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REAL LIFE NEWS: SURVEY WORDING AFFECTS OUTCOME, SHOCK HORROR

by Hazed

What's your view of global warming?

How about climate change?

Logic says that those two things are the same so people's views should not differ no matter which one they are asked about, but it turns out not to be the case - at least amongst Americans where far more believe in "climate change" than believe in "global warming".

The study was carried out recently by psychologists in Michigan. They asked 2,267 US adults the following question, with half of them hearing the phrase "climate change" and the other half "global warming".

You may have heard about the idea that the world's temperature may have been going up [changing] over the past 100 years, a phenomenon sometimes called 'global warming'/'climate change'. What is your personal opinion regarding whether or not this has been happening?

74% of those who heard "climate change" agreed that temperatures have risen over the past century. In contrast, only 68% agreed if they had been asked about "global warming".

You can read more about this fascinating survey here.

Of course, it's long been assumed that survey results are affected by the wording used in the questions, as this clip from British political comedy Yes Minister demonstrates.

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