I’ve been keeping my eye for the past few weeks on the new Facebook polls. They have been interesting at best, and utterly ridiculous at worst. However, the latest one was a little different:
“Who do you look up to the most?” (CHOICES: Politicians, athletes, businesspeople, artists, or scientists)
I think part of what makes it interesting is how abstract the question is in relation to former questions. (i.e. “boxers or briefs?” “Is global warming a concern?” “What’s your favorite burger joint?”) What do they mean by “look up to”? Admiration? Respect? Most valuable to society? Most interesting? Closest to matching personal goals? Stereotypical, desirable personality traits associated with each career path? Successfulness? (As measured in happiness or monetary gain?)
Has this abstraction of query affected the results of the poll? Let’s take a look at the responses. (NOTE: Facebook does not claim statistical significance with these polls. Keep that in mind.)
Ok. So at first glance it appears that–on average–Facebook users look up to artists the most, with athletes coming in second. What about demographic breakdowns?
No surprises with the percentage of age groups. Facebook poll responses have generally followed this pattern. But wait! The male/female response ratio is a surprise. (Though only if you’re geeky like me and remember past ratios.) If I remember correctly, most previous poll responses have been dominated by women. Why was there a higher male response to this poll? Do women have a harder time answering a question like this? And is it because they don’t look up to others as often, disagree with the method of categorization, or because they recognize the high level of subjectivity in the question, which makes a thoughtful response more difficult? And why is this question so easy for men to answer? Does this simple bar graph indicate a meaningful difference in gender-related thought processes and societal influences?
Oooh! The only two categories in which females exceed males in vote percentage are, oddly enough, two occupations we (society) generally consider to be opposites: artists and scientists. What is it that we’re supposed to be getting out of this graph? That women place a greater value on art and science while men favor sports? I certainly don’t think we should jump to that conclusion; it’s probably unfair to men. But what does it mean? I think it ties back to the issue of subjectivity. How flexible is the question being asked? (It’s plastic, Dr. C.) Perhaps what happened is that, due to differences in cognitive directions, men interpreted this question in one way while women interpreted it in another. Likely?
This last one is interesting too. It seems that the oldest age group looks up to scientists more, whereas the youngest idolize artists. Naiveté vs. practicality? 18 to 24-year-olds also chose artists, and 25 to 34-year-olds went for athletes. Do age differences contribute in the same way as gender differences, or is it a bit more random?
The only observable, significant uniformity was general loathing for politicians. Unsurprising.