Friday, February 5, 2010

Survey questions - I want more options!

Today I am thinking about some of the surveys that show up. Some newspapers run a lot of them about things that are related to current events. I have an opinion on pretty much everything so I am often tempted to answer them.
My problem with them is the narrow range of possible answers.
For example, the Toronto Star, is asking:
Would you pay $12.95 to buy a bottle of wine named after Mississauga mayor Hazel McCallion?
The answer choices are Yes (18 per cent so far) and No (82 per cent).
Wait a minute. Why are they asking this? It is not just because the wine is available but also because the mayor is under attack at the moment although she is immensely popular.
How should I answer?
Well, I would not pay the money but then again I would not pay anything for a bottle of wine since I would not drink it anyway.
I would like to have the option of saying "No - I don't drink so I would not pay for it".
People who do drink wine might like to be able to answer whether or not they would pay extra for a bottle of wine named after the mayor or if they would just pay what the wine itself was worth regardless of whose picture was on the bottle.
There are a lot of options. It is not a simple yes or no matter.
The Star, which I read online, often does short surveys of readers. I figure that since I am getting it for free it is the least I can do.
One question they always ask is how often I read the printed version of the paper. There is a range of options from never through daily. I have to answer never but wish I had the choice to answer never because I cannot buy your paper here anyway (there are no daily newspapers for sale in Moosonee). Because, honestly, if they did sell it here, I would buy it once in a while.

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