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This crossed my mind a couple of days ago and I thought I'd ask about it. How were the surveys on shows that used surveys (specificallly Dawson FF and Card Sharks) conducted? Audience polls (a la Match Game Super Match)? Former contestant databases? Random "person-on-the-street" questioning (that was mentioned a few times on CS, right?)?
Were questionaires filled out, where the 100 people surveyed for a question on a show one day were the exact same 100 surveyed for a question a few days later?
Also, were the surveys conducted in house or were professional survey services used (maybe not Zogby or Gallup, but y'know)?
Just a curiosity.
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[quote name=\'Little Big Brother\' date=\'Mar 17 2005, 10:51 PM\']This crossed my mind a couple of days ago and I thought I'd ask about it. How were the surveys on shows that used surveys (specificallly Dawson FF and Card Sharks) conducted?
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Specifically on those two shows, they used to solicit people during the shows to take part in the polls. (Of course, those segments are cut from the shows we see for the same reasons the ticket plugs are.) It's my guess that respondents were sent a list of several questions to respond to, and then the results were tabulated and used as individual questions.
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[quote name=\'Little Big Brother\' date=\'Mar 17 2005, 09:51 PM\']This crossed my mind a couple of days ago and I thought I'd ask about it. How were the surveys on shows that used surveys (specificallly Dawson FF and Card Sharks) conducted? Audience polls (a la Match Game Super Match)? Former contestant databases? Random "person-on-the-street" questioning (that was mentioned a few times on CS, right?)?
Were questionaires filled out, where the 100 people surveyed for a question on a show one day were the exact same 100 surveyed for a question a few days later?
Also, were the surveys conducted in house or were professional survey services used (maybe not Zogby or Gallup, but y'know)?
Just a curiosity.
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[/quote]This one was answered a while back; you may want to search the site.
For years, random audiences to many GT shows were given a page with about 20 questions and one of those annoying 3 inch long golf pencils once they were seated. The completed questionaires were collected by the pages before the warm-up. If you wanted to, you could steal the pencil!
For those CS questions about how many left-handed midgets eat McDonald's french fries, midgets would be solicited on-air to write-in to complete surveys about several things. The questions with the more interesting responses would be used for show questions. I believe independent sources were also used, as many research companies already collect similar kinds of data in measuring media and trends (such as Simmons does for magazine publishers).
I also wouldn't count out GT's own files for some of the more unique questions. I remember being at the contestant offices on Wilshire Blvd. in the late 1980s and seeing a room about 10 - 15 feet deep, filled with filing cabinets stacked on top of each other, all with drawers filled with 5x7 cards. The contestant coordinator I was visiting told me they kept information on contestants from all their shows going back years and years.
Randy
tvrandywest,com
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Those CS surveys got even more narrowed during the Bob Eubanks CBS version where a group of 10 people were selected that had a particular theme tied to it(firefighters, policemen, etc.) & those people would come up close to the stage & have a question read for which they responded to on the show. These would occur randomly throught that episode. After the question, some of the respondants also can explain why they answered the way they did on that question. It was a neat departure from the general surveys.
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[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Mar 18 2005, 12:39 AM\']Specifically on those two shows, they used to solicit people during the shows to take part in the polls. (Of course, those segments are cut from the shows we see for the same reasons the ticket plugs are.) It's my guess that respondents were sent a list of several questions to respond to, and then the results were tabulated and used as individual questions.
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When I did surveys for the Combs 'Feud', every month or so 3 pages of survey questions showed up asking for "your best answer to this question". I ended up filling out about 20 surveys or so. I also seem to remember hearing somewhere that they actually surveyed 200 people for 'Feud', because not everyone would put an answer for each question. Then it would be easier to actually get 100 responses in line for the survey.
Josh
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Goodson always claimed that he never succumbed to the practice of rigging in the 50s. Well, I can tell you that these surveys from the 70s and 80s appear to be incredibly legit. Although only answers cited by 2 or more respondents appeared on the board and counted in the game, the paper trail includes ALL answers given... some with as many as 15 or so people each giving their own pretty stupid response.
For example, Poll #0108/000003 used on show #141 on 1/19/89 includes the question "Name an animal every kid dreams of owning".
As you'd expect, "dog" is the number one answer with 53 points. But among the respondents participating in the survey was one joker who answered "wooly mammoth". Now you know why only answers with at least TWO responses were used on the board!
Randy
tvrandywest.com
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I wonder if there were more than 7 responses for questions like "What is your least favorite day of the week?". I'd love to see some of FF's questions' full answer lists. Anyway, very cool, Randy.
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[quote name=\'Monarx\' date=\'Mar 18 2005, 10:29 AM\']I wonder if there were more than 7 responses for questions like "What is your least favorite day of the week?".
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Garbage day. I HATE garbage day. :)
(And I'd even argue that as a perfectly legitimate answer.)
(I don't really hate garbage day.)
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And I wouldn't be surprised if some jack tried to answer with "Valentine's Day." Yes, I know it says "days of the WEEK," but I wouldn't put it past someone to try to be a smartass and use that answer anyways. :-P
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I remember on Dawson's Feud that you had to be 18 or older to participate in surveys. Was that to maintain quality of responses or because they'd send you goodies as a reward for your time in filling out the surveys?
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[quote name=\'mystery7\' date=\'Mar 18 2005, 01:49 PM\']I remember on Dawson's Feud that you had to be 18 or older to participate in surveys. Was that to maintain quality of responses or because they'd send you goodies as a reward for your time in filling out the surveys?
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I wasn't 18 when I filled out the Combs 'Feud' surveys, but I guess I passed as a person "with a clue". I remember receiving a (god-awful) bright yellow t-shirt with the Family Feud logo on the front.
Josh
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[quote name=\'mystery7\' date=\'Mar 18 2005, 04:49 PM\']I remember on Dawson's Feud that you had to be 18 or older to participate in surveys. Was that to maintain quality of responses or because they'd send you goodies as a reward for your time in filling out the surveys?
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They did have some questions, at least in the Dawson era, for which they surveyed kids at a certain LA-area school.
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[quote name=\'fostergray82\' date=\'Mar 18 2005, 01:45 PM\']And I wouldn't be surprised if some jack tried to answer with "Valentine's Day." Yes, I know it says "days of the WEEK," but I wouldn't put it past someone to try to be a smartass and use that answer anyways. :-P
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Don't underestimate these pollees. Remember the "name a time people go to bed" question from very early in the run? Two people said "night"!
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I know they said that every answer had to have two people say it in order to make the board, but I've wondered whether for the main game, they would trim off the 2-pointers if there was an unruly number of them. I was watching a few Dawson episodes recently, and while I can't remember the specifics, I know that I saw a few questions that only added up to about 80-some points total and in which the lowest-scoring answer was worth 3 or 4 points.
If there were, say, six 2-point answers that would have forced them to display the top twelve answers on the board, could they have cut the 2-pointers, since the remaining top six answers on the board really were the top six answers?
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Scott Robinson
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[quote name=\'MSTieScott\' date=\'Mar 18 2005, 10:22 PM\']If there were, say, six 2-point answers that would have forced them to display the top twelve answers on the board, could they have cut the 2-pointers, since the remaining top six answers on the board really were the top six answers?
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Exactly Scott. Including this fact in my previous post seemed to be far beyond the scope of the initial question. But since inquiring minds want to know, let's look at another example that demonstrates this phenomenon:
Poll #0227/000030: "We asked 100 bartenders: 'Members of what occupation seem to talk the most?'" The top 5 answers were on the board:
Salespeople (25), Construction (16), Other Bartenders (10), Factory Workers (8) and Business Executives (6)
Those responses add up to only 65 points. The remaining 35 points are split among no less than 21 other answers, some of which received 4 responses in the poll (secretaries and truck drivers). Others received 3 or 2 responses but were not included for editorial reasons. Indeed, only "the top 5 answers were on the board". Among the 14 answers receiving only one mention in the poll is Nuclear Engineers!
Randy
tvrandywest.com
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[quote name=\'tvrandywest\' date=\'Mar 19 2005, 01:47 AM\']
Poll #0227/000030: "We asked 100 bartenders: 'Members of what occupation seem to talk the most?'" The top 5 answers were on the board:
Salespeople (25), Construction (16), Other Bartenders (10), Factory Workers (8) and Business Executives (6)
Those responses add up to only 65 points. The remaining 35 points are split among no less than 21 other answers, some of which received 4 responses in the poll (secretaries and truck drivers). Others received 3 or 2 responses but were not included for editorial reasons. Indeed, only "the top 5 answers were on the board".
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Doesn't this practice of cutting the less popular answers from the surveys have another purpose: Making a win in three rounds less likely so that certain hosts who will remain nameless don't have to do as much stretching.
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You know, I think they probably take the open-endedness of question into consideration when they make the decision to cut unpopular responses. I say this because my two techs and I conducted a survey for a Family Feud Christmas party (the birth of my software) and if we were to leave all the responses in, even if two people said them, the question was so open-ended that we knew no one would have a shot at even getting close to guessing those responses. So we just cut them out. I think we asked something like, "Name a popular movie people always watch at Christmas time." Two people actually gave a response about some kind of a shoot-em-up movie. Plus, I made a 12-answer board and all the 2 people responses wouldn't fit. (And perhaps that's another reason they trim the responses down, too many answers given by two people)
A question such as "Name an occupation that requires people to work on Sundays" isn't quite as open-ended (at least not in the 70's). They put a total of 10 responses on the board.
Forgive me if this seems like a rambling response.
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[quote name=\'Monarx\' date=\'Mar 18 2005, 12:29 PM\']I wonder if there were more than 7 responses for questions like "What is your least favorite day of the week?". I'd love to see some of FF's questions' full answer lists. Anyway, very cool, Randy.
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I wonder if when 'Feud' was in development 30 years ago it became obvious that too many one point replies were dragging down the scores en route to 200 points.
Or I wonder if too many one-point replies were creating 15 and 16 culmative replies on the board. Reading all of the one point ones at the end of a round would have taken to much time and not have been very interesting.
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A few times you saw a team get only 199 points in Fast Money. If they had a "0" in there somewhere, but said an answer that got 1 response, I wonder if anyone would have taken notice of it. Technically maybe the should have won the money if someone actually said the answer...but I guess since the rules say it must have at least 2 to count, they wouldn't be entitled to it.
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I also seem to remember hearing somewhere that they actually surveyed 200 people for 'Feud', because not everyone would put an answer for each question. Then it would be easier to actually get 100 responses in line for the survey.
While I certainly understand the fact that some people just wouldn't answer certain questions, if more than 100 actually did answer how would they determine which 100 to use in the survey? It would definately have an effect on the totals. The first 100 to reach them; earliest postmark date; ... ?
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[quote name=\'Particleman\' date=\'Mar 19 2005, 06:44 AM\']I think we asked something like, "Name a popular movie people always watch at Christmas time." Two people actually gave a response about some kind of a shoot-em-up movie.
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"Die Hard" is a perfectly legitimate response to that question. I watch it every Christmas, at least. :)