Modern Metrix

Geographical Differences in Attitudes

Check out these amazing maps of geographical differences in social and political attitudes, created based on responses submitted by users of a dating site OkCupid.

 

(Kudos to Andrew Gelman for the link!)

Blogs to Read When You are not Reading Modern Metrix

To my faithful readers (all seven of you): I completely understand your fascination with this blog, and glad to see you come and read it again and again. To my new readers: welcome and please feel free to poke around and check out links to older posts (you are more than welcome to click on the same link more than once, it helps to increase the Google rank) It is also great to see that my audience is growing: according to Typepad stats, a number of peope reading us via Google Reader increased 200% since last December(there are now 6 of them). Our authoritiy index on Technorati DOUBLED (going from 1 to 2). And it looks like our annoying self-promoting narcissistic tweets do not hurt either, luring on average 2-3 gullible tweeps a day. So, yep, we are growing and occasionally even getting noticed by bigger fish (reminder to myself: keep spamming in comments on Techcrunch, NYTimes and Slashdot).

But you should also know that this is not the only data- and research- oriented blog out there. Nathan Yau from FlowingData recently compiled this great list of data, visualization and statistics blogs, and Tom Ewings of Blackbeard Blog shares links to some awesome blogs on market and social research . So you should totally check them out! Just make sure you come back here again..

The Future of Political Campaigning

David Talbot of MIT Technology Review presents us with a vision of how data-driven personalization will be used in a political campaigning in the nearest future.

The Future of Measurement

Social Abacus makes predictions about the future of measurement:

Social Abacus - Future of Measurement - 2009

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Academic Work metrics Measurement

Six "green" (and not so "green") Americas

Researchers at Yale University identified 6 distinct groups of people, based on their beliefs about environment and climate change, policy preferences, values, needs, and corresponding behavior. Segments (Alarmed, Concerned, Cautious, Unconcerned, Doubtful, and Dismissive) were identified by means of latent class analysis, and profiled with regard to demographics, religious affiliation, media consumption and preferences, and civic engagement. The full research report can be downloaded here (PDF).

Show Me Your Room and Will Tell If You are Liberal or Conservative?

SCIAM's blog discusses a new study that is to be published in the Journal of Political Psychology and that suggests that the cleanliness and other conditions of the person's office or room are reliable indicators of that person's political affiliation:

"According to a controversial new study, set to be published in The Journal of Political Psychology, the bedrooms and offices of liberals, who are generally thought of as open, tend to be colorful and awash in books about travel, ethnicity, feminism and music, along with music CDs covering folk, classic and modern rock, as well as art supplies, movie tickets and travel memorabilia.

Conservatives, on the other hand, tend to surround themselves with calendars, postage stamps, laundry baskets, irons and sewing materials in their personal spaces, according to the study. Their bedrooms and offices are well-lighted and decorated with sports paraphernalia and flags—especially American ones."

(Via Slashdot)

Comparing Personality Traits across the states

Very interesting article in WSJ about the research study that looked at the geographical differences in personality traits:

"Even after controlling for variables such as race, income and education levels, a state's dominant personality turns out to be strongly linked to certain outcomes. Amiable states, like Minnesota, tend to be lower in crime. Dutiful states -- an eclectic bunch that includes New Mexico, North Carolina and Utah -- produce a disproportionate share of mathematicians. States that rank high in openness to new ideas are quite creative, as measured by per-capita patent production. But they're also high-crime and a bit aloof. Apparently, Californians don't much like socializing, the research suggests.

As for high-anxiety states, that group includes not just Type A New York and New Jersey, but also states stressed by poverty, such as West Virginia and Mississippi. As a group, these neurotic states tend to have higher rates of heart disease and lower life expectancy."

Video Games and Civic Engagement

Pew Research has interesting report on "Teens, Video Games and Civics" that looks at the relationship between various dimensions of game playing and civic/political engagement.

Mapping Purchases of Political Books in the US

Amazon offers this wonderful map which shows what kind of political books ("red" or "blue")  are popular in which states.

Modern Metrix is Back from Hiatus

After a long hiatus (I was on vacation), I am back! Serious posts are coming soon, meanwhile, I thought you may enjoy watching this: 

Latest Poll Reveals 430 New Demographics That Will Decide Election