Language slanted

The city of Sparks is circulating a questionnaire to businesspeople on a possible cannabis medication ordinance, but it likely was not drafted by professionals in the opinion survey field.

Instead of neutral language to describe its purpose, such as “to determine what impact the proposed regulations will have on your business,” it actually reads “to determine whether the proposed regulations … will impose a direct and significant economic burden upon your business, or directly restrict the formation, operation or expansion of your business” (emphasis added). This kind of language is normally used to elicit certain responses.

In Researching the Public Opinion Environment/Theories and Methods (Sage Publications. 2000), communications expert Sherry Devereaux Ferguson wrote, “Terms that suggest restraints on freedom or liberty tend to evoke negative responses (e.g., ‘constrain,' ‘ban,' ‘restrict,' ‘control' or ‘forbid').”