Leading question
A leading question is a question form in which the respondent is influenced by the way the question, an answer with a predetermined message content to be expected by the questioner. The way the question is asked has the purpose of influencing the thinking , feeling , wanting or acting of a person and preventing the respondent from giving a rationally determined answer.
Suggestive questions are used in psychology , in rhetoric , in interrogation practice , in sales talks , in market and opinion research as well as in everyday language use, but are not appreciated everywhere because of their influencing nature.
Anyone who uses this form of questions is not asking a real question, but rather intends to suggest his idea , view or opinion to another person in order to have an influencing effect.
A suggestive question can be useful if it is to emphasize an existing commonality in thinking, feeling, wanting or acting with a person.
application areas
psychology
Suggestions and leading questions are to be regarded as malpractice in psychological and medical diagnostics , because the purpose of diagnostics is to find the truth. In treatment situations, however, suggestions and suggestive questions can be quite helpful, for example if they help the patient to recognize something that he suspects or knows that it is slumbering in him, but he associates it with fears or frightening experiences. In autogenic training , suggestion and autosuggestion are a core element: "My left arm is very heavy". Likewise when learning new attitudes: "I am calm and relaxed", "I trust my feelings, my inner wisdom".
rhetoric
Leading questions are often used as a rhetorical tool in sales talks to achieve certain goals. Examples include “at-the-door sales” and telephone advertising . Closed leading questions, to which the respondent should answer “yes”, are used to try to sell goods or services, to collect money or to get signatures for contracts.
Legal system
During the hearing of a witness , a leading question is not allowed to establish the truth, but it can be used to test the susceptibility of a witness to suggestion and thus his credibility .
Interrogation practice
In police interrogation practice, a suggestive question is also not allowed to establish the truth. In practice, however, there is always the risk that, under the pressure to present the results of an investigation , a perpetrator , victim or witness should be brought to a specific statement with a suggestive question .
Market and opinion research
Suggestive questions are used in market and opinion research in order to use a classic “yes / no / don't know” answer to
a) quickly obtain results that can be used structurally and
b) make the answers concise usable.
In the interest of objective opinion research, leading questions should generally be avoided. Opinion researchers who only want to underpin a desired opinion with a certain survey , however, like to use leading questions deliberately to manipulate the results.
Everyday usage of language
In everyday communication in the private sphere, the suggestive question is generally accepted and only rejected in the strong form, mostly in conflict cases . On the other hand, if perceived, it is perceived as unpleasant in the public sector and is generally rejected.
Examples
| Question form | Examples |
|---|---|
| Less suggestive question forms | |
| Open questions (empty questions ) |
"What did you see?" "What happened then?" |
| Determination questions | "What time did that happen?" |
| Multi-choice questions | "Was it a man or a woman?" |
| Sentence questions | "Did the man say something?" |
| Strongly suggestive question forms | |
| Lead questions with presupposed facts | "Did he put the stolen money in his pocket?" |
| Dressed valuations and descriptions | "How fast did the X run when you saw him fleeing the store?" |
| Incomplete disjunctions in multi-choice questions | "Was the car red or black?" |
| Implied expectations | "Then the victim must have called for help?" |
| Conformity pressure (social comparison) | "A and B have stated that ... Didn't you see that too?" |
| Illocutive particles and idioms | "You heard the shot, right?" |
| Question repetition | … “Are you really sure? Did he take the money? " |
| Negative feedback | "There's no such thing as the fact that you no longer know that!" |
| Threats and promises | “I'll ask you until you tell me what the X did to you. Before that, I won't leave you alone. It will do you good when you finally say it. " |
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Johann Endres: Suggestive forms of questions in interrogation practice. Mayor Scholz & Donata Summa, 1997.