âthumbs upâ for Yes and âwowâ for No.
The problem?
Thumbs up â the Like button â is the default.
Itâs much easier to tap than to have to hold and wait for the menu of emojis to select wow.
The mechanism of voting will therefore lead to a distorted result.
Now, while Iâm sure this reputable news organisation wasnât trying to manufacture outrage about state government spending, ahem...
...it reminds us that how we ask a question is as important as the question itself.
And how doesnât just mean wording.
Famously, the Florida electoral vote in 2000 was questioned because the punchcard in Palm Beach didnât line up the names clearly.
Although well intentioned, the âButterfly ballotâ design led 2,000 Democrat voters to mistakenly punch the hole next to Pat Buchananâs name rather than Al Gore.
So when you are next contemplating asking people what they think about something, whether thatâs your staff, potential customers or past clients, the question is only part of it.
While they're thinking about what they'll answer, you need to be thinking about how they can answer.
Ref: Jonathan N. Wand, Ken Shotts, Jasjeet S. Sekhon, Walter R. Mebane, Jr. Michael C. Herron, Henry E. Brady, American Political Science Review 2001 Vol. 95 Issue 4 Pages 793-810.
Image credit for Butterfly ballot: By User:Anthony at en.wikipedia - Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=216158
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