Tuesday, October 28, 2008

I don't know whom they survey for "Family Feud."

I've all but stopped answering my phone around the dinner hour, because it's either a political candidate or a pollster. In the right mood, I'm glad to talk to pollsters; anyone who asks for my opinion is someone I want to talk to.

At this point, though, I'm bored with it. Plus, I've already voted, and I'm strangely less willing to talk about how I did vote than about how I will vote.

In wishing the pollsters would ask me better questions, it occurred to me to wonder about that survey-based game show, "Family Feud." When I was a kid, I always wanted our family to be on it; now that I'm an adult, I'm very grateful to my mother for never taking that wish seriously.

It's a pretty bizarre concept for a game show, if you think about it. You win not by knowing things, but by guessing what other people said in response to a survey. It's a game designed by and for advertising executives and jury consultants.

And what's that survey like, anyway? Whom does "Family Feud" survey, and what are those questions like? Part of me thinks it would be fun to participate in a "Family Feud" survey, just to skew the numbers -- but do the people who take the "Family Feud" surveys know what they're for?

Here are five "Family Feud" style questions for you to leave your responses to. Tell me:

1. A good name for a dog
2. A bestselling author
3. A red food
4. An occasion for gift-giving
5. Something you break

Don't look at other people's comments until you leave your own answer...

31 comments:

Ed Lamb said...

1. Dog Name: Cerberus
2. Author: Harper Lee
3. Red Food: Persimmon
4. Gift-Giving: Diwali
5. Break: Wind

Anonymous said...

1. Dog - Gurl (OK, that's my dog)
2. Author - Stephen King
3. A red food - Beans
4. Gift-giving - Festivus
5. Something you break - The bank

Anonymous said...

Rover
Stephen King
Spaghetti
Christmas
Leg

RBo
kind of a dull list, actually

Ellen Clair Lamb said...

Au contraire ... I think it's interesting that the only recurring answer so far is "Stephen King."

Are persimmons really red? I don't know why I thought they were green.

Bea said...

1. Clancy
2. Tom Clancy
3. Crabs(from MD, where Tom Clancy is from)
4. Tom Clancy's birthday
5. Tom Clancy

Anonymous said...

1. Dog name: Ginger
2. Author: Dickens
3. Red Food: Tomato
4. Gift-giving: birthday
5. Break: leg

Kathy

Claire said...

1. Ulysses
2. Hillary Clinton
3. Ketchup
4. Confirmation
5. Curfew

Ellen Clair Lamb said...

Claire, I love that you said "curfew" because that's what I would have said, but really -- Hillary Clinton is the first bestselling author you thought of?

Chris, your answer is a novel unto itself.

Tom Ehrenfeld said...

Cat
Stephen King
Pomegranate
Birthday (I don't want to say the first thing that came to mind)
Promise

By the way, my dog is named Ginger
And Stephen King is THE best-selling author.

Jennifer Lechner said...

Dog: Dizzy
Author:Stephen King
Red Food:red velvet cake
Gift Giving: birthday
Something you break: a diet

Karen Olson said...

1. A good name for a dog: Fido
2. A bestselling author: Dan Brown
3. A red food: Tomato
4. An occasion for gift-giving: Hannukah
5. Something you break: A hip

Peggy & Scott said...

Funny about the political phone poll. I too would love to tell a pollster about my vote. However, Scott got a call and told them he'd rather not say. He says he thinks his vote is "private". Wha??? Definitely related by marriage!

Claire said...

Well, full disclosure--I spend all day reading editorials and opinion articles and poll data. Almost literally my entire work day is spent online, sitting on one or more sites watching election "news" trickle in. So I'm always in a nonfiction senatorial place inside my head...

though yes, Clinton over anyone else is still a weird first thing think.

Anonymous said...

1. Dog Name: Cletus
2. Author: Bill Pronzini
3. Red Food: Pickled Eggs
4. Gift Giving: Housewarming
5. Break: Your tailbone

Did I skew it??

Anonymous said...

Oh, it had to be a bestselling author? I missed that, I'd probably still be thinking of an answer, I tend to go blank, actually the first one that comes to mind is Madeleine L'Engle-she was my first favorite so I always think of her.

Laura Benedict said...

1. Rocket
2. Patricia Cornwell
3. Jello
4. Birthday
5. Hearts

Anonymous said...

dog-Fido
Author-Stephen King
Red Food-Strawberry Jello
Gift Giving- Birthday
Break-heart
Sally

Madley said...

1. Dog Name: Bismarck
2. Author: Jackie Collins
3. Red Food: grapes
4. Gift-Giving: Christmas
5. Break: glass

Anonymous said...

i got a phone call from family feud asking me a survey. They said the survey was for the an episode in January 2009. I didnt want to take the survey but they forced me to take it. When they asked for my age, I said i was not of age to take the survey. They didn't even ask if I was of age(minimum 19 years of age)beforehand and threatened to call law enforcement when they found out I was under 19. I didn't even agree to answer the survey and they forced me to. The person from family feud asking me the survey had a strangely falsetto voice. It sounded like a guy adjusting his voice to sound like a girl. I was threatened that law enforcement would deal with me just because i wasn't of minimum age to take the survey and they didn't ask for my age first. The caller told me of the age requirement after answering some of the questions. The caller from family feud entrapped me to do something that could in trouble. Also, the caller seemed to know what was going on in my house at the moment and who was going to answer the phone. Someone else answered the phone and it appeared that the caller was waiting for me to answer instead.This phone call survey from family feud occurred on December 31,2008 somewhere between 4:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
ANYONE WHO GOT A PHONE CALL SURVEY FROM FAMILY FEUD AND HAD ANY OF THE DESCRIPTION IN THE PARAGRAPH ABOVE HAPPENING TO THEM, PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT.

Ellen Clair Lamb said...

It sounds like you were the victim of a crank call. No one has the right to force you to answer questions -- unless you're in jail, and sometimes not even then. You should have just hung up the telephone.

Anonymous said...

1. Max
2. Stephen King
3. Apple
4. Birthday
5. Arm

Anonymous said...

Fido
J. K. Rowling
Apple
Birthday
Wineglass

Javis Lounsbury said...

This seems to be a fun thing, so I might as well go ahead and answer even if this is an old post.

1. Spike
2. JK Rowling
3. Spaghetti
4. Birthday
5. The Rules \m/

Anyway, you're right. I wonder how Family Feud really conducts their surveys...

Anonymous said...

Dog Name: Lucky
Author: Mark Twain
Red Food: Tomato
Gift Giving: Birthday
Break: A Window

Anonymous said...

1. Dog name- Buddy
2. Author- JK Rowling
3. Red food- chili pepper
4. Gift-giving- christmas
5. Break - glass

Anonymous said...

Buddy
Stephen king
Lobster
Christmas
Heart

Ioli said...

1. MAX
2. JKROWLING
3. LIVER
4. CHRISTMAS
5. VASE

Ioli said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ioli said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
turtle-chelle said...

1. Dog : Sparky
2. Author : Emily Bronte
3. Red Food: Pomegranate
4. Gift Giving: Christmas
5. Break : Glasse

Anonymous said...

Butch
Danielle steel
Apple
Christmas
Glass