There's a survey organization for which I fill out online surveys from time to time. (In exchange, I receive "points" that I can accumulate to get a gift card to some local restaurant or retailer.) Most of the questions are based on my choices as a consumer, asking questions like how many lawn mowers or automobiles or power saws I've bought in the last 6 months.
Sometimes the questions are attitudinal (again, mostly related to consumer choices). So, for example, they might give me the name of a fast food place and a statement regarding that chain, like "X restaurant has my best interests at heart" or "X restaurant is the type of place I want to be seen at." The answers are multiple choice and are put on a scale, for example, and sometimes they are expressed in terms of whether I "agree" with the statement:
- Strongly agree
- Slightly agree
- Neither agree nor disagree
- Slightly disagree
- Strongly disagree
What I dislike about this choice is that "slightly agree" and "slightly disagree" are meant to be the next step to the "strongly agree" and "strongly disagree." However, in everyday conversation, if I say I "slightly agree" with something, I usually mean that I almost don't agree with it at all; and if I say I "slightly disagree" with something, I usually mean that I agree with it almost completely except for, say, one or two qualifications.
What's up with that?
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