that is present in statements 14 and 17. And yet fewer disagreed.
It is instructive to try to put ourselves ‘‘in the minds’’ of the
respondents to try to understand this difference. It is possible
that some respondents would have disagreed with statements
3 and 12 on the grounds that they specify that the particles
are atoms, rather than ions. If this distracter were eliminated
(by referring to ions, rather than atoms), the difference would
be even greater.