There are nearly 500 complete responses to the survey from last week. Here’s a CSV file of the results. Below the fold are the frequencies as well as N’s. I might report some trends in the data, but a lot of it is predictable. People who only read ScienceBlogs GNXP are way more liberal than those who do not.
| Reads…. |
Only GNXP ScienceBlogs |
Only GNXP Classic |
Both |
| No Answer |
1.83 |
2.08 |
2.87 |
| Far Left |
13.76 |
4.17 |
2.87 |
| Left |
28.44 |
5.56 |
11.48 |
| Center Left |
16.51 |
10.42 |
15.31 |
| Center |
8.26 |
6.94 |
11.00 |
| Center Right |
2.75 |
10.42 |
11.00 |
| Right |
1.83 |
13.19 |
10.05 |
| Far Right |
0.92 |
9.03 |
5.74 |
| Libertarian |
20.18 |
31.94 |
19.62 |
| Other |
5.50 |
6.25 |
10.05 |
Full results below the fold.
|
| Which weblogs do you read? |
| Answer |
Count |
Percentage |
| No answer |
26 |
5.25% |
| GNXP Scienceblogs |
109 |
22.02% |
| GNXP Classic |
147 |
29.70% |
| Both |
213 |
43.03% |
|
| How long have you been reading this/these weblogs(s)? |
| Answer |
Count |
Percentage |
| No answer |
16 |
3.23% |
| Less than 1 month |
12 |
2.42% |
| 1-6 months |
62 |
12.53% |
| 6-12 months |
83 |
16.77% |
| 1-2 years |
150 |
30.30% |
| 3-4 years |
107 |
21.62% |
| 5+ years |
65 |
13.13% |
|
| Sex |
| Answer |
Count |
Percentage |
| No answer |
8 |
1.62% |
| Male |
434 |
87.68% |
| Female |
53 |
10.71% |
|
| What are your politics? |
| Answer |
Count |
Percentage |
| No answer |
18 |
3.64% |
| Far Left |
28 |
5.66% |
| Left |
66 |
13.33% |
| Left of Center |
68 |
13.74% |
| Center |
44 |
8.89% |
| Right of Center |
46 |
9.29% |
| Right |
46 |
9.29% |
| Far Right |
26 |
5.25% |
| Libertarian |
114 |
23.03% |
| Other |
39 |
7.88% |
|
| Confidence in Existence of God |
| Answer |
Count |
Percentage |
| No answer |
18 |
3.64% |
| Does Not Exist |
209 |
42.22% |
| Skeptical of Existence |
116 |
23.43% |
| Doubtful of Existence |
28 |
5.66% |
| Believe Existence Possible |
47 |
9.49% |
| Believe Existence Probable |
24 |
4.85% |
| Know God Exists |
30 |
6.06% |
| No Opinion |
23 |
4.65% |
|
| Religious Orientation |
| Answer |
Count |
Percentage |
| No answer |
12 |
2.42% |
| Not Religious |
332 |
67.07% |
| Christian |
93 |
18.79% |
| Jewish |
18 |
3.64% |
| Muslim |
9 |
1.82% |
| Hindu |
9 |
1.82% |
| Buddhist |
4 |
0.81% |
| Other Beliefs |
18 |
3.64% |
|
| Where Do You Live? |
| Answer |
Count |
Percentage |
| No answer |
8 |
1.62% |
| USA & Canada |
354 |
71.52% |
| Latin America |
6 |
1.21% |
| Caribbean |
0 |
0 |
| Oceania (Australia, NZ + Pacific) |
17 |
3.43% |
| Southeast Asia (i.e., ASEAN) |
2 |
0.40% |
| East Asia |
12 |
2.42% |
| South Asia |
2 |
0.40% |
| Middle East + North Africa |
3 |
0.61% |
| Sub-Saharan Africa |
1 |
0.20% |
| Western Europe |
84 |
16.97% |
| Eastern Europe |
5 |
1.01% |
| Russia + CIS |
1 |
0.20% |
|
| Racial Identity |
| Answer |
Count |
Percentage |
| No answer |
12 |
2.42% |
| White/European |
413 |
83.43% |
| Black/African |
3 |
0.61% |
| East Asian |
14 |
2.83% |
| South Asian |
28 |
5.66% |
| Middle Eastern/North African |
2 |
0.40% |
| Southeast Asian |
4 |
0.81% |
| Mixed (Mestizo, multiracial, etc.) |
19 |
3.84% |
| Amerindian |
0 |
0 |
|
| Highest Educational Level Attained |
| Answer |
Count |
Percentage |
| No answer |
11 |
2.22% |
| Less Than Secondary |
5 |
1.01% |
| Secondary |
12 |
2.42% |
| Some Post-Secondary |
43 |
8.69% |
| University |
187 |
37.78% |
| Graduate |
237 |
47.88% |
|
| Socioeconomic Status |
| Answer |
Count |
Percentage |
| No answer |
20 |
4.04% |
| Lower Class |
20 |
4.04% |
| Lower Middle Class |
69 |
13.94% |
| Middle Class |
214 |
43.23% |
| Upper Middle Class |
158 |
31.92% |
| Upper Class |
14 |
2.83% |
|
| Age |
| Answer |
Count |
Percentage |
| No answer |
6 |
1.21% |
| Younger than 18 |
4 |
0.81% |
| 18-25 |
99 |
20.00% |
| 26-35 |
155 |
31.31% |
| 36-45 |
90 |
18.18% |
| 46-65 |
124 |
25.05% |
| 65+ |
17 |
3.43% |
|
| Highest Level of Math Completed |
| Answer |
Count |
Percentage |
| No answer |
27 |
5.45% |
| Pre-Algebra |
4 |
0.81% |
| Algebra |
9 |
1.82% |
| Geometry |
11 |
2.22% |
| Algebra II |
26 |
5.25% |
| Pre-Calculus |
36 |
7.27% |
| Calculus |
103 |
20.81% |
| Differential Equations |
49 |
9.90% |
| Linear Algebra |
46 |
9.29% |
| Multivariable Calculus |
56 |
11.31% |
| Higher than Multivariable Calculus |
83 |
16.77% |
| Have Math Degree |
45 |
9.09% |
|
| Opinions On The Singularity |
| Answer |
Count |
Percentage |
| No answer |
141 |
28.48% |
| Will Happen |
32 |
6.46% |
| Might Happen |
169 |
34.14% |
| Unlikely |
131 |
26.46% |
| Impossible |
22 |
4.44% |
|
| How Many Children Do You Have? |
| Answer |
Count |
Percentage |
| No answer |
7 |
1.41% |
| 0 |
316 |
63.84% |
| 1 |
61 |
12.32% |
| 2 |
65 |
13.13% |
| 3 |
32 |
6.46% |
| 4 |
9 |
1.82% |
| 5 |
3 |
0.61% |
| 6 |
1 |
0.20% |
| 7 |
0 |
0 |
| 8 |
0 |
0 |
| 9 |
0 |
0 |
| 10 |
0 |
0 |
| Lots |
1 |
0.20% |
|
| How Did You Find This Weblog? |
| Answer |
Count |
Percentage |
| No answer |
42 |
8.48% |
| Google |
58 |
11.72% |
| Other Search Engine |
1 |
0.20% |
| Instapundit |
9 |
1.82% |
| Steve Sailer |
83 |
16.77% |
| Scienceblogs |
82 |
16.57% |
| Andrew Sullivan |
7 |
1.41% |
| Message Board |
6 |
1.21% |
| Word Of Mouth |
19 |
3.84% |
| Email |
0 |
0 |
| Blogroll |
20 |
4.04% |
| Pointer From Another Weblog |
141 |
28.48% |
| Other |
27 |
5.45% |
I am surprised by the low fertility rate. Almost 80% of the readers are over 25 and only about 35% have any children, less than 10% have more than 2. I thought HBD-ers would be more likely to buck the trend.
I suspect a lot of the readers are single. I wish there had been a relationship question. Or was there and I don’t remember?
Only 53 female readers?
The two most surprising results for my money: 48% of readers at the graduate level, and 16.7% with higher than mulivariable calculus (and those were the people WITHOUT math degrees). Holy over-education Batman! Vijay at ScienceBlogs also noted this, so I give him first credit.
I wonder whether those people who classify themselves as libertarian also consider themselves to be socially liberal. In that case the gap between GNXP ScienceBlogs and GNXP Classic might not be a big as it appears.
It’s also suprising that there are so many right-wingers among the supposed intelligentsia. From what I’ve experienced and heard, the left-wing usually dominate in academia. Razib, maybe you should do a regression/correlation of political orientation and highest educational level attained. Although I don’t know if much will show up because of the homogeneity of the education responses (86% in the top two categories).
Right plus “far right” – a hefty 22%. Awesome. And I didn’t even fill out the questionnaire!
Orion, the people who stay in the universities are different from those who leave once they’ve grabbed their credentials. Daniel Klein, for example, found that phd economists in the for-profit sector aren’t as liberal (he wouldn’t use that word, since he wants to reclaim it for libertarians) as ones in academia or government. He thinks that’s because of discrimination, I’d invoke preferences.
gnxp seems to have gotten progressively whiter.
did Seedblugs Portlandize us?
i should have asked some detailed questions about policy instead of just demo. retarded me. in any case, 75% of left of center readers are atheists or agnostics (god does not exist or skeptical), 65% of libertarians and 52% of those who are right of center. that seems like a good proxy for social liberalism.
I wonder who the other 2 guys are besides Greg who have 5 kids?
I’m going to do something I wouldn’t normally expect myself to do and link to Jonah Goldberg. “Socially liberal” is pretty vague many people it may describe could also call themselves “culturally conservative”.
It’d be cool to do both of the usual political axes and have a 2-d plot. I wanted to put “slightly right, moderately libertarian” – so what I did was I just put libertarian.
Interesting short article TGGP, although I think Goldberg exaggerates a little when he says liberals are really into using state power to enact their social liberalism. From what I gather, liberals are more interested in using state power to ensure economic liberty/equality (e.g. affirmative action), not social liberty, which in principle should most often entail less government involvement (e.g. decriminalization of marijuana, laws permitting abortion, etc.).
If Razib’s religiosity measure of social liberalism is indeed a good proxy, it shows liberals and libertarians do see mostly eye-to-eye on social issues. It’s within economics where libertarians differ from liberals and are more like conservatives.
TGGP, you also wrote: “”Socially liberal” is pretty vague many people it may describe could also call themselves “culturally conservative”.”
I’m not sure what you were trying to get at here. Cultural conservatism is almost the opposite of social liberalism. If you look at social liberals attitudes towards immigration and multiculturalism, they’re antithetical to the viewpoints from cultural conservatives who seek to preserve the existing culture.
I’m one of the over-represented Jews recorded in this poll and though I’m a bit ashamed to admit it, I’m proud of the over-representation. So proud in fact that I want to register my concern that this poll doesn’t sufficiently record how many racially Jewish people are regular readers of GNXP. As readers here are no doubt aware, lots of people whose parents would define their “religious orientation” as Jewish, would not themselves do so. The fact that someone as publicly “Jewish” as myself was torn between responding “Not Religious” and “Jewish” to the Religious Orientation question would indicate to me that a great many readers who are no further than fifteenth cousins of mine have likely clicked the “Not Religious” box and thus caused the under-representation of Jewish readers that appears reflected in this poll.
On a separate but related point, it would be instructive to know hoe many people whose parents would consider themselves “Muslim” are readers of this blog as well. I realize that there’s far more genetic diversity among Muslims than there is among Jews but I’ve recently been involved in a very silly conversation with a well known blogger who insists that nothing and nobody of any significance is coming out of the Muslim world as of late and I thought it would be interesting to know more about people like Razib (who I mentioned – to little effect – on my interlocutor’s blog) who might not consider themselves “Muslim” but who descend from Muslim “tribes” if you will, in the recent past.
how do you assay political disposition?
from this weblog N’s-
confidence in existence of god-
christians:
does not exist – 9
skeptical – 17
doubtful – 4
believe possible – 20
believe probable – 17
know god exists – 21
jewish:
does not exist – 4
skeptical – 5
doubtful – 2
believe possible – 2
believe probable – 3
know god exists – 1
muslim:
does not exist – 2
skeptical – 2
doubtful – 1
believe possible – 1
believe probable – 0
know god exists – 3
hindu:
does not exist – 4
skeptical – 0
doubtful – 2
believe possible – 0
believe probable – 0
know god exists – 1