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The Art of Asking Questions (Payne, 1951)

Stanley L. Payne

JLJ - Primarily a book about wording questions for opinion polls, but the results also apply to heuristic questions we ask ourselves when playing a game or performing any other kind of activity.

For example, in playing a complex social strategy game, I have argued elsewhere that we ask ourselves "How might I proceed?" followed by "How much should I care about that?" The exact wording is important, to these and other questions we ask ourselves. Perhaps we also ask ourselves, "What trick or tricks would produce, as output, promising moves in this game?" or "What trick would tell me how to order the moves just found in order to practically and efficiently explore them more deeply?"

p.8 When we see the three words - might, could and should - together, we realize that they have somewhat different connotations. Yet when it comes to stating questions, we may sometimes use these words as synonyms. The trouble with this assumption is that the public actually does see distinctions among these words and changes its replies to fit.

p.9 Question wording involves more than toying around with this word and that to see what may happen, however. It is more than a mere matter of manipulation of words to produce surprising illusions. The most critical need for attention to wording is to make sure that the particular issue which the questioner has in mind is the particular issue on which the respondent gives his answers.

p.10 To assure that the intended issue is understood, then, is a fundamental function of question wording. A large share of our discussion will be given over to ways and means of reproducing in the minds of respondents the same issues that are in our thinking.

p.16 We questioners assume that people know what we are talking about. We assume that they have some basis for testimony. We assume that they understand our questions. We assume that their answers are in the frame of reference we intend.

p.28 It goes without saying that the commonplace things of our daily existence are the ones we take most for granted. Most of us ignore much of the detail that surrounds our everyday lives.