Really Interesting: Online Political Test

[Inquartata]

Originally Posted by jeff

I think, and this is only speculation, that the reason for this questions (and others that make us go "WTF?!?") is that there are people for whom it does make sense, and it provides the chance to log those points of view, wacky or not. (And, I've met people who do think in those terms... echhh!) Or, they could be just sloppy questions, given some form of authority "because it's on the Internet!"

From looking at the other questions I would think the latter. I like to know what a question means before I can decide whether I agree or disagree...and a "no opinion" option would be nice, too, now that I think of it.

[Inquartata]

Originally Posted by epeemike81

There is. "Strongly Disagree".

-m

Tough to decide that I strongly disagree with a question the terms of which I don't even understand, though....

[epeemike81]

Originally Posted by Inquartata

Tough to decide that I strongly disagree with a question the terms of which I don't even understand, though....

which didn't you understand the terms of? I assumed when you said questions that make you go "WTF?," you meant the ones like "Our race has many superior abilities over other races."

I agree about the need for a "no opinion". their feeling is that it makes it too easy to dodge the tough issues. While I see that point, there are some questions that I really didn't agree or disagree.

btw, they acknowledge in their FAQ's that some of the propositions are in there just to evoke strong reaction through use of "buzzwords". these are likely the ones that you go "wtf?" at.

As I said, I can't judge whether the methodology is good/passively bad/actively bad, since they won't release it. I know that I, for one, won't take it as more than a lark (and certainly won't take their definition of "center" as valid) until they release their methodology.

What I'd like to see somebody do is design a test similar to this, but define the "center" statistically as a position based on the results of the site. As Peter pointed out, it's basically "center of mass", or since all entries are weighted equally, average position. so, as more and more people use the site, you get a more and more accurate representation of "center". by gathering a little demographic info, you could also compare the European spectrum, to the American spectrum, to the African spectrum, to the world spectrum (though some of these may be biased by only being able to measure English speakers...).

Once you have a test with a raw score spectrum (lower means left, higher right) you can simply calculate the mean, and scale the rest of the results based on standard deviations.

One problem I'd have is I'm not sure I could tailor a good questionairre.

Wow this turned out to be longer than I thought (yay, stream of counciousness). if you made it this far, congratulations!

-m

[Inquartata]

Originally Posted by epeemike81

which didn't you understand the terms of? I assumed when you said questions that make you go "WTF?," you meant the ones like "Our race has many superior abilities over other races."

Yep, that one. Who is "our"? Which race is meant? The human race? A particular race as in black or white? Formally, as in Caucasian, Asian? More generally, as in "American" or "Arab" ( which of course aren't races at all, but one isn't sure the site's designers know that )?

I agree about the need for a "no opinion". their feeling is that it makes it too easy to dodge the tough issues. While I see that point, there are some questions that I really didn't agree or disagree.

Yes. So instead of skewing the results by letting people dodge a question, they skew them by forcing them to answer questions about which they know nothing, or don't care, or have never thought about. And with no true "neutral" option, it guarantees that truly neutral or middle-of-the-road respondents will not be properly classified, but rather shifted either left or right...

[epeemike81]

Originally Posted by Inquartata

Yep, that one. Who is "our"? Which race is meant? The human race? A particular race as in black or white? Formally, as in Caucasian, Asian? More generally, as in "American" or "Arab" ( which of course aren't races at all, but one isn't sure the site's designers know that )?

I am quite sure the site's designers know that, but they meant your "race" as in "white" anyway. it's to measure racism. there are those in this world who would strongly agree with that. reasonable people say "wtf?" and click "strongly disagree".

Yes. So instead of skewing the results by letting people dodge a question, they skew them by forcing them to answer questions about which they know nothing, or don't care, or have never thought about. And with no true "neutral" option, it guarantees that truly neutral or middle-of-the-road respondents will not be properly classified, but rather shifted either left or right...

I agree, as I said, that they need it. I was just giving you their reasoning, which I understand but disagree with.

What, no response to my suggestion for design?

-m

[Masterurethane]

I do agree there should be a neutral option, some issues it's hard to just think of as right or wrong straight off. But still, it gives the impression of me that I would expect, and I enjoyed self righteously clicking "strongly agree/disagree" to some of them.

[epeemike81]

Here's another one. This one's a "party compatiblity" test. The questions are a) more directly issue related, and b) more specific to America (with apologies to all my European friends). It still lacks quite a bit, being as it's only 25 questions, but...

http://www.3pc.net/matchmaker/index.html

As you may imagine, I'm most compatible with the Green party (90%), and then the Democrats (76%)

And another:

http://selectsmart.com/FREE/select.php?client=no

And I actually managed to find one that defines me as "centrist" (just barely. on the border with "left liberal"). However, it's run by a libertarian group, only has 10 questions, and seems fairly well structured to produce libertarian results. they end up with a higher percentage of the populace as libertarian than "left liberal" or "right conservative":

http://www.self-gov.org/quiz.html

-m

[Masterurethane]

Ah interesting, I couldn't really do the American one, as maintaining policy on things like the media is something I can't really judge, but the other test put me firmly in the left liberal field.

Thank you!

[The0ne]

I am 74% compatible with the Green Party, and like 50% with the Natural Law party. . . What's the Natural law party? Never heard of it!

[HillBilly]

Hello everyone,
Wow, that was a really interesting test!
I got Economic (L/R) -5.38
Socialist (L/A) -3.49

[Maeve_Mari]

Originally Posted by The0ne

I am 74% compatible with the Green Party, and like 50% with the Natural Law party. . . What's the Natural law party? Never heard of it!

The Natural Law Party claims to be America’s voice for prevention-oriented government and says it offers voters forward-looking, scientifically proven solutions to the nation's problems.

[K Degnon]

Just took the 3PC.net quiz and got libertarian 70% and Republican 60%. The first quiz said I was a right wing libertarian, so maybe there's some consistancy with these two surveys.

~goes off to read some more Ayn Rand~

[Army Fencer]

Originally Posted by CutLass

http://www.nationaltrust.org/11most/list.asp?i=94

He's not kidding!

Stupid Wal-Mart.

(<--- ack! it's the devil's post)

[neevel]

Originally Posted by Maeve_Mari

The Natural Law Party claims to be America’s voice for prevention-oriented government and says it offers voters forward-looking, scientifically proven solutions to the nation's problems.

It's something of an offshoot of Maharishi International University (yes, that Maharishi, the one whose most famous one-time devotees were named John, Paul, George, and Ringo). That should give you a pretty good idea of where they're coming from.

FWIW, on the political compass test I wound up -1.62, -5.44. Particularly on the economic side, I did play the game of answering a few questions harder to the "right" than I normally would, to make up for the lack of any "yes, but..." nuances. The chief issue with the economic side of that test is the authors' assumption that agreeing with their statements means you are a socialist (funny how both they and Rush Limbaugh et.al. would want to establish that false dichotomy). In my case, many of my sympathies are distinctly left-ish, but that's coupled with an understanding that economies which are predominantly centrally planned just don't work very well in the long run.

-Dave

[Maeve_Mari]

Originally Posted by Army Fencer

Stupid Wal-Mart.

(<--- ack! it's the devil's post)

Quick, post another!

[Army Fencer]

Originally Posted by Maeve_Mari

Quick, post another!

Okay!

Economic Left/Right: 0.88
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -1.85

Hmm... looks like I've become more libertarian since the last time I took it.

More of a centrist than anything, I see myself as "American" rather than Democratic/Republican or Libertarian/Authoritarian. I hate labels and eponyms.

[DJ Apostrophe]

Economic Left/Right: -2.88
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -3.64

[HillBilly]

Woah, I'm a Left Liberal!

Left-Liberals prefer self-government in personal matters and central decision-making on economics. They want government to serve the disadvantaged in the name of fairness. Leftists tolerate social diversity, but work for economic equality.

Personal Self Government = 70%
Economic Self Government = 20%

Libertarian 28.68 %
Left-liberal 22.37 %
Centrist 31.14 %
Right-Conservative 7.56 %
Authoritarian 10.26 %

Sounds like me! Maybe I should consult this quiz more often!

-Hillbilly

(maybe that was too much information...)

[epeemike81]

This one might be the best constructed one I've seen so far:

http://www.onlytheissues.com/politics.cgi?page=test

I'm "moderate liberal" on fiscal issues, and "Strong liberal" on social issues.

-m

[Tireur]

On Non-Fiscal Issues, you rank as a Centrist (58).
On Fiscal Issues, you rank as a Centrist (50).