Trouble with Advertising
This week’s assignment has been a real eye opener when you start to look at advertisements with a more critical and informed perspective. When a person starts to listen to the questions and look behind the factual statements made then we can see where they are trying to steer us so we will buy their product or use what they are selling. All too often the advertisers pray on the ignorance of the consumers and will miss lead them with misdirection and deception. With the knowledge we have gained these past few week we can analyze what we are surrounded by and make a more informed decision in our daily purchases.
I will look at the fourteenth question, “How often do you run red lights?” (Bluman, 2011) This is an illustration of Asking a Biased question. Our text states that, “By asking a question in a certain way, the researcher can lead the respondents to answer the question the way the researcher wants them to.” (Bluman, 2011) This question asks the person if they have committed a crime so they are already on the defensive from the way the question is phased. I would hope that there are no good reasons to run a red light unless there is a life or death situation which would then put other people at risk when you run the red light. When the question puts you on the defensive you will be hard pressed to give a truthful answer which then invalidates the survey.
Next I will examine the sixth question. In an ad for moisturizing lotion, the following claim is made: “…it’s the #1 dermatologist recommended brand.” What is misleading about this claim? (Bluman, 2011) This is an example of Suspect Samples because it does not state anywhere how many dermatologists were questioned therefore it could have been only three or four dermatologists questioned. The statement does not present anything that proves that even one dermatologist recommended this moisturizing lotion, so it very well could just be the statement from the advertisers misleading the public. Our text states that, “When interpreting results from studies using small examples, convenience samples, or volunteer samples, care should be used when generalizing the results to the entire population” (Bluman, 2011)
When you have the ability and knowledge to see through the smoke screen it is hard to have the wool pulled over our eyes. The past few days I have actually gotten angry when I hear some of the lies that are on the radio when they try to sell us something. Most of us walk around with rose colored glasses and when we are exposed to the logic and facts we have to come to the realization that not all people will be straight with us and we need to protect our interests.

References
Bluman, A. G. (2011). Mathematics in our world (1st ed. Ashford University Custom). United States: McGraw-Hill.