I think one consideration is that they want to make the surveys comparable year to year, and if people can select many categories, that would be make it difficult.
For adding multiple options, I think there’s another sense of challenge, where if someone could select different political identities or religions, that would make the result difficult to interpret. It seems sort of “mainstream” for better or worse, that there is one category for some of the things you mentioned.
Zooming out, it seems that instead of seeing things like single/multiple as sort of a didactic/right or wrong choice or trying to impose a viewpoint, these seem to be design decisions, that is sort of inherently imperfect in some sense, and part of some bigger vision or something.
I think one consideration is that they want to make the surveys comparable year to year
Makes sense. But I guess if it’s only been one year, there wouldn’t have been much of a cost to changing it this year, or, the cost would have been smaller than the cost of not having it right in future years.
if someone could select different political identities or religions, that would make the result difficult to interpret
Could you explain why? I don’t see why it should, really.
Could you explain why? I don’t see why it should, really.
Well, in one sense that is shallow, what would an agnostic person + (some other religion mean)?
Maybe more deeper (?): it seems like some religions like Buddhism, which accepts other practices, would be understood to accept other practices. So it’s not clear if a Buddhist who selected multiple options had different beliefs, or was just very being very comprehensive and communicative like a good EA.
Well, in one sense that is shallow, what would an agnostic person + (some other religion mean)?
Uh that specifically? Engaging in practices and being open to the existence of the divine but ultimately not being convinced. This is not actually a strange or uncommon position. (What if there are a lot of statisticians who are trying to make their work easier by asking questions that make the world seem simpler than it is.)
it seems like some religions like Buddhism, which accepts other practices, would be understood to accept other practices [but not believe in them or practice them?]
That just sounds like a totally bizarre way to answer the question as I understood it (and possibly as it was stated, I don’t remember the details). I wouldn’t expect a buddhist with no other affiliations to answer that way. I don’t believe the ambiguity is there.
I think one consideration is that they want to make the surveys comparable year to year, and if people can select many categories, that would be make it difficult.
For adding multiple options, I think there’s another sense of challenge, where if someone could select different political identities or religions, that would make the result difficult to interpret. It seems sort of “mainstream” for better or worse, that there is one category for some of the things you mentioned.
Zooming out, it seems that instead of seeing things like single/multiple as sort of a didactic/right or wrong choice or trying to impose a viewpoint, these seem to be design decisions, that is sort of inherently imperfect in some sense, and part of some bigger vision or something.
Makes sense. But I guess if it’s only been one year, there wouldn’t have been much of a cost to changing it this year, or, the cost would have been smaller than the cost of not having it right in future years.
Could you explain why? I don’t see why it should, really.
Well, in one sense that is shallow, what would an agnostic person + (some other religion mean)?
Maybe more deeper (?): it seems like some religions like Buddhism, which accepts other practices, would be understood to accept other practices. So it’s not clear if a Buddhist who selected multiple options had different beliefs, or was just very being very comprehensive and communicative like a good EA.
Uh that specifically? Engaging in practices and being open to the existence of the divine but ultimately not being convinced. This is not actually a strange or uncommon position. (What if there are a lot of statisticians who are trying to make their work easier by asking questions that make the world seem simpler than it is.)
That just sounds like a totally bizarre way to answer the question as I understood it (and possibly as it was stated, I don’t remember the details). I wouldn’t expect a buddhist with no other affiliations to answer that way. I don’t believe the ambiguity is there.