Hillsdale College "Survey," scam or real?

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Did anyone else get a Hillsdale College “survey” in the past month or so? I’ve been going through junk mail from our trip and came across it in my pile, so I’m not exactly sure when I received it.

That said, the contents bothered me. I know Hillsdale is conservative and they don’t take gov’t money, etc, but this “survey” (entitled National Opinion Survey of 1,000,000 US Citizens About Socialism and The Left’s Hijacking of American Education) was something else - something I’m used to seeing from super far right sources with their biased questioning and telling the reader they have to give money or doom is upon us.

I filled out their survey, with “my” comments, and sent it in the mail (definitely no money sent - not even a stamp since it was prepaid postage), but overnight I got wondering if it was possibly a scam? Would any sort of “real” college do such an awful (biased) survey and connect their name to it?

If it’s real, I’m definitely dropping them from my suggestions for conservative seeking kids because of the sheer lack of knowing how real surveys should be done - or the tactics they are using to promote their cause guised as a survey. If it’s not, then I’ll continue, because I try to help kids find what they are looking for. I guess I just have a limit?

Quinnipiac, Monmouth, Franklin & Marshall, and others have done real surveys I’ve participated in, so this one just stunned me coming from a recognized college. In hindsight I wish I had kept it to use if I ever go back to school and teach Stats again.

Scam or real?

NOTE: Not trying to get condemnations nor kudos for the political content itself - the sheer bias of the questions and tactics are the stunners for me causing me to wonder if it’s real or scam.

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Most such “surveys” are just a way of getting people to engage and absorb the targeted content. This alone doesn’t qualify them as “scams” per se, in the sense that the goal isn’t identity theft or theft of other kinds. But it’s a deceptive tactic in that their interest in gathering opinions is fake; they’re interested in influencing opinions, and perhaps building a subscriber/donor base of those who agree with the ideology.

Both conservative and progressive groups are guilty of this, but the former more egregiously so in my experience.

I’ve seen church leaders do this too, not necessarily on political topics, but as a way of guiding congregants toward consensus on an upcoming decision by feigning interest in their opinions when the purpose is really just to communicate the rationale for a decision that has already been made.

People and organizations play this game because it works. There’s no better way to get people’s attention than to convince them you want their opinions.

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Looks like the definition of a “push poll”.

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Difficult to answer without seeing & reading the actual survey.

Without more details, I agree with @aquapt 's response above.

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Yes, we sent out biased mailings for both “sides of the aisle.” The goal is to rile the far left or right base, as they’re most likely to actually send $$. Always remember the end goal is not the cause; it’s the $$.

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Looks like they send it out regularly. Here is an article I found from last year: I Took the Hillsdale "Survey" on Socialism. This link is to a 2019 survey, and it’s a Hillsdale edu web address: Hillsdale College National Survey on Socialism. It’s the type of survey I used to get from the former administration … don’t know how I got on their mailing list, but I was appalled by the phrasing & options for answers … choices didn’t fit for me, for sure. Heck, even my school district sent out a survey to “see how we’re doing” that gave options for responses that clearly met their agenda. Data isn’t much good if the survey isn’t properly designed.

Because I live in Michigan, I know a number of Hillsdale grads (I worked for one). I have found all of them to be conservative, eager to discuss their viewpoints, but not overbearing about it. I don’t know if things have changed in the past decade.

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Thanks. That’s what I wanted to know - did it really come from them or was someone using their name (or a close copy) hoping to give it credibility.

I find any group using that tactic as sad. It’s certainly not limited to any particular group or topic. But when it’s a college I expect higher standards for anything they mass produce and call a survey…

I know what I think about them and I certainly won’t be suggesting any student consider it for their education from now on.

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