4 ms·

Missed the most important survey question, that being something along the lines of "Do you think your personal individual answers to this survey are going to be

by VLM 11y ago

Missed the most important survey question, that being something along the lines of "Do you think your personal individual answers to this survey are going to be kept forever and used against you by everyone in a position of power such as college admissions and the job hiring process and security clearances, just like your complete internet access record and all social media use?" You'd have to be pretty paranoid in '92 to assume they're out to get you, you'd have to be pretty ignorant in '16 to assume they're not.

sharetea 11y ago
kids today are also less paranoid about surveillance. It's a survey; no one is going out to get you.
- marcosdumay 11y ago
  No one is out to get you. But somebody you use it to get you someday. I do agree that the kids are less paranoid about surveillance. And I think that's a severe flaw on their education.
  - csense 11y ago
    From the government's point of view, lowering the degree to which people are upset about what the government is doing is a feature of the education system, not a bug.
- facetube 11y ago
  When we took this, IIRC, the primary perceived risk wasn't necessarily the government coming after us, but rather the school or teachers finding out.
maxerickson 11y ago
It's possible to participate anonymously. I'd expect bigger problems with people making stuff up for fun than from paranoiac heroin users lying about their habits.
facetube 11y ago
I took this survey about 18 years ago, a year or two after it was introduced. The rather-small class, on the whole, answered with completely made-up information and joked about it afterward. I can't say that fear of retaliation was the reason for everyone, but it certainly was for me. IIRC the survey was technically anonymous, but the N was very small in our case, and everyone handed it over to teachers in the clear.

4 ms·

Missed the most important survey question, that being something along the lines of "Do you think your personal individual answers to this survey are going to be

by VLM 11y ago

sharetea 11y ago
kids today are also less paranoid about surveillance. It's a survey; no one is going out to get you.
- marcosdumay 11y ago
  No one is out to get you. But somebody you use it to get you someday. I do agree that the kids are less paranoid about surveillance. And I think that's a severe flaw on their education.
  - csense 11y ago
    From the government's point of view, lowering the degree to which people are upset about what the government is doing is a feature of the education system, not a bug.
- facetube 11y ago
  When we took this, IIRC, the primary perceived risk wasn't necessarily the government coming after us, but rather the school or teachers finding out.
maxerickson 11y ago
It's possible to participate anonymously. I'd expect bigger problems with people making stuff up for fun than from paranoiac heroin users lying about their habits.
facetube 11y ago
I took this survey about 18 years ago, a year or two after it was introduced. The rather-small class, on the whole, answered with completely made-up information and joked about it afterward. I can't say that fear of retaliation was the reason for everyone, but it certainly was for me. IIRC the survey was technically anonymous, but the N was very small in our case, and everyone handed it over to teachers in the clear.