as Romani said above, there is nothing new in these surveys. I remember my daughters taking one in 8th grade that shocked me with the contents (public school). They weren’t offended by the questions, and I doubt the college students taking this one were. Most of it could be found on their Facebook page from last Friday night.
Is that an anonymous survey or do they actually file the responses in each student’s file?
Any program can record that student X took the course and then treat the individual answers anonymously. Romani does it, I’m sure others, too. I ran a sex behavior survey as a college senior and believe me, only the aggregate results were of interest. Not who had done what.
The correct answer is: “I had zero sexual encounters, I never used drugs or alcohol because I lack sufficient information to do it. Without training, provided by USC, I do not feel equipped to engage into sex/drugs/drinks. Looking forward to your class.”.
<i would="" not="" lie.="" it="" is="" a="" mandatory="" course,="" and="" they="" track="" the="" respondents.="" if="" you="" ever="" accuse="" someone,="" or="" were="" to="" be="" accused="" of="" sexual="" harassment="" crime,="" this="" information="" might="" very="" well="" discoverable="" could="" used="" impeach="" one’s="" testimony.=""><i would="" not="" lie.="" it="" is="" a="" mandatory="" course,="" and="" they="" track="" the="" respondents.="" if="" you="" ever="" accuse="" someone,="" or="" were="" to="" be="" accused="" of="" sexual="" harassment="" crime,="" this="" information="" might="" very="" well="" discoverable="" could="" used="" impeach="" one’s="" testimony.="">
Really? 
Depends on the definition of sex
So the course is mandatory but the survey is not.
What is the problem here?
OPTIONAL questions.
I repeat- OPTIONAL questions.
The headline in the OP is wrong. The conservative propaganda, I mean article, is wrong. Shocker. 8-|
There are many, many things to be outraged about in this country. The number of children in poverty, the rising income inequality, the exploding cost of college, etc, etc. People need to stop handwringing over blown up BS. I’m so sick of this crap.
“If you ever accuse someone, or were to be accused of sexual harassment or a crime, this information might very well be discoverable and could be used to impeach one’s testimony.”
I think that risk approaches zero, even if your individual survey answers could be traced back to you. I work on a lot of these cases, many of which have a litigation component as well as a campus discipline component, and I’ve never seen anything like that.
It is not remotely discoverable. In the course of my work life, I’ve done extensive survey work on topics like sexual health/response, feminine hygiene products, low testosterone treatments, contraception as well as “embarrassing” ailments like constipation or diarrhea. All info is completely blinded and absolutely not traceable back to Joe Smith or Suzy Q. It’s analyzed only at demographic levels. Really, people need to get a grip and stop being so tinfoil hat about things.
I thought romani forgot to add the smiley face at #9, but I guess not.
Why would I add a smiley face? I was being serious.
Non-anonymous surveys are different, but when anonymous people tend to be truthful- at least as truthful as their memory allows.
You made that point in your next comment; I got that. I had not expected it.
I have seen plenty of cases where someone on the stand or in deposition is caught in a lie. Sometimes it involves the case in hand, sometimes it involves something outside the case. Sometimes it involved a willful miss-statement, sometimes the person has a confused memory. In all cases, it is pretty devastating to their testimony. The easy solution is not to lie, and if you don’t remember something clearly, don’t lie about that.
As to survey results being anonymous, if the survey is mandatory, there will be a student identifier included in the database. Maybe when the aggregate data is sent for processing, the identifier is deleted, or the key is not provided, but there should be a database record somewhere that matches the respondent with the responses.
Please do not disturb my tin-foiled hat. It took me years to fashion it into the shape of a stove pipe.
THE SURVEY IS NOT MANDATORY! How many times does this have to be spelled out?
“As to survey results being anonymous, if the survey is mandatory, there will be a student identifier included in the database. Maybe when the aggregate data is sent for processing, the identifier is deleted, or the key is not provided, but there should be a database record somewhere that matches the respondent with the responses.”
I’ve only been in the field of survey research for 30 years, so what the heck would I know about it. Not only have I worked on the categories that I’ve mentioned that are personal and private, but I’ve also worked with pharmaceutical companies whereby it is absolutely critical that the survey databases we use are blinded and not linked with a specific person or physician. I also deal with adverse-event reporting from pharmaceutical companies. This is complete standard operating procedure for any decent survey company. Not once in 30 years have I ever known - or more importantly, HAD THE ABILITY TO DISCERN – that Response X came specifically from Joe Smith, and not once has it ever been “excavated” (for lack of a better term) for ANY reason.
Having a tinfoil hat is not cute. It’s pathetic.
I just can’t seem to get past the question about oral sex with a condom… I just can’t imagine doing that.
The mods should edit the thread title. People are reading that the students “are required” to answer personal questions, and that is completely disingenuous.
@MichiganGeorgia it does happen. Not often but if a partner has a known sti then it sometimes happens. There are flavored condoms which make the process a little more enjoyable lol.
The attacks on conservative media make you sound uneducated and takes away from an otherwise intelligent conversation. Obviously it would be silly to suggest that dishonesty only comes from one side.
“I have seen plenty of cases where someone on the stand or in deposition is caught in a lie.”
Yeah. But not with a survey answer! That’s what we’re talking about.