We know where many chief executives are now. In a snowy Alpine resort thinking big thoughts. But where were they over the past few months? Answer: locked in their offices, responding to multiple-choice questions, if the avalanche of Davos-pegged surveys is anything to go by.

I’ve ranted about such surveys before. Business leaders who participate tell me they find them tedious. They inevitably reach roughly the same conclusions (this year – surprise – “It’s gloomy out there”). Yet still they’re rolled out, and still they get written about (yes, by the FT, too).

The World Economic Forum – captive elite audience, massive press corps, low quotient of breaking news – is catnip to the pollsters who carry them out, and the companies that back them. So if you don’t want to risk a broken leg, snow-blindness and schmooze-fatigue by trekking to the Alps, here, as a public service, is my Top 10 of Davos surveys, ranked by number of respondents. I make no apologies for using the headlines from these polls’ press releases.  Follow the links and dig into the data if you wish, but always remember: this isn’t science, it’s PR. Read more