Wow, you're good at that! Available for hire? I have some results I'd like to skew... :biggrin::wink:
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I'm physics guy, so I tend to cringe when I read what passes for an experiment and quantitative data in the social sciences, but I thought they were supposed to correct for that by asking what is essentially the same question several times but in different ways.
bonnie
I play a nice person on twitter.
There should still be an attempt to author 'neutral' questions - and then asking multiple ways to pick out consistency & level of confidence. This one was chock-full of polarizing wording.
bonnie
I play a nice person on twitter.
mt2
Member
That's the point -- it's not a survey, FAQ ... The Political Compass. Not that I'm defending the accuracy of Political Compass. It's authors are unknown and it's methodologies are not explained in any detail. The site lapses into editorialization more often than just stating the facts. But all in all, I find it a useful tool in evaluating where I stand relative to the candidates -- just one tool of many.
Last I took the test, I was closer to Gandhi than anyone I could actually vote for.
bonnie
I play a nice person on twitter.
Yeah, I was just reading the FAQ. I think their answer was a cop-out. There is no valid reason for purposely skewing statements to get different answers. The examples I give above (their wording then my wording) will get a lot of people agreeing with two different opinions. There is no basis for what they claim. It's a nice toy, but I think most of us know where we stand already.
I would think the answers to both sets of questions would be interpreted to put the individual in the same area. In your first example I would agree with the first statement but not the second, and in the second example I'd disagree with the first statement and agree with the second. Both sets of answers are consistent, bottle water bad, owning land good.
bonnie
I play a nice person on twitter.
And I'd say you're probably more skilled at parsing through the words to get to the nugget of truth than the general population. (Think Fox News and how quickly they are able to turn the tide on EVs.)
Okay, I'm about to give the author way too much credit, is it possible this was done deliberately? After all a negative answer to a strongly positive-skewed question will certainly illustrate political bias.
bonnie
I play a nice person on twitter.
Possible. But then they'd have to deal with the people easily swayed by words or unable to effectively parse, whether they have strong opinions or not. I think there are better methods that result in better data. I like how they address this in the FAQs, by implying this bias is deliberate, without anything but their opinion to back up the methodology. Not buying it.
I agree. And where I stand is not where they placed me. I am as far left as they put me, but I am not a libertarian. I should have been far left, near the middle of the vertical axis. They put me in the far lower left.
The survey is about as valid as a ouija board.
I think some of the questions are definitely skewed to illicit a certain response from the people taking the test. I would prefer a more neutral test.
As an example "because corporations can't be trusted..." . "the rich are too highly taxed", "to each according to his need... generally a good idea", etc.
From the test I'm as far a libertarian as possible -8.6, and economically conservative 7.5. That doesn't make much sense
As an example "because corporations can't be trusted..." . "the rich are too highly taxed", "to each according to his need... generally a good idea", etc.
From the test I'm as far a libertarian as possible -8.6, and economically conservative 7.5. That doesn't make much sense
I came in right 2.12 and libertarian -5.28. Not too far off, I think.
Mind you, I wonder at the meaning of these terms. I consider "balance the budget" to be fiscally conservative, not "cut taxes". Maybe that's out of style or something. With the current deficit situation I consider tax cuts to be irresponsible spending.
Mind you, I wonder at the meaning of these terms. I consider "balance the budget" to be fiscally conservative, not "cut taxes". Maybe that's out of style or something. With the current deficit situation I consider tax cuts to be irresponsible spending.
DrTaras
R254->R725->S->X->M3->M3P-->R2020?
Attention whiners ... oops was that too provocative and insulting... sorry...
let me try again...
Attention pool of amazing talent that we have here on TMC...
Stop talking about it and design your own test & then post it.
We will all take it and then we will all take YOU down!
Full Disclosure, I have no financial or emotional ties to the original test! :tongue:
let me try again...
Attention pool of amazing talent that we have here on TMC...
Stop talking about it and design your own test & then post it.
We will all take it and then we will all take YOU down!
Full Disclosure, I have no financial or emotional ties to the original test! :tongue:
bonnie
I play a nice person on twitter.
harsh. I'm offended by biased news stories, biased polls - is pointing out the bias considered whining?
NigelM
Recovering Member
Side benefit:.....My American wife has at times accused me of being a European socialist, but she came out to the left of me!!! :biggrin:
bonnie
I play a nice person on twitter.
Here's a little political test. I tried 20 points in each, Neutral= 0, Agree, 0.25, Strongly agree, 0.5, disagree -0.25, Strongly disagree -0.5
Authoritarian/Anarchist (Y axis) (positive is Anarchist tendencies)
1. All drugs should be legal
2. Jails should only be used for serious criminals
3. As long as no one gets hurt, I can’t complain
4. Live and let live in terms of religion and religion freedom
5. Prostitution should be legal
6. We do not need as many laws or regulations
7. People are inherently good
8. We do not need an organized military
9. All pornography should be legal
10. There should be no laws concerning the internet or computer hacking
11. Government should not block any websites, complete freedom of speech
12. Patriot act is an invasion of privacy
13. Government should not police companies
14. I have no respect for police officers
15. There should be no speed limits
16. I should be able to own any type of weapons and carry them where ever I go (automatic rifles, knives, grenades, etc)
17. Any type of abortion should be legal
18. Building codes are not necessary
19. I should be able to drink or eat whatever I want
20. I don’t care what you do inside your own home, as long as I don’t see, hear, or smell it
Economics (X axis) (positive is fiscally conservative)
1. We should go to a precious metal standard for money
2. Let people save for retirement themselves (no social security or government pension bailouts)
3. Government should only fund essential services such as roads and K-12 education
4. Everyone should be taxed less
5. Corporations ONLY responsibility is to the shareholders
6. Welfare is unnecessary and a waste of money
7. Tax dollars should not be used to prop up any museums or art centers
8. If you can pay for it you should receive better healthcare
9. Toll roads are not needed
10. Large capital projects should be done by corporations, not the government
11. Unions are not necessary now
12. There should be no fees for luxury items
13. IRS is not needed
14. There should be no subsidies to any industry or group of people
15. There should be no laws concerning whom a specific business chooses to hire
16. Lowering taxes is the best way to stimulate the economy
17. Private citizens or corporations are better stewards at spending money than the government
18. Stealing is wrong
19. Let the free market drive the price of an item
20. No subsidies to farms or farmers
Authoritarian/Anarchist (Y axis) (positive is Anarchist tendencies)
1. All drugs should be legal
2. Jails should only be used for serious criminals
3. As long as no one gets hurt, I can’t complain
4. Live and let live in terms of religion and religion freedom
5. Prostitution should be legal
6. We do not need as many laws or regulations
7. People are inherently good
8. We do not need an organized military
9. All pornography should be legal
10. There should be no laws concerning the internet or computer hacking
11. Government should not block any websites, complete freedom of speech
12. Patriot act is an invasion of privacy
13. Government should not police companies
14. I have no respect for police officers
15. There should be no speed limits
16. I should be able to own any type of weapons and carry them where ever I go (automatic rifles, knives, grenades, etc)
17. Any type of abortion should be legal
18. Building codes are not necessary
19. I should be able to drink or eat whatever I want
20. I don’t care what you do inside your own home, as long as I don’t see, hear, or smell it
Economics (X axis) (positive is fiscally conservative)
1. We should go to a precious metal standard for money
2. Let people save for retirement themselves (no social security or government pension bailouts)
3. Government should only fund essential services such as roads and K-12 education
4. Everyone should be taxed less
5. Corporations ONLY responsibility is to the shareholders
6. Welfare is unnecessary and a waste of money
7. Tax dollars should not be used to prop up any museums or art centers
8. If you can pay for it you should receive better healthcare
9. Toll roads are not needed
10. Large capital projects should be done by corporations, not the government
11. Unions are not necessary now
12. There should be no fees for luxury items
13. IRS is not needed
14. There should be no subsidies to any industry or group of people
15. There should be no laws concerning whom a specific business chooses to hire
16. Lowering taxes is the best way to stimulate the economy
17. Private citizens or corporations are better stewards at spending money than the government
18. Stealing is wrong
19. Let the free market drive the price of an item
20. No subsidies to farms or farmers
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Maybe opening myself up here, but just be aware that by your own definition, democrats are the fiscal conservatives going by deficit growth vs. reduction during presidencies of the two parties. See Table 3 here: http://home.adelphi.edu/sbloch/deficits.html
:wink:
I scored 2.25 on the first part, and -6.25 on the second part. Is Authoritarian positive or negative on your test? And what are the labels on the economics section?
(I put it on a little spread sheet to make it easy to mark and get automatic totals.)
For the purposes of judging the accuracy of the survey, I believe in a high degree of personal freedoms, rights, and liberties, but strict regulation of businesses with regard to safety and fair business practices. I consider myself a socialist. I believe government has an obligation to care for the disadvantaged and to oppose discrimination.
Libertarianism, as I understand it, would allow complete freedom both to individuals and businesses. Authoritarianism would put strict limits on both. The problem with these labels is that I regard businesses as a horse of a very different color from individuals. I want strict regulation of businesses, which I view as being much too powerful vis a vis consumers, but I want full freedom for individuals, as long as they do not harm anyone or deny basic rights to anyone.
In my case, the economic distinction is simpler, but I know of people for whom the right-left labels on economy are similarly inappropriate.
A proper survey would be multidimensional, distinguishing many more axes than the simple models in this thread.
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