Survey

Richard Dawson: Survey says!

You can make millions of dollars with a simple idea like this. So what can Family Feud and USA Today turn the simplest surveys into multi-million dollar franchises, and expert surveyors can barely break into the middle class? Well, mostly it is the topic of what you are asking about. People are hungry to know whether other people are interested in the same TV shows they like, shoes they wear, favorite ice cream, and best looking movie star. They will pay for that same information over and over again in the form of magazine subscriptions, television shows, cable subscriptions, Internet sites, mail flyers. But you want to understand the impact loneliness on the elderly or of stress on teachers, well that is not so great information. Everyone wants to know more about “me”. How much are other people like me? The lonely elderly person in the nursing home … nope, nothing like me, so I don’t care. The teacher who is stressed out over child discipline … nope, not my problem, should have chosen a different career. I want to hear about how many people out there like chocolate chip ice cream over vanilla. I want to know whether they prefer diet coke or diet pepsi, now that is the important stuff.

It seems people can never get enough validation. Is everyone on a giant inferiority train? Why do they have to be constantly reassured that it is ok to buy the lowest priced toilet paper and the highest priced ice cream? Who cares? We have these choices because we are lucky and fortunate in the time and place we live. Why can’t we just enjoy it, because billions of other people never get a chance to those like that.

Surveys … asking other people what they experience, like, know, feel, did, wish … blah, blah, blah. This is all very interesting. But can we start asking important questions. Can we start to understand how people are trying to improve their lives or those of others? Can we ask about how to reduce pollution or child abuse? If you can make a million dollars on a survey, it is almost guaranteed that you are asking the most meaningless questions possible. Important questions don’t pay so well.