3) Which of the following statements best describes expert scientists’ views of the claim that humans are causing mass extinction of species at a rate that is at least 100 times the natural rate? (Same possible answers)
Without knowing anything about the extinction of species, I could guess that the answer is "most scientists agree".
If the correct number is not 100 but is large, the question would incorrectly conclude that some people who are not biased are biased (since someone who falsely thinks the number is 100 when it's really 75 or 125 is not biased, but would incorrectly answer "scientists agree").
If the correct number is not 100 but is small, the question would incorrectly conclude that some people who are biased are not biased (since someone who falsely thinks the number is 75 or 125 when it's really 1 is biased, but this bias would be undetectable since he would correctly answer the question with "scientists disagree")
Therefore the correct number is 100.
This question should be phrased using words like "many", not using the exact number 100.
For pro-conservative questions, one could be: In a recent poll of 15000 police officers polled, a large majority thought assault weapon bans are effective, a small majority thought assault weapon bans are effective, they were about equal, a small majority thought assault weapon bans are ineffective, a large majority thought assault weapon bans are ineffective. http://www.policeone.com/Gun-Legislation-Law-Enforcement/articles/6183787-PoliceOnes-Gun-Control-Survey-11-key-lessons-from-officers-perspectives/
Generally, however, people should be suspicious of such questions because in real political discourse, these questions are used to set the terms of the debate.
-- Does it matter whether the death penalty increases homicide rates?
-- Does it matter that humans cause climate change regardless of the size of the change?
-- I would think that any truly expert economist would say "we have no way to know the answers to these questions to the same degree as we know physics or chemistry answers. I could give you my educated opinion, but there's still a lot of disagreement within economics".
-- Does it matter that humans cause climate change regardless of the size of the change?
The point of the exercise is detecting bias. As such it's not important whether the answer to the question is important.
If it's worth saying, but not worth its own post (even in Discussion), then it goes here.
Notes for future OT posters:
1. Please add the 'open_thread' tag.
2. Check if there is an active Open Thread before posting a new one. (Immediately before; refresh the list-of-threads page before posting.)
3. Open Threads should be posted in Discussion, and not Main.
4. Open Threads should start on Monday, and end on Sunday.