Aaron Reynolds
Screenwriter
Seth, you nailed it. A company is hired to do a study for someone. Obviously, the person who comissions the study has a hand in wording the study question and setting the paramaters.
In other words, the company endeavors to support the answer that they've been comissioned to find.
For an example of how easy it is to design a leading question, all we have to do is look at HTF's own DVD Audio survey:
The use of the word "exciting" in the original question is a big giveaway that someone is trying to swing the vote. A more neutral statement would simply lay out the facts in a way that people can understand without explicitly judging your response before you make it.
Any article that mentions "a study shows" without naming the person or company who paid for the study is either a) lazy journalism, simply copied from some company's press release, giving them free publicity for their cause, or b) deliberate, paid-in-full advertorial content.
In other words, the company endeavors to support the answer that they've been comissioned to find.
For an example of how easy it is to design a leading question, all we have to do is look at HTF's own DVD Audio survey:
The use of the word "exciting" in the original question is a big giveaway that someone is trying to swing the vote. A more neutral statement would simply lay out the facts in a way that people can understand without explicitly judging your response before you make it.
Any article that mentions "a study shows" without naming the person or company who paid for the study is either a) lazy journalism, simply copied from some company's press release, giving them free publicity for their cause, or b) deliberate, paid-in-full advertorial content.