One method of restricting the coverage of the comparison question so that it will not overlap the relevant question. For example, if a relevant question concerned whether the examinee had physically assaulted a person in the city in which he now resides, a comparison question with a place bar may inquire whether the examinee had ever deliberately hurt another person while living in another city. There is a school of thought that examinees may confuse the relevant questions with the comparison questions unless these two types of questions are designed to avoid any degree of overlap. Research has not supported this hypothesis, however. See: Amsel (1999); Podlesny & Raskin (1978); Horvath (1988); Horvath & Palmatier (2008). Also See: exclusive (exclusionary) comparison question.
