There is no such thing as a neutral question. Evaluate this statement with reference to two areas of knowledge.
Order Description
This is an essay for the subject of IB Theory of knowledge.
Please feel free to expand ideas on the uploaded document which I already written.
Essay Question:
There is no such thing as a neutral question. Evaluate this statement with reference to two areas of knowledge.
a. What are the key words & terms that need pinning down?
The command term in the prescribed title is ‘neutral question’. A quick look in any dictionary will give you a workable definition of this word – its essential meaning is unbiased, non-partisan, or something that does not take sides.
In other words, the prescribed title is suggesting that questions within the different areas of knowledge lead us in a certain direction, and have some sort of agenda. These are known as ‘leading questions’, and are well known in the legal world, where witnesses are often asked questions designed to produce a particular answer that confirms what the questioner wants to prove. Gathering knowledge in this way can also be termed ‘confirmation bias’.
The essay is therefore suggesting, that all questions are leading questions, and that it isn’t possible to ask or investigate knowledge without having a preconceived notion of what you want to find.
b. What are the difficulties and challenges of the question?
Although it may seem at first sight that this is a prescribed title that is easy to refute, the more you explore the different areas of knowledge, the more you find that it is very difficult to escape the kind of biases that produce leading questions. So one difficulty might be that it’s hard to counter the claim within the prescribed title.
You could argue that the search for knowledge is in itself an agenda: as soon as you ask a question, you cease to be looking for knowledge in a ‘neutral’ way. If you subscribe to this view, then it would be virtually impossible to counter the claim in the prescribed title.
c. What knowledge issues & associated WOKs/AOKs could be explored?
d. What sort of real life situations could be drawn on?
e. Which perspectives and implications could be considered?
Please refer to this:
http://www.timwoods.org/2011/11/13/how-to-structure-a-theory-of-knowledge-essay/
1. There is no such thing as a neutral question. Evaluate this statement with reference to two areas of knowledge.
Before answering whether there is a neutral question or not, we should ask ourselves “What is a question?”. By definition, it could be an illocutionary act of speaking or writing which in itself attempting to get the information wanted. Normally there are two types of questions in English, which one of them may sound like an order, for example, “Give me your phone number “. The questioner is intended to get the information he wants. A question could also be formed with words of pro forms such as “who, what, when, where, how”, an example could be “What is your name?”. All questions could be tools that lead us to gain idea, knowledge or even inspiration. However, a question could also be misunderstand easily by the way the questioner shape it, a wrong question typically leads to conflicts and confusion.
Therefore, a neutral question is needed for people to communicate in various circumstances and situations. The question of “What is a neutral question” could have distinct approaches and answers. One may say a neutral question is without any kind of judgment, and all real questions should be completely neutral. One may also say that
It is impossible for people to ask questions without stating and judging, a question that is not neutral could be a statement that altered as a form question. This is mainly because
when one is asked a question, they will inevitably have expectations for a specific answer. An example could be in the area of Mathematics, people expect right answers that in reality, can never be defined. As one is asked for” How to calculate he area of the circle?” in a Math class, the answer is to be expected as “pr2”. However, the greek symbol p cannot be defined as it has infinite irrational series of numbers. People tend expects the answer that they will never know the truth, in mathematics, it can be concluded that there is no such thing as a neutral question.
Defining neutrality is difficult because every individual has different perspective on it. It is defied as an absence of decided views, expression, or strong feeling. Therefore,
a question can be neutral if one do not know anything and expect nothing that’s right or wrong. Imagine explaining colors to a blind person, as he does not have any idea about the concept of colors, when questioning about them, he simply does not expect an answer that is suitable for himself. Instead, he accepts any kind of answer people explain, therefore, a blind person’s question about colors cannot be loaded. This explanation of a question can be neutral also applies to younger kids who ask questions randomly, for example, “ why is the sky blue?” can be a unloaded question from younger kids who don’t expect right of wrong answers. “Neutral question” can again be argued that it is one where the questioner has to interest in the answer which he or she accepts every answer passively.
In my opinion, the way society and education system form our knowledge and understanding is based on examination and various qualifications. In order to stand out and succeed, people simply follow the rules. School becomes a place where grades mattered the most and students simply strove for high marks but not the use of their knowledge. Students there are expected to listen to their teachers’ orders. Therefore when questions are being asked or critical thinking discussions are being held, they are never neutral because people asks question out of expectation and judgment. In particularly, students in Asia could be frequently punished because of speaking out loud in class, and challenging teachers’ beliefs and opinions.
It can be stated that people are asking less neutral questions because of loss of innocence and through the process of the modern education.
The information of people
Knowledge question
Social Science
Questions can be formed in different ways- in language ,
PLACE THIS ORDER OR A SIMILAR ORDER WITH US TODAY AND GET AN AMAZING DISCOUNT 🙂