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I have to complete a form for a job that requests me to answer yes/no to some statements. The statements are written on negative form (e.g. The Company and its Management have not been found guilty pursuant to a final judgment or a final administrative decision of grave professional misconduct). I want to agree with the statements (i.e. the company have NOT been found guilty) but I have the impression that if I tick the box "yes" I am implying the company HAS been found guilty. There is no option to add text, only tick the correct box. And there are around 15 statements, all presented in negative form, so I need to make sure I get it right. Please help!

Morna
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    What's the actual question that you have to answer with a yes or no? – KillingTime Jun 08 '23 at 19:16
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    1 - A 'Yes' agrees that the company is not guilty. Don't overthink it. 2 - How are you supposed to know if they have not been found guilty? – Yosef Baskin Jun 08 '23 at 20:21
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    What does it say at the top of the form? – Stuart F Jun 08 '23 at 21:00
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    Try to think whether the statement is true or false. "I want to agree with the statements." If they are true, the answer is 'yes'. – Weather Vane Jun 08 '23 at 21:05
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    We're American. Our kids had a Cameroonian babysitter during their formative years, and her British-inflected speech rubbed off on them. Today we cannot ask them a "negative question" because we're never sure what they mean. – Roister Jun 09 '23 at 01:13
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    Does this answer your question? How to answer a negative question without ambiguity? 'Yes, I agree' and 'No, they haven't' (and the inverses) are possible expansions of the one-word answers. The questionnaire needs to indicate how to respond. – Edwin Ashworth Jul 10 '23 at 18:40
  • The OP has never responded to the comments by @KillingTime and StuartF, and that is necessary for judging whether there is any real problem here. If what is on the top of the list of statements is something like 'Are the following statements true?', then that is the question one is answering, and that question is not negative. – jsw29 Jul 10 '23 at 20:09
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    @EdwinAshworth, the OP cannot avail herself of the answers to that question, because they all recommend answering negative questions with something more than just a yes or a no, and she is dealing with a form that does not allow her to do that. (You may argue, though, that dealing with such forms is outside the scope of this site.) – jsw29 Jul 10 '23 at 20:15

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Based solely on your Posted wording the Answer is Yes, the Company and its Management have not been found guilty (blah lah lah)

Isn't the real Question here, where you got the impression that ticking the 'Yes' box would be implying the company had been found guilty?

Robbie Goodwin
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