Have you stopped beating your wife? [or husband}

[Resurrection Man]

Brilliant post, Lat...well said. I just wish I knew what the answer was.

I wonder how many of these questionnaires are skewed in one direction or another or just simply poorly drafted? When I went to the Philharmonia musical event at the Science Museum, there was a questionnaire on the way out. It was very clear at an early stage that they wanted to show (and who can blame them) that what they had achieved (which was something rather special) would make people more likely to go to a concert or the opera. The impression being that this exhibition was aimed at perhaps newcomers to the world of classical music. But the way the questions were worded meant that for someone like myself, a tolerably well-versed classical music listener, then such questions would not get the response that they were after...which then would have the knock-on effect potentially (if scaled up to incorporate like-minded attendees) of saying that the exhibition wasn't worthwhile.

[antongould]

No, that's my party piece actually.

Both of you, bless your hearts, keep this forum ticking.......anyway I now work in an organisation that mainly decides its policy on the basis of focus group responses .........whereas old dodderers with 40 years experience are ignored - we are where we are......and yes I stopped beating Lady Gould on 25/03/1979.........

[Sir Velo]

How do you respond to the question: "The BBC has high quality programmes and services?" Self evidently, the answer is Yes it does, since you can name several of them. But to say Agree, implies simple approval when you also want to express downright disapproval to some / a lot of things. I wouldn't say Yes, so it went down as No Opinion.

'

Whenever I am faced with this kind of phrasing, I always reply in the negative. As you have indicated, an affirmative response will enable them to say "hey, look, we are universally popular", while any non-committal reply has you down as someone bereft of a viewpoint. It may not be your view, but you do have to show them that you will not be treated like their patsy.

[mangerton]

This may have been posted before, but it's very apposite.

[salymap]

If you have, or can borrow, a copy of the novel 'The Towers of Trebizond' by Rose Macaulay there are some wonderful passages about someone being interviewed with all these techniques used. Off topic, it's a book that can be read on several different levels and I'm very fond of it. I think the interview passage may have even been about the BBC. Sadly the print is too small for me now but.......

[amateur51]

This may have been posted before, but it's very apposite.

What top class television that series is

Many thanks for the reminder, mangerton