I’ve just gone through the DADT survey sent out to American military personnel. I’ve reproduced two questions below, changing the issue from gays to Jews.
My question is this: If the military, utterly serious, actually sent out the questions below, wouldn’t most people think it a grave insult? And if someone said, “Nope, not an insult,” what would you think of them?
If Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is repealed and a Jewish service member attended a military social function with a Jewish partner, which are you most likely to do?
- Continue to attend military social functions
- Stop bringing my spouse, significant other or other family members with me to military social functions
- Stop attending military social functions
- Something else
- Don’t know
If Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is repealed and you had on-base housing and a Jewish service member was living with a Jewish partner on-base,what would you most likely do?
- I would get to know them like any other neighbors.
- I would make a special effort to get to know them.
- I would be uncomfortable, but access to the exchange, commissary, and MWR facilities is more important to me than who my neighbors are when deciding where to live.
- I would be uncomfortable, but the quality of on-base housing is more important to me than who my neighbors are when deciding where to live.
- I would be uncomfortable, but the cost of moving makes it unlikely I would leave on-base housing.
- I would probably move off-base.
- Something else
- Don’t know
Excellent demonstration! My DP says: “Well that certainly hits the nail on the head.”
Wow, those are some leading questions. The big clue is the more complex and detailed the answer, the more likely you are trying lead someone to a conclusion and skew the survey.
To really ask these kinds of questions, you would need to start off with larger questions and IF someone answered a certain way, you direct them to follow up questions based on that. They really just could’ve had the same answer possibilities for both questions.
I would have a negative reaction
I would have a positive reaction
I would have a neutral reaction
I would not have any reaction
Then based on one of those answers such as “I would have a negative reaction” you ask a follow up.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Mitra G, Florida Gordon. Florida Gordon said: RT @LGBTPride Would This Be Offensive? – http://lgbt-pride.info/xncvn/ #lgbt [...]
If it’s true they spent $4million on this survey, then somebody seriously needs to ask for a refund.
Would this be offensive?
Not to Joseph Goebbels. From his diary:
Dec 19, 1939
The Jews are attempting to infiltrate cultural life again. Particularly half-Jews. When they are serving with the armed forces, they have some reason on their side. Nevertheless, I reject all requests in this area.
But as you quoted several times, they do not think that being jewish (or black) is in any way comparable to being gay, since according to them, those poor souls that were cursed to be born jewish or black can’t change their offensive nature and thus aren’t really to blame for their affliction. Kinda like, let’s say, people suffering from Down Syndrom. Gays however are only gay when they do perverted gay things, like sodomy or like people with beards snogging other people with beards, or wearing sparkly ascots. Which they chose to do. And could as well not do. Like stealing (unless you do it from third world countries), or murder (unless you are the state of Texas), or raping little kids (unless you are a Catholic priest – in which case somehow it again is the gays that are to blame) or similar alsmost as dispicable sins. And therefor whatever happens to them they have brought down on themselves. Ergo, it is totally justified to ask these questions in an attempt to create data that supports keeping the DADT rules in force. Q.E.D.
Come on, that one was easy. Do the hard ones.
What vexes me about these sorts of surveys is that they legitimize prejudice. As in “it’s okay to be uncomfortable with those ‘mos living down the street.” The correct stance the military should be taking it “get fucking over it, that’s a fucking order.” When the rest of the civilized world opened their armed forces to teh gaiz, they didn’t ask the enlisted what they thought. They told them to get over it. (Example: this order to the chaplaincy of the Armed Forces of Canada: http://www.cmp-cpm.forces.gc.ca/cfcb-bsafc/pd/ssmbr-bmuepms-eng.asp)
Jews in the military ????? OVER MY DEAD BODY !!! (just kidding…)
Brilliant, as always. Passing along.
How to tell a bad survey:
A question that has one positive response, four negative responses, and two responses that could be considered “non-positive” is a survey that wants a specifically negative answer.
The number of negative responses is there to enable the respondent to look at the most extreme answer and say “Well, at least I’m not _that_ bad!” and tick one of the other three boxes.
Yeah, yeah: late with the comment. My excuse is that I just found the place. It’s okay to be late if the guest brings a bottle of wine, right?