'Dilbert' creator goes on stupid rant about equally stupid survey
Is it OK to be white? Or, is this the world's most unproductive survey question?
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In my junior and senior years of high school, I made a considerable amount of money at my after-school job. I worked at a radio research firm and would survey people about the music they liked on the radio, which songs they were tired of, and find out some of their favorite hobbies and outside interests. It was the first media marketing job I ever took, but it definitely wasn’t the only time I was ever involved in interviewing people. More than two decades later, I’m still constantly reading research papers, doing background checks and reading surveys on a regular basis, voluntarily and by profession. And I can always spot counterproductive facts and survey results when I see them.
In recent news, that would be Rasmussen Reports. The national survey of 1,000 adults is at the top of the list of one of the most unproductive, gaslighting surveys there is.
First question: “Do you agree or disagree with this statement: ‘It’s OK to be white.’"
Second question: “Do you agree or disagree with this statement: ‘Black people can be racist, too.’”
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And while Scott Adams, the cartoonist behind “Dilbert,” went on a rampage about the survey results, declared black people are a hate group, white people should “get the hell away from them” and hundreds of newspapers dropped his strip, I’m left thinking a more important question: “Who was ridiculous enough to take this survey in the first place?”