Survey Posts - Should They Be Restricted?
 

There seems to be a proliferation of posts of people conducting surveys or studies about frequent flyers. I think there should be some consideration as to whether these types of posts should be restricted.

Funny you should mention that. This has also been brought up by mods. Could you and anyone else who has an opinion on this expand on your thoughts?

Carol
Community Director

I don't mind them. Maybe the moderators of the various forums they appear in could amend the thread title to say SURVEY in big letters as some of the ones I've seen give you no indication it is a survey until after you click on the topic.

I don't mind when students do it--I've been there and know that it can be a pain to recruit people for research. Also, kudos to them for seeking out people in their target demo rather than using a convenient sample of their friends.

It bothers me a little more when someone is trying to do market research on the cheap for their business. Sorry, but if you want people's time, bite the bullet and compensate them, the way other companies do. It doesn't have to be much.

I think I mind it more when it's someone who only registers for FT to get survey responses. But I also haven't noticed a lot of posts - perhaps I'm not looking in the right forums.

I also mind about business surveys as a means to get information on the cheap.

{disclaimer - when my husband was getting his MS I posted one or two surveys for him and was very grateful for the responses}

A good point ^ but does one differentiate between a F/'er's survey (i.e. do you like your airline's new boarding process) vs a poster's individual survey (i.e. help me with my thesis)

Guess we could type THESIS in big letters, too, or SCHOOL PROJECT.

the idea that teachers literally tell students to "make a post" or "post a survey" is depressing

one random thought is that locking the threads >
- allows people to complete survey
- does not allow negative responses
- thread moves down forum instead of staying at top