A True Sign of Our Times
By alaskanray
@alaskanray (4636)
United States
February 19, 2011 2:24pm CST
Okay, as many of you know, I take surveys online. Most of the questions are pretty mundane and I rarely qualify to finish a survey but occasionally do so I keep taking them. Well, lately one of the questions on a survey just hit my funny bone. The question itself is pretty mundane:
Which of the following major life events have occurred within your immediate family (you or your parents, spouse, or children) within the last six months:
Simple, right? Well, take a gander at the options for the answer:
An engagement
Traveled to outer space
The purchase of a new home
Retirement
The birth of a child
A wedding
Graduation from college
None of these
Please note the bold option. Did you ever expect to see this in your lifetime? 
6 responses
@louievill (28851)
• Philippines
20 Feb 11
hi friend, I think questions like that were deliberately placed there to make sure that the survey taker is psychologically sound or at least not temporarily due to certain factors such as substance abuse etc.. it could also determine sincerity and seriousness, and like the other post , to check for bots. In any random survey, a certain percentage would be considered spoiled, and they would include and match that with accepted values.
1 person likes this
@alaskanray (4636)
• United States
20 Feb 11
Well, you have to admit that more and more people could truthfully answer yes to that particular thing...look at all the folks who go up in the shuttle all the time. It's not really that ridiculous an idea. We are living in the space age, after all.
@alaskanray (4636)
• United States
21 Feb 11
Yes, I am aware, suny, that the shuttle isn't the only thing going up into space. This was meant to be a light and fun discussion. I'm not trying to get into a debate. Your point is well taken, thanks, but the shuttle alone takes much more people up into space than we ever sent up there in the 60s or 70s when I was coming up, which is my point.
@neilfletch (6)
•
19 Feb 11
I've seen this type of option before on surveys, they tend to throw them in randomly, I think they are a control measure to make sure you read them correctly and don't just randomly select responses or, worse still, use a bott
1 person likes this
@coffeebreak (17798)
• United States
28 Feb 11
I bet ones like this are just put there to make sure the survey taker is paying attention and giving honest answers. I know what you mean about the surveys not qualifing for you. Often they don't for me either...lately. Year ago and prior, I qualified for everything, now...one out of 5 maybe. Being over 50 I am sure is the culprit...we are to old for vendors to care what we think...we don't have much time left to use their product!!!!LOL!!!
But i have played with them some...out of curiosity and it annoyed me when they'd ask my age or birth date then a few other "qualifying" questions, and then they'd ask my age or birth date again, and I'd put in something different and then they'd say I didn't qualify. Was it cause I am not in the age group they are looking for or was it cause I changed the age within the survey? So I stopped playing and figuring and stay honest and still...seldom qualify!
But...no, I have no inclination to go to outer space. Why? there's nothing there!
1 person likes this
@birdie816 (1276)
• United States
19 Feb 11
lol i have seen that the other day. i was thinking the exact same thing when i saw that option. i started to choose it just to see what would happen lol...
1 person likes this
@alaskanray (4636)
• United States
20 Feb 11
Yes, I am aware of that. It just occurs to me that it is a real sign of the space age we are living in that this shows up on a survey.
@loveandpeace (470)
• Indonesia
20 Feb 11
That was funny, lol. I think I've seen that kind of ridiculous questions in my surveys, and I guess they just make that for testing whether or not I'm a robotic answerer. I always enjoy doing my surveys, except for the very very long ones, lol.
1 person likes this
@alaskanray (4636)
• United States
21 Feb 11
I seriously doubt that this answer was thrown in as a test for a bot. It is a real possibility in this day and age, which was my point, but it just hit me as funny to see the option in an actual survey. Many of us still see space travel as something in the future as it is not readily available to the average Joe. Heck, even air travel is no longer as available to the average Joe as it used to be.
