[extropy-chat] survey on fringe ideas: evolution

[Brett Paatsch]

Joseph Bloch wrote:

> My company employs exactly the same standard. We do not use the word 
> "believe" unless we are specifically talking about religion. It's not 
> only a loaded term, but the meaning is fuzzy, and respectable pollsters 
> want to be as precise as possible. We use "think" in that context.

This makes sense to me.

Yet, I'm curious. How does a polling company like the one you work
for *decide* that the meaning of a term like "belief" is fuzzy, and that
"think" should be used instead?  Is an executive decision made in each
case by someone experienced and hopefully skilled or are instructions
on how to write good poll questions put together in a form that can be
taught young poll question formulators? 

Brett Paatsch