Letter: Stacked choices

From Mike Harris

Feedback mentions the multiple choices offered in a questionnaire about
hotels by a tour group
(24 June).

I had a similar experience at the start of my second year at university, when
the mathematics department handed out an assessment form covering the previous
year.

The first question was “How do you rate your lecturer from last year?” and
the choices were—as in the tour questionnaire—”Outstanding”,
“Excellent”, “Very Good”, and “Good”.

The next question was: “How do you rate your own performance last year?” For
this question, the choices were “Good” (High Distinction), “Fair” (Distinction),
“Poor” (Credit), and “Unsatisfactory” (Pass).

Second-year students rapidly turned into cynics after this.

Brisbane, Queensland