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Thursday, February 17, 2011

Surveys - where do they get these people?

I've always wondered where Family Feud found people for their surveys.



Now I wonder even more.

4 comments:

  1. For years now I have watched Family Feud. I absolutely love game shows. However, like the question you bring up, I have wondered myself where they find the people for their survey results. Do they go to a random mall and ask the first 100 people they see? Or is it in a controlled setting, where they call potential interviewees to see if they qualify for the survey questions? Therefore, if contestants were given the context as to where the data came from, I feel as if they would be able to better fill in the survey results.

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  2. Good point. The survey answers are a categorical variable, let's call it ANSWER. You've raised the issue that there could be associations between ANSWER and the categorical variables of HOW and WHERE the survey was done.

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  3. I agree! I always wondered where and how they found their "random" survey takers. Where they survey people could greatly impact their answer. People usually look around to think of an answer. The people from the show could alter or strategically place items in the environment to get the results they want from the survey. Another factor is time. The contestants on the show have a time limit that places pressure on their answer. Do the people taking the survey have time to contemplate their answers or are they under the same time constraint as the contestants? I can see why they are very vague about the survey statistics - the information would help the contestants!

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  4. Catherine, I think that is a very good point. I think the time constraint could greatly alter a person's answer. Therefore, the surveys and answers could be seen as slightly skewed if the game show contestants and survery takers have different time alloted to them to answer the questions. Also, the categorical variable of where the survey was taken could definitely change the answers. For example, with stereotypes, if you are in a high class, rich neighborhood, the liklihood of answering "a joint" would probably be less then if you asked people that were not in a high class, rich neighborhood. Just my thoughts, let me know what you think! Thank you!

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