Although
95% of our work is devoted to
research in the area of utilities,
healthcare, finances, agriculture
and education, Central Surveys has
received many requests for unusual
polls throughout the years.
One firm
requested a survey to discover why
some people request omission of
flowers at funerals.
Another
time, a brewery company hired CSI to
determine why their market share in
a certain state had slipped.
It required two field pollsters to
spend time in taverns throughout the
state. They would go into the
tavern and order a beer, but not
specify what kind to see if the
bartender was pushing one brand over
another. From there they were
to go to the local grocery store to
see what brand of beer the shoppers
were buying to take home.
One
request was to interview single men
and women in New York City on
Valentine's Day. We were to
ask them if they had gotten "lucky"
the year before on Valentine's and
did they think they would get
"lucky" this year. Needless to
say, that was one job we turned
down!
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Once, an
interviewer was polling in
Mississippi. The man who
answered the phone told her, "I've
just fixed myself a bourbon and
water and I'm sitting out by the
pool. I don't want to be
interviewed." The interviewer
answered, "And I'm sitting in a
cramped office in Shenandoah, Iowa
and I'd sure appreciate it if you'd
answer the questions." The
gentleman was so taken with the
courteous persistence that he not
only answered the questions, but
told the interviewer to stop and
visit if she ever came to
Mississippi.
Then
there was the time one of our
interviewers received a pair of
shoes as a gift from a respondent
who was in the shoe business...
"If
someone were to ask me what product
we put out, I would have one answer
- Truth."
William Longman, president of
Central Surveys (1960-1987)
"Would
all those who have NOT worked for
Central Surveys, please raise their
hands?" (CSI's 50th Open
House, indicating the impact that we
have had on our community)
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Did you know that before he
founded Central Surveys,
Charles Parker was a
chemical products
manufacturer?
Did you know that Central
Surveys had their very own
"Globe Trotters" team?
By 1950, our field men had
already traveled 350,000
miles to conduct
door-to-door surveys.
That's equal to about 14
times around the globe!
In fact, they traveled so
much that CSI started our
own travel agency. Local
residents were encouraged to
use this service as well,
and eventually the company became it's
own entity, Central Travel
Service.
Did you know that Central
Surveys also had their own
library? It contained
the largest collection of
technical books and
periodicals in this part of
the country.
An
elderly couple who for years had
cleaned the offices of Central
Surveys were stopped on the
street and asked exactly what
the firm does. "We're not
sure," they answered. "We
think they're in some kind of
business."
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