Doing my own scientific Research?

Question

I have found that 60% of yahoo answer users are of a low intellect. 82% of these are Liberal in their political viewpoints. These results are based on an unbiased Study of Questions regarding factual information (ie answers found in the math and science sections as well as others) then cross referencing the wrong and right answers to questions regarding political affiliation. My study was based on 500 yahoo answer users over the corse of the past month.
So i ask then since this is a scientific approach to the question of "Are liberals smarter than Conservatives?" are my findings true?

Please visit back i will respond to each person that answers

Pretty much means the same thing "are Liberals smarter than conservatives" equals Are Conservatives Smarter than Liberals.. Just depends on what the results show as to what the study implies.

Im finding it interesting that no one is trying to debunk my findings.

I did not really need to spend alot of time on this. Although the cross ref part was a pain in the butt. Total time about 8 hours spread out over the corse of 2 weeks. And i was really curious because i heard alot of Liberals saying how stupid conservatives were and vice versa. i did notice one small typo I made. The time frame was 3 months not one month.. just a mistype

Bill i used Many different catagory threads that were of a Yes/no type. For instance an Example question would be "How do you say in latin" There is a right answer and wrong answers. Keep in mind that I used 100's of such questions from at least 15 different catagories. The opinion part only came in when i cross reference the persons political beliefs

And remix ive already stated how i came by my findings. I used a pool of 1124 questions selected randomly that were of an analytical nature. I then Used the wrong answers to see if that person who answered had a political affiliation by stateing if they were liberal or conservative (or barring that if they made a pronoucement of belief that is of a liberal or conservative nature) my findings were based off these 1124 questions in which i found 740 different Yahoo answer users that answered those questions (meaning alot of them answered different questions) out of these Unique people i chose 500 that answered those questions and also answered political questions (these were chosen on a first come basis. Meaning i didnt chose people that would just "fit my mold" but chose ones that came up first..up to 500 people.

That is true. results would need to be seen if this was a study done to inact new policy or change law etc.. but my purpose was to satisfy my own curiousity. I personally do not care if you believe in my findings or not. Ive stated how i came by these findings. To submit my research to everyone that is here would take an inordinate amout of time to something i have spent enough of my own time on already. I just wanted to see peoples responses to what i found. Was it unscientific? perhaps. There was more that i couldve done to come up with a better study. Am i totally inaccurate with my findings? no i dont believe so. Anytime you take a random study of a small population like i did there is room for error. For instance if my pool was based on 1000 or 5000 individuals would that % of liberals to conservatives even out? perhaps. But usually random sampleings like i did doesnt have that big of a sway in results by increasing the pool size that is used.

Answer 1

I understand that Al Gore is needing a Pollster, maybe you should apply. Numbers are easier manipulated than weak minds.
If you don 't believe me get Poll results from both parties. The Pollsters always seem to make their numbers reflect the views and opinions of the group or party they are working for.

Answer 2

well that is a very lose term because their are several kinds if creationists. Some believe God created everything while others believe some other force or being did it. They do go out and do their own research, although the ones who jip off others have covered up that fact. And the bible isnt a psychic book. If it told where to dig, I'd be digging everyday!! But some scientist actually have real facts the have found that creationsists agree with.

Answer 3

I sounds like you have too much time on your hands.

But taking the question seriously, my first question is how you have defined Liberal vs Conservative. Those bafffons reverting to name calling are easiest to detect, but really not a good sample. They are all of low intellect regardless of political persuasion. Frankly, I do not see them much on the technical boards.

Second, Liberals usually scew younger, as they have thoughtout all generations. How much of that 'low intellect' you are seeing is really a lack of political understanding, which is quite a different question. Each generation when it starts out thinks it can change the world. Each generation as it gets older realizes how difficult that really is.

Bottom line is, I think you are missing a lot of pieces to really call this a 'scientific approach'. You have more of a survey there than a thesis.

Regards,

-Dio

HEY WOLFGAME...

Actually, I would really like to hear in depth what you were doing with this. The Politial boards are notoriously uncivil, and full of ad homin arguments. I am curious how you defined things.

If you care to, drop me a line

[e-mail]

-Dio

Answer 4

1. Please provide data on how you established that the study was unbiased and the steps taken to ensure an unbiased appraisal of answers.

2. Please provide your charts and evaluations of answers to ensure that all information was determined to be in fact factual. A listing of questions and answers along with the actual factual answer would be essential along with the qualifications of the evaluator to make the determination of correct answers.

3. What was your screening criteria to ensure that the questions/answers indeed had factual answers and did not elicit opinion or interpretation.

4. In making the determinations regarding low intellect and liberal tendencies, what are the specific guidelines and what are the qualifications of the individuals making these determinations.

Edit: No one can form a rebuttal until the details of the study and results are seen.

Answer 5

What was your control group? Did you perform statistical significance analysis? If so how was the statistical analysis performed? What is your political affiliation and does not that alone introduce bias into your finding? Did you define a set of political moderates?......Without these details and more that others have asked for it is impossible to determine the scientific validity of your finding. However, the probability is that you entered this research with a subjective bias to what you wanted to conclude. That fact alone makes the whole study total BS.

wolfgame: detaling your experimental design and methodolgy means nothing without detailing how these data was analysed. I suspect that you did not perform any type of statistical significance analysis, that alone means your finding has no scientific merit and would mean your conclusion would be rejected by your peers.

Answer 6

Sounds pretty good so far, but you make some assumptions. In the math section you assume that everyone answering those questions is at a sufficient learning level to actually be able to answer said questions. In the political section I don't know what you qualify as a right answer as so much of what is stated there is a matter of opinion. I would be interested to find out your conclusions and see if it is biased or not.

Have fun. Oh and Mr Wizard it Course of study not corse.

Answer 7

what utter rubbish! how do you know that people that answer question are of low intellect most people that do actual bother to answer question on here don't read the question first! your study has no merit you know next to nothing about your study group to boot most of the question have no right or wrong answer! there for in conclusion you have no mind of your own and can not think of a question yourself! try really hard and form a opinion of your own instead of trying to score cheep points! (knowing what Latin for frog does not determine your IQ)only what back ground you come from,that's like saying a roman of 2000 years ago is thick because he doesn't know what car means!

Answer 8

Your study is sooo funny. How do you define a person as liberal by asking a math question? One more question, as though I should ask, What is "YOUR" definition of low intellect? For some of us, anyone that would say they conducted such a test then posse it on this site, with the summary given, would be a sign of low intellect and lower if you think someone took you serious.

Answer 9

How do you define low intellect?

How did you determine answers to be right or wrong in the math/ science section?

Why don't you show us your research rather than just the "unbiased" results?

Name some of the users you included.


EDIT; Still waiting for your response to my answer...

Answer 10

I have found that 60% of yahoo answer users are of a low intellect. 82% of these are Liberal in their political viewpoints.

sounds like your right. although if you go on while all the conservatives are at work you may even get 97% liberal and 99% low Intellect.