Comments on: The Epistemology of Pointless Survey Questions

By: Richard

Richard — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 01:34:57 +0000

Sorry, sort of, Oscar. The question is absolutely absurd. There was a time when “Ignorance was no excuse.” but now laws abound that make no moral sense whatsoever. Men cannot possibly grasp every detail of a particular issue controlled by the state. People are so naive that they believe the present financial crisis is a consquence of corporate greed. The fact is, that since 1996 over 53000 new rules have been instigated to control the financial markets. Who could possibly keep track of so much bullshit? Then you want the average person to know? You are fuckin’ NUTS/

By: Oscar Cwajbaum

Oscar Cwajbaum — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 23:23:49 +0000

There are certainly ways the question could have been improved, but that still doesn’t make it pointless.

By: Kyle Haight

Kyle Haight — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 22:34:05 +0000

I’d be more inclined to believe that if the survey had any indications of probing into why I did or did not think certain things. There is a big difference, for example, between believing something out of ignorance and believing something based on misinformation, and if you’re interested in education you’d want to distinguish between those cases. This survey did not.

By: Oscar Cwajbaum

Oscar Cwajbaum — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 07:17:56 +0000

I think the question makes perfect sense — they wanted to know what percentage of their customers wrongly believe (for whatever reason) that the water provided by the water district does not meet federal, state, and local quality standards. If a substantial percentage of their customers had a mistaken belief, they would likely consider an advertising campaign to correct people’s beliefs.