18 votes

Let us predict whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican

13 comments

  1. [3]
    The_Fad
    (edited )
    Link
    Swing and a miss on this one, NYT. They pegged me as a lean-left centrist and I'm a big ol' filthy progressive hippie. WHERE IS YOUR STATISTICAL GOD NOW?!

    Swing and a miss on this one, NYT. They pegged me as a lean-left centrist and I'm a big ol' filthy progressive hippie. WHERE IS YOUR STATISTICAL GOD NOW?!

    12 votes
    1. [2]
      cge
      Link Parent
      That's not what the analysis is concluding. The numbers given by the quiz are not meant to predict the strength of your views, or your position on a political spectrum, but are instead, based on...

      They pegged me as a lean-left centrist

      That's not what the analysis is concluding. The numbers given by the quiz are not meant to predict the strength of your views, or your position on a political spectrum, but are instead, based on the answers, meant to predict the likelihood that you prefer one party or another, regardless of how strongly you do.

      What the results for your answers meant is that someone with your answers would have a somewhat higher chance of preferring the Democratic party to the Republican party, regardless of whether they support Biden or think that Sanders and Warren are far right. Similarly, an answer extremely skewed toward one side doesn't mean that the person has extreme views: they could well have very centrist ones, they're just extremely likely to lean toward that party.

      If anything, I wouldn't be surprised if, when combined with position on a political spectrum, people with more extreme views tended to show up in the center, and people on the edges tended to be very likely to be aligned with a party, but comparatively centrist.

      Were politics in the United States not so problematic, I expect that the ideal would be most results on this sort of quiz being very close to the center, meaning that the questions, which for the most part should not be politically relevant, would not be predictive of political views. Unfortunately, the Republican party has become such that they must be.

      16 votes
      1. The_Fad
        (edited )
        Link Parent
        Yeah but all that doesnt really lend itself to me making a where is your god now joke, soooooo

        Yeah but all that doesnt really lend itself to me making a where is your god now joke, soooooo

        5 votes
  2. [2]
    Silbern
    Link
    At least for me and my family, this chart is dead on. Me, white atheist gay college attending dude: pretty far to the left, not quite all the way though. My mom, white not very religious Catholic...

    At least for me and my family, this chart is dead on. Me, white atheist gay college attending dude: pretty far to the left, not quite all the way though.

    My mom, white not very religious Catholic attended college straight women, moderate Democrat.

    My dad, white not very religious protestant attended college straight man, moderate Republican.

    Even my younger siblings, though not quite adults, are pegged accurately.

    4 votes
    1. cge
      Link Parent
      That is not what the chart is showing. It is showing probability of any preference toward one political party or another. It is not showing strength of that preference, or position on a political...

      That is not what the chart is showing. It is showing probability of any preference toward one political party or another. It is not showing strength of that preference, or position on a political spectrum.

      3 votes
  3. [4]
    Comment deleted by author
    Link
    1. [3]
      cge
      Link Parent
      These are not equivalent at all. The NY Times piece here is showing probability of any preference for one of two parties on the basis of demographics, particularly race, religiousness, gender, and...

      These are not equivalent at all.

      The NY Times piece here is showing probability of any preference for one of two parties on the basis of demographics, particularly race, religiousness, gender, and sexuality. The questions are not related to political views, and the results are indicative of probability, not of political position. That these demographics so strongly predict probability of preference for a party is rather problematic.

      The Vote Compass survey has questions directly related to political views, and gives the strength of alignment with political parties.

      3 votes
      1. [2]
        Algernon_Asimov
        Link Parent
        Sorry. As I mention elsewhere, I can't read NYT links. I had to go by the title. I've deleted that comment.

        These are not equivalent at all.

        Sorry. As I mention elsewhere, I can't read NYT links. I had to go by the title.

        I've deleted that comment.

        1 vote
        1. cge
          Link Parent
          Ah - that makes sense, sorry. The unfortunate access problems with NYT and Washington Post are frustrating.

          Ah - that makes sense, sorry. The unfortunate access problems with NYT and Washington Post are frustrating.

          1 vote
  4. patience_limited
    Link
    So where this test completely missed the boat is failing to identify non-voters. They're overwhelmingly young, left-leaning, and historically excluded from mainstream centrist Democratic Party...

    So where this test completely missed the boat is failing to identify non-voters. They're overwhelmingly young, left-leaning, and historically excluded from mainstream centrist Democratic Party policies. If Bernie Sanders or DSA candidates aren't running, they're stuck voting anti-Republican if they bother to vote at all. Likewise, the "uncommitted" (various reasons) are unlikely to vote.

    2 votes
  5. [4]
    Algernon_Asimov
    Link
    Offtopic, but... I'm getting sick of seeing New York Times links here. They always look interesting, and I always want to read them, but I'm always blocked from accessing them.

    Offtopic, but...

    I'm getting sick of seeing New York Times links here. They always look interesting, and I always want to read them, but I'm always blocked from accessing them.

    4 votes
    1. [3]
      Comment deleted by author
      Link Parent
      1. [2]
        Algernon_Asimov
        Link Parent
        It doesn't. The NYT websites detects that I'm operating in incognito mode and gets even more reluctant to show me anything (I don't even get the opening paragraph in incognito mode!).

        It doesn't. The NYT websites detects that I'm operating in incognito mode and gets even more reluctant to show me anything (I don't even get the opening paragraph in incognito mode!).

        4 votes
        1. [2]
          Comment deleted by author
          Link Parent
          1. cge
            Link Parent
            It actually appears that this article specifically is somehow open access. It has worked in all conditions I've tried it (base Chromium from VPN through Sydney,...

            It actually appears that this article specifically is somehow open access. It has worked in all conditions I've tried it (base Chromium from VPN through Sydney, uMatrix+tracker-blocking+PrivacyBadger+uBlockOrigin Firefox from Sydney, Seattle, London, and Texas), while other articles have not.

            Private Browsing usually no longer works on WP or NYT. WP is actually far worse, and blocks anyone who blocks any tracking cookies, even if they aren't blocking ads.

            2 votes
    2. AnthonyB
      Link Parent
      I feel your pain. That's most of tildes for me since I'm in China and often browse without a VPN. It's nice when I finally take my computer to a place with strong internet so i can finally dig...

      I feel your pain. That's most of tildes for me since I'm in China and often browse without a VPN. It's nice when I finally take my computer to a place with strong internet so i can finally dig into my bookmarks section

      2 votes