Please fill out my socio-political survey!
I just spent the last several hours making this amazing survey, please fill it out, it's completely anonymous. Also, please feel free to discuss the survey here and give me any feedback. Here's a link: http://www.kwiksurveys.com?s=ILEOGG_841a204c
Sign in to comment in this discussion.
Comments
For example
* 52. Parents should be allowed to shove their religion down their children's throats
Just wondering why you used that wording and not something more survey neutral like:
Parents have a right to control their children's religious studies.
Also, I noticed some of the questions were referring to a specific act or aspect of the constitution. I don't know how reliable those results from the questions might be seeing as the likelihood of everyone taking the survey and knowing exactly what they're referring to, is slim.
I pride myself in knowing various acts and some aspects of the constitution due to my civics class but I can't say the same for everyone else.
Perhaps you should have a brief description of the act within the question to help people make more educated answers.
I just finished it myself and I agree. Another example is the question about pork barrel spending--I know what that means, but I wouldn't assume everyone would.
I am the Anarchists' King.
Isn't that some kind of contradiction? If there is a monarch, there is no anarchy. Just sayin'.
The whole deal with my infringement was that I said "I am the Atheists' God." Which was offensive, I guess...
But I felt a lot of questions were "Should this be legal if this?" and I wanted to put "This should always be legal!"
This will skew your data considerably. It would be far better to take a random sample of the population and send them the survey personally to reduce this bias.
Or make a shorter survey.
1) I consider myself an ecologist. It's not in the list, even though things like "Nazi" are. It's a bit weird to me. There are some things I don't even know about, but no Green, even though it's a party. So I answered Socialist, because I'm also one and the "other" option didn't allow for typing your own answer.
2) I answered "Not American", so it was an easy answer for me, but I think you should have an option for people who don't support a party more often than another and vote for people based on their programs.
That's the way I do it when voting in France and some people in the US might vote the same way.
I also vote differently on local election than on national ones. I go for the bigger parties on a national level because the small ones stand less of a chance, for instance, while on the local level smaller parties have won in the past.
3) Is there no way to answer questions without a drop down list? I think here people could pick several economic systems that they believe should be combined. The only option you offer is a mixed capitalist/socialist economy, which I assume is because that's the US system, but it seems to me people might have different preferences. Being able to pick several options at once would be nice.
4) Edited, see posts below.
6) I think it would be more practical if the options were in alphabetical order. I only noticed it for this question, but I assume that applies for the rest too.
7) I appreciate the "transgender" option as your trying to be open, but a transgender person would probably still choose "male" or "female", just not the one that's also their sex. It think a "Neither, both or other" option would be more useful, as it captures genderqueer people and people who don't believe in binary gender.
9) This one is tricky for me. I was raised in France, I'm currently in the US but going back to France in a month, until 2012, then trying to get a visa to live in the US permanently. I totally understand that I'm a unique case here though. However, knowing what you want this data for would help. If it's to know how I was raised culturally, my answer should be France. If it's to know where I'm going to be voting in the future, the answer should probably be the United States.
By the way, you used continents for everything but the US and Canada. I assume you're most interested in collecting data from the US? Otherwise I would suggest using "North America".
You also put both Asia and the Middle East, even though the Middle East is part of Asia. And where is Mexico? Is it considered part of Latin America even though it's usually considered part of North America? And what is Jonathanland?
11) I noticed you said "American Indian", I'm not sure if you meant from the US only or if that also includes Canada for instance, since America has been used for both. I think "Native (North America)" would work better, but I guess that's probably fine the way it is. I'm very surprised though that you haven't added any "mixed" option at all. You can be of mixed race/ethnicity, and I'd say it's more and more common. I think the option would be useful.
15) Some people think it should still be outlawed when the mother is in danger, and some add rape to the list of exceptions. I think phrasing it "In most cases, abortion should be illegal" would probably cover the range of ideas over the subject better.
24) I would prefer "other animals", since humans are animals too. And I think very few people would agree (I mean, that includes the right to vote for instance, how would most animals vote?). I think the sentence is too absolute. Something like "(Other) animals should have more rights than they currently do" would, in my opinion, be a more useful question.
25) 13 is an oddly random number. Is it because it's the first year of teenage? I've heard people argue for 17 or 16 and I would understand 15 (it's a more round number), but never for 13. This one is too specific in my opinion, and asking "should the age of majority be lowered" would work better. Or you could ask "what should the age of majority be" and have a few options, including "the age of majority shouldn't changed" and "the age of majority should be higher than it is now" as well.
33) Here is 13 again. Has that "on fourth vote" thing ever been mentioned before? I had never heard of it, so it seems like a weird question to be asked, in my opinion. But at least it's more specific than asking about the age of majority (which would include things as different as voting, drinking, driving, working and having sex, for instance, and people might be for some of these things being legal at 13 but not some others).
45) The fact that you say "yours" makes I think the question weaker. People might be racist but think that traces of their race don't make it better, because they think they belong to an inferior race. Then they'd say "Strongly disagree", because they believe the opposite of the question, yet they're still racist.
49) Can't that depend on their crimes? Wouldn't some people think "murderer's shouldn't have access to guns, but I guess that guy who hacked some website isn't more violent than your average dude" or something? (I tried to find an example of a crime that's not violent, you could substitute a bunch of other stuff too). I figure people who believe that would say "neutral", but I think specifying "people who have been convincted for a violent crime" would make more sense. Although I guess some people might think none of them should be allowed guns no matter the crime.
52) That's such a weird question. Do some schools have uniforms for that reason (gangs)? I wouldn't know, as public schools don't have uniforms in France. Then again, would banning religious symbols be considered a strict dress code?
53) Really biased phrasing. You could have phrased it from the opposite point of view and seemed more neutral, for instance "Parents should tell their children about all religions without putting their own as superior" or "Parents should let their children pick their religion for themselves" or something.
54) "It is necessary for the government to ban certain weapons (fully automatic guns, RPGs, claymores, etc.). This does NOT include handguns and other semi-automatic firearms." Then what does someone who is against banning ALL weapons vote? Strongly disagree to the "this does NOT include" part,
or strongly agree to the other one?
60-61) You say "We", do you mean the person's country or the US? France went to Afghanistan too for instance, but not to Iraq, so the first question and the second one could have a different "we" for me.
66) Does "all circumstances" include voluntary slavery and/or some forms of BDSM? I guess it does, but hat makes it weird having to answer I'm for slavery. I'd be more comfortable with a question asked in another way (such as "voluntary slavery should be legal/illegal") if that's how/why you asked the question. It's hard to know since people can be "for" slavery due to being extremely liberal or extremely conservative, the slavery in question being different. I guess it's paradoxical, but you can be for some slavery because you are for personal freedom.
67) Would be easier to answer if I had heard of it before
68) I disagree, but because I know people who graduated after year 9 or 10. I'm for the learning being compulsory, but if the person already knows the stuff then teaching it again is useless and stealing years out of their lives.
77) What do non-American know about things like that? Do most of them even know what states laws are responsible for vs federal laws? A bunch of your questions are really targetted to US citizens it seems, and there isn't a "I'm not American" option. (For the record, I answered "neutral" to all such questions instead).
84) "The drinking age and concealed carry age should be the same as the age of majority (adult age)" Isn't that two questions? One: should the drinking age be the same as the age of majority? (No, it should be lower) and two: Should the concealed carry age be the same as the age of majority? (sure).
91) I really don't like these blanket statements. How do they refuse? Do they refuse because they object to said work? If the only work I was offered was butcher, you bet I'd say no, and that would be best for everyone (I'd probably spend most of my time throwing up on the food). Do they refuse because they're "lazy"? (Seems to be the assumption here). Do they refuse because the only job offers are 4 hours away and it would cost them more to drive there than they'd earn? I agree with the principle of not just paying anyone who isn't workng, but not with the idea that if you can you necessarily have to no matter the kind of job, location, hours, etc.
94) I think it should be ONE of the official languages of the US (meaning, I think the US should have official languages like most countries do, and English should be one of them), but not the only one. What do I pick? Yes or no?
107) "Given the opportunity, should we bring back extinct species (dinosaurs)" Did you have to pick "dinosaurs"? There are thousands of extinct species, and most of them wouldn't pose the problems dinosaurs could due to their sheer size, even if we only went for the peaceful ones.
119) Isn't that assuming I think the US fought WWII properly?
140) Uh? Dolphins specifically? And granted it just for being a dolphin or on an individual basis? And what would that status entail? More rights? Just a different way of talking about them? And would dolphins even care about that anyways? What if I think some animals should get that status but I hate dolphins?
143) I'd first need to understand it. Is it red as in communist, as in left-wing or as in right-wing? I ended up googling it but I think you could explain it in parentheses for people who don't know the phrase.
145) That's a bit too specific too. What if I want a two children policy? What if I want no policy but no money paid just for having kids anymore? What if I want the government to encourage people to reproduce less but not enforce anything? What if I think people should have more children and be punished if they don't? Should all of these really be lumped into the same answer?
166) One of your "two questions in one". And by first, do you mean "as the first thing they do when they're in the country" or "frst, before coming to the country"? For the record, I think immigrants (not tourists) should integrate into society and learn one common language of the country (since there isn't any official ones), which would include English and Spanish and possibly others depending on the region where they settle. I believe the language classes should be provided by the government, though.
169) Newfoundland? As in, the Canadian province? Why this one specifically? And it's weird to suddenly have a non-US question.
171) You forgot the word "should". Or possibly "shouldn't". Which makes the question harder to answer, doesn't it?
173) Why is "free" in quotation marks? Is there a trick? Or did you mean "freeish"?
General comments: lots of things that didn't apply to me, some questions where I strongly agreed with half the question and strongly disagreed with the other half, some questions I didn't even get and had to google, some I didn't know how to answer (am I supposed to tell you what I think the US should do even though it's not my country? Or am I supposed to answer the question as applied to my own country?)
I recognised some questions from the political compass, would I be wrong to assume you took inspiration from it?
America is a Republic.
I know the US is a Republic. But if you vote for a president, isn't that democracy? The US is a specific case since it's so indirect and weird, but otherwise Republics are usually along the lines of "everyone votes for the president and everyone votes for the house". Which seems democratic to me. I mean, pure democracy, would that mean that everyone votes on every single decision? There would be votes several times a day, probably even too many to attend them all!
Democracy is everyone is the government. Rather than having elected officials, the people directly vote on laws and such.
I mean France is a Republic, Canada isn't, they're both parliamentary with a Prime Minister at the head of the government.
The US however has a president but no Prime Minister, but it still has the House and Congress [edit] I meant Senate, both of which together being the congress. Sorry for the mix up [/edit], so I guess what I really care about is having an elected parliament... I don't remember that being one of the options. And I can't really vote "Republic" since that aspect isn't something that's necessary or sufficient.
Internet voting! Whoo! Or through TVS. Or through phones. Or through something doesn't exists because there's no use for it now. Or any other technological advances.
Patience: It's a virtue.
Ehhh...it's overrated. I, personally, gave up after the first page. I have a strong dislike for pull-down menus.
I couldn't agree with you more.
I made it to page three and openly wondered how long the survey actually was. An overwhelming sense of determination and desire to learn led me to brave through the seven or so pages of questions.
Do I regret this? No, I believe that this pursuit of knowledge has made me stronger as an individual.
What should you take away from this explanation? Little, besides the fact that I am a very dedicated and determined person.
I applaud your bravery, good sir. And dedication. That too.
Perhaps I could have worded that better...
I understood it all and I'm still in high school.
No they don't. This is how theocracies perpetuate themselves: indoctrination of those most vulnerable.
I read all your points. But I just got off work and it's pretty late, so I can't really reply to all of your points at this time. Well I physically could, but I'm mentally exhausted right now.
And you're probably either studying this now, or recently studied it. But most people don't retain this kind of stuff unless they're really interested in politics. Remember, we had someone running for Vice President who wasn't sure what Vice President does not too long ago. Expecting everyone to know all of those terms is giving people too much credit.
It was a suggestion of how to phrase the statement. Then people taking the survey could have picked if they agreed with it or not. You would know that if you had bothered to take it :P
Edit: Hadn't read the other posts on this thread yet, but just have, and just got to the "parents should be allowed to shove their religions down their children's throats" bit. I don't think that question's especially problematic. The fact that the writer's beliefs are so clear makes it easier to think straight, because there is no subtle manipulation going on. Despite being anti-religious, I was more than able to put down agree for that one.
When do we get to hear the results?
I'll be sure to upload the results in a few weeks. Once we have more people taking it.
(or alternatively, I'd be more than happy to whack out an analysis for you