1. There is no such thing as a neutral question. Evaluate this statement with reference to two areas of knowledge.
Recently I have been asked by a tourist on the street how long it would take her to a certain bus station and I realized that my answer to this question depended on my perception of her physical ability. Her question was formally neutral, but her appearance influenced its meaning and my answer.
During microscopy in Biology laboratory work when I used the high power objective without the immersion oil and the teacher asked me ˝What are you doing?˝I immediately realized that it was not a question, but a warning. However, when I was using the microscope correctly, and I was asked the same question, I was actually expected to give an answer.
The point of a question should be getting an answer. Neutral questions allow for answers that are not influenced by questioner´s intentional or unintentional bias. Such questions should not lead to a particular conclusion, they must be free of assumptions. However, even neutral questions can get answers that are biased. To achieve neutrality in a question there should be no bias either in the person asking it or in the answer obtained. The form of the question, …show more content…
But when the question asks for data from different measurements, the selection of these measurements includes the researcher´s bias. ˝How does the metabolism of an animal change with increasing temperature?˝ includes a selection of measurements depending on his/her understanding of processes involved in metabolism (either from biochemical, physiological, genetic, evolutionary… point of view), the pre-treatment (life history) of the animal, researcher´s equipment (specialization of the laboratory) and so on. But at least in Natural sciences the subject that is giving answers is not biased, because it is not a conscious
Recently I have been asked by a tourist on the street how long it would take her to a certain bus station and I realized that my answer to this question depended on my perception of her physical ability. Her question was formally neutral, but her appearance influenced its meaning and my answer.
During microscopy in Biology laboratory work when I used the high power objective without the immersion oil and the teacher asked me ˝What are you doing?˝I immediately realized that it was not a question, but a warning. However, when I was using the microscope correctly, and I was asked the same question, I was actually expected to give an answer.
The point of a question should be getting an answer. Neutral questions allow for answers that are not influenced by questioner´s intentional or unintentional bias. Such questions should not lead to a particular conclusion, they must be free of assumptions. However, even neutral questions can get answers that are biased. To achieve neutrality in a question there should be no bias either in the person asking it or in the answer obtained. The form of the question, …show more content…
But when the question asks for data from different measurements, the selection of these measurements includes the researcher´s bias. ˝How does the metabolism of an animal change with increasing temperature?˝ includes a selection of measurements depending on his/her understanding of processes involved in metabolism (either from biochemical, physiological, genetic, evolutionary… point of view), the pre-treatment (life history) of the animal, researcher´s equipment (specialization of the laboratory) and so on. But at least in Natural sciences the subject that is giving answers is not biased, because it is not a conscious