The Frankfurt School’s worker survey used innocuous questions to reveal hidden personality traits

Evidence

The Institute’s inquiry into the working class differed from these in one main respect: it had the disadvantage that although, for the sake of representativeness, it was not restricted to a small circle of persons known personally to the interviewer, it was nevertheless, for financial reasons, not able to carry out any in-depth interviews on the psychoanalytical model. The inquiry tried partly to compensate for this disadvantage by including in the questionnaire, which, with its 271 sections, was unusually comprehensive, apparently innocent questions which would permit conclusions to be drawn about hidden personality traits and attitudes. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 474

Categorization

• XREF: The disguised-question technique anticipates modern implicit-association and validated-questionnaire methodology; connects to later survey-research literature. — connects to: Measuring authoritarianism as attitudes allows disguising personality tests as opinion surveys. — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 3863
• CANDY: The Institute’s 271-section questionnaire with ‘innocent’ questions stands in amusing contrast to the grand critical theory.

Broader Connections

• Measuring authoritarianism as attitudes allows disguising personality tests as opinion surveys. #expands (0.90) — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 3863