Saturday, February 13, 2010

Language

This is verbatim from my friend Arlene on the survey. She is right, of course.

The words used for each choice probably has a bearing on the outcome.

The "gentle treatment" answer was somewhat nuanced and contained a reasonable medical strategy whereas the "aggressive treatment" answer was all metaphor and did not outline a medical reason to proceed.

The gentle treatment answer appears to leave more options open. The thought is that if the Gandhi approach starts to look like it's not going to work, one can then take the other approach, blow war trumpets, load the ammunition, and strike with deadly force.

No results yet on bone marrow biopsy, though Dr. Forman thought they might be back as soon as Thursday.

I always have the irrational worry that the delay means the news is not good. Crazy thinking. I will do better.

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2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Brian,
Ha! And you thought Survey Monkey was easy. Your friend sure was perceptive in seeing how you subtly influenced our thinking in your wording!

I'm a researcher, for a living and a lifestyle, and I didn't really catch that. Let me know if you ever want some "objective" survey questions constructed by a pro :)

Helene

February 13, 2010 at 5:33 PM  
Blogger Brian Koffman said...

Helene,

Thanks for the offer.

Drop me an email at bkoffmanMD@gmail.com so I have a way to contact you.

Be well

Brian

February 13, 2010 at 6:28 PM  

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