The complex or loaded question
"Do you still beat your wife"
A complex question is one that appears simple, but actually asks several questions. For example, the familiar "Do you still beat your wife?" can be broken down into two questions:
"Have you ever beaten your wife?"
"Do you still beat your wife?"
By asking this complex question, the asker assumes that the answer to the first question is yes. This type of question is often called a loaded question, because any answer makes the person being questioned looked guilty. More subtle forms of complex questions are used to catch people off guard. For example, Douglass Rushkoff (page 53) reports that sails clerks at GAP stores have been trained to ask customers "How may I help you?" instead of "Can I help you?" Asking "How may I help you?" assumes that the customer needs help, which may not be true.
Reference:
Rushkoff, Douglas, Coercion: Why We Listen to What "They" Say, Riverhead Books, 1999
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Written by Jim Norton
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