Tommy Cole Was Reviewing a New Employee's Work at Large

Multiple Choice

Tommy Cole was reviewing a new employee's work at large research company. Tommy had several years of experience in research and was regarded as the company expert in designing questionnaires. As Tommy read the questionnaire proposed by the new employee, he found the following question, which had been drafted to measure the occupational status of respondents: "Check one of the following categories which describes your occupational status?" ___ Full-time employment
___ Full-time student
___ Part-time student
___ Unemployed
___ Retired
Which of the following best describes the appropriate action Tommy should take regarding this question?

A) approve it; this is a perfectly good question
B) approve it; but break "retired" into smaller categories such as "semi-retired"
C) disapprove it; the question is "leading" in that it assumes all occupations are either full-time or part-time
D) disapprove it; the question is "loaded" in that it assumes everyone should either be employed or a student
E) disapprove it; the question is "double-barreled" because someone could be retired and a part-time or full-time student