Here’s Why Silly Surveys Are Actually Dangerous
Silly surveys, in all their forms, have long been a thorn in the side of authentic, truth-seeking research. When I see silly surveys, I roll my eyes and complain (to anyone who will listen) about the myriad ways in which they subtly damage the reputation and findings of good research.
But here is an example that deserves more than an eyeroll.
A specialized media outlet, Federal News Network, launched a “reader poll”—one of many types of surveys that rightly belong in the category of silly. They got the results back. The results were based on an exceptionally skewed sample of federal workers, nowhere near representative of the actual population of federal employees. They published their results. And now, to the surprise of the editors, those results are being used to justify dismantling the federal government.
Quoting from ProPublica’s article on this issue:
A startling statistic about federal workers keeps coming up: Only 6% of federal employees are working full time in their offices. By any post-pandemic standard, it’s an astoundingly low number, particularly as major American corporations move to force workers back to the office five days a week. It’s also completely untrue.
It’s not hard to realize this number can’t be accurate. Just think about the kinds of federal workers you likely encounter every day: postal workers, airport workers, military personnel, judges, courtroom staff, and so on.
The editors of Federal News Network have since tried to clarify that “the survey was a non-scientific survey of respondents who self-reported that they are current federal employees, and who were self-selected.” But, unfortunately, the damage is done.
It is worth reading the full article about this silly survey to fully appreciate the egregiously dishonest ways in which this false statistic is being wielded. I also appreciated some of its concluding words:
“It’s said that we live in a post-fact society, that everything is arguable and nothing is truly knowable. I vehemently disagree.”
We at Versta Research vehemently disagree as well. There is such a thing as rigorous and sincere survey research. Silly surveys have no legitimate place in it.
—Joe Hopper, Ph.D.
