ABSTRACT
Experiments are a major approach used to understand the psychological processes that underlie judging and decision making. Such simulation studies frequently use textual case scenarios called vignettes as an information base for judgements and decisions. Although there cannot be any definitive construction standards because of different research purposes, the present chapter aims to show that ambiguity—understood as competing perceptions of the same piece(s) of information as triggered by specific structural characteristics of a text—is a crucial aspect to consider when designing a vignette. More precisely, it will be illustrated how ambiguity can be produced and how it can be avoided by incorporating knowledge from text- and language-based disciplines, namely, literary studies, linguistics, and rhetoric.
