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Are you smarter than the average American? Test your knowledge of the news..
Pew Research has a current quiz up that's open to everyone. It tests the readers knowledge on basic facts that usually have something to do with current events. What is troubling to me is how low the avg score was. The quiz asked 12 questions. The average score was a whopping 50% right!
Isn't that sad? Doesn't that bother you? It does bother me since the questions were so easy and generalized. Here are some of the results from the original quiz: The demographic differences in knowledge levels among respondents are familiar ones. Better educated people did better on every question than did those with less education. Overall, those with a college degree answered, on average, about eight (8.2) out of 12 questions correctly, while those with a high school education or less had an average of fewer than six (5.5) correct answers. Men did better than women on many questions, and, on average, correctly answered 1.3 more questions overall than women did. Older people did better than younger people on the test. People ages 50 and older answered, on average, seven and a half (7.5) questions correctly, while people under the age of 30 averaged fewer than six (5.5) correct responses. So, take the quiz if your so inclined and tell us if your smarter than the average American. I think most of the b.com folks will come through with flying colors. I got 11 of the 12 right. I blew it on the NYSE question. 53 comments from 20 users
posted by
robbwillis
on Sep 24, 2007 at 10:11 AM
12/12 Twinkie time...
posted by
dusty1215
on Sep 24, 2007 at 10:12 AM
Hey..didn't I kick your behind in Football this weekend? :P
posted by
mattloch
on Sep 24, 2007 at 10:25 AM
12/12. 94th percentile.
posted by
robbwillis
on Sep 24, 2007 at 10:26 AM
Still have my quarterback, Vince Young, and a running back, Chris Brown going against your kicker, Olindo Mare, tonight. But it doesn't look good for me again. You're at 82 and I'm at 46. Vince better have a good night or I'm bringing Farve off the bench. Frank Gore better get off his butt too. Picking him when I coulda picked Peyton has to be the bonehead move of the year...
posted by
TomW
on Sep 24, 2007 at 10:27 AM
Dusty, that "50" isn't percent, it's percentile. I got in the 94th percentile. If you look at the scores though, it looks like five questions were missed by more than half. No question was answered correctly by more than 88% of respondents.
posted by
dusty1215
on Sep 24, 2007 at 10:27 AM
Well, so far the Pew line that men are better than women is holding up here at b.com. Thank you gentlemen for playing along! But don't you think they were really easy questions for the average right to be so low?
posted by
dusty1215
on Sep 24, 2007 at 10:28 AM
Good Luck Robb..if your two players have a stellar night you could pull out a win m'dear :)
posted by
gsisola
on Sep 24, 2007 at 10:32 AM
11 of 12 - 85%
posted by
TomW
on Sep 24, 2007 at 10:35 AM
 http://people.bakersfield.c... />
posted by
sagefever
on Sep 24, 2007 at 10:45 AM
85%~ the dang D. J. question 11 out of 12 *edit* 1/4 unit from not making it out of high school.
posted by
robbwillis
on Sep 24, 2007 at 10:48 AM
The DOW average stumper: Apparently, some people don't have the business channel on from 6:30 AM to 1:00 PM everyday... posted by
dusty1215
on Sep 24, 2007 at 10:56 AM
lol...I know I don't Robb.
posted by
sagefever
on Sep 24, 2007 at 11:00 AM
There's a business channel?....
posted by
robbwillis
on Sep 24, 2007 at 11:09 AM
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id... You'd be surprise how much news is driven by business and vice versa. Well, maybe not... posted by
NancyII
on Sep 24, 2007 at 11:10 AM
Have you guys seen the email that's going around asking if you're smarter than a kindergartner? It's a cartoon like drawing of a bus..
posted by
TSM
on Sep 24, 2007 at 11:13 AM
12/12. No surprise considering how I'm a news junkie.
posted by
TomW
on Sep 24, 2007 at 11:20 AM
Nancy, haven't seen that one. Can you post it?
posted by
robbwillis
on Sep 24, 2007 at 11:29 AM
Here's another: http://games.toast.net:80/i... I went 26/30, but one or two misses were absolute blunders.
posted by
dusty1215
on Sep 24, 2007 at 11:34 AM
The Q&A part of Ahmadinejad's speech is beginning on MSNBC..
posted by
linfestyp
on Sep 24, 2007 at 11:43 AM
12/12. Im in the top 6 percent! (in smarts, not in income). Great seeing your blogs again, Dusty! :) Its actually a bit scary. Most of these questions are no-brainers (although i came close to blowing it on troop death numbers. Unfortunately, the higher number will surely be the answer in the near future).
posted by
dusty1215
on Sep 24, 2007 at 11:45 AM
Hey Paul! You going to LA on Oct 27th?
posted by
randomfactor
on Sep 24, 2007 at 12:34 PM
12 for 12, but then I *DO* get my news from Comedy Central, so it's no contest.
posted by
theColorNine
on Sep 24, 2007 at 12:44 PM
12/12. Add one for the ladies! But I was never very good at statistics, so why are those of us who got a perfect score only in the 94th percentile? Who's scoring higher than us???
posted by
allRED
on Sep 24, 2007 at 01:07 PM
I missed the one 11/12 and i'm high school only
posted by
NancyII
on Sep 24, 2007 at 01:08 PM
Tom..I took a chance and found it on someones blog. I got it in an email and wasn't sure how to get it on here. Look it over and give it an honest try before looking at the answer. This gal puts the answer too close to the question. posted by
anglo1
on Sep 24, 2007 at 01:13 PM
10 0f 12 I feel so ashamed. The Dow I hit the wrong button,[really] I had no idea who hosted the dems debate.
posted by
sfinboston52
on Sep 24, 2007 at 01:24 PM
11 of 12...missed the one on dow..was thinking Nasdac. I thought the questions were pretty easy overall posted by
NancyII
on Sep 24, 2007 at 01:25 PM
I missed the Dow and who sponsored the debate. I'm woefully uninformed on stocks, exchanges, etc and didn't watch or pay attention to the debate. Oooops.
posted by
bnfl
on Sep 24, 2007 at 01:26 PM
I got 11 of 12 correct (not such a moron , after all, eh? ;). That puts me in the 85th percentile. (I feel so smart. Ha.) And I only graduated from high school.
And I have to say, it doesn't trouble me as much as it does you that people don't know these things. For instance, I missed the question about the newspaper. Who cares? I'm thinkin' there's bigger fish to fry than who owns a newspaper now, but that's just me. And what difference does it make whether or not we know the ethnicity of a presidential hopeful? It was fun to take the quiz, though. :) Edit: I almost forgot... My name is BNFL and I am not smarter than a fifth grader... LOL! ;) posted by
sfinboston52
on Sep 24, 2007 at 01:37 PM
BNFL..who owns a newspaper is important...especially since the majority (90+%) of all news media is now owned by a few (less than 5) major corps, who can and do control the news.
posted by
steveeswenson
on Sep 24, 2007 at 01:40 PM
I'm libeling myself here, but I got only 10 right. I don't have enough money to pay attention to the Dow Jones and I missed the Hispanic Democrat too. He's not one of my favorites so I have not paid any attention to him.posted by
bnfl
on Sep 24, 2007 at 01:43 PM
Sf, I get your point. We could go over everyone's missed questions and analyze why each and every one is important... I was being playful in my comment. :) I'm sorry you took it seriously.
Edit: I'm looking at this as a fun quiz, not the be-all and end-all of what Americans really know.. I hope that helps you know where I'm coming from on this. I thought it was a light-hearted discussion from the other comments I read... apparently it wasn't.. posted by
AnonCon
on Sep 24, 2007 at 01:48 PM
And another one for the ladies: "Here's Your Score: You correctly answered 12 of the 12 possible questions along with approximately 6% of the public. You did better than 94% of the general public."
posted by
mattloch
on Sep 24, 2007 at 01:50 PM
Remember Steve, it isn't libelous if it's true......
posted by
steveeswenson
on Sep 24, 2007 at 01:53 PM
A principle that has guided me through 37 years of journalism, Mattloch. You are so right.
posted by
TomW
on Sep 24, 2007 at 02:00 PM
Nancy, thanks for the link. That's a good one. It makes sense if you think about how kids draw houses.
posted by
NancyII
on Sep 24, 2007 at 02:13 PM
Tom, the simplicity of a childs mind is wonderful. As we get older we clutter ours up with a lot of "stuff" to the point that we can't see the obvious. Here we are looking for all kinds of clues and deeper meanings.....but not the kids. I love it.
posted by
dusty1215
on Sep 24, 2007 at 07:59 PM
You crack me up Bill! Thanks I needed that today.
posted by
RoyTullis
on Sep 24, 2007 at 08:18 PM
11 out of 12. Not bad for a dumb Republican. I Missed the Dow question. I thought we were supposed to know all that "financial stuff" ;o)
posted by
NancyII
on Sep 24, 2007 at 08:21 PM
Apparently that Dow question tripped a lot of us up.
posted by
dusty1215
on Sep 24, 2007 at 08:22 PM
Robb got it! I missed it as well.
posted by
drilnliftcrude
on Sep 24, 2007 at 08:59 PM
12/12, and it really wasn't all that hard. Although I could easily have thought NASDAQ instead of Dow too. I need to go fishing more often or something. posted by
dusty1215
on Sep 24, 2007 at 09:04 PM
I thought they were all no-brainers for the most part Driln..I knew the b.com folks would score well.. :) I just watched a YouTube video where these guys asked a bunch of folks in Austin TX who the Vice Pres was..there were way too many people of all ages that didn't have a clue.
posted by
RoyTullis
on Sep 24, 2007 at 09:06 PM
If those of us on this blog did so well there must be a lot of truly DUMB folks out there that brought the average down so low ;o) spam text: IZZQU (almost Quiz.?) posted by
theColorNine
on Sep 24, 2007 at 09:07 PM
Still, can't anyone tell this statics-challenged individual why the 12 for 12ers are only in the 94th percentile? What scores are the upper 6% getting? (My statistics professor in college told me I'd never amount to anything.)
Edit: Couldn't even spell statistics right. What does that tell you?
posted by
theColorNine
on Sep 24, 2007 at 09:10 PM
Watch Jay Leno's "Jay Walking" segments sometime. You will wonder how some of those folks find their way home at night.
posted by
dusty1215
on Sep 24, 2007 at 09:12 PM
lol..I have seen it..damn sad.
posted by
TomW
on Sep 24, 2007 at 10:34 PM
ColorNine, it means it that 93% of testers missed at least one question, 84% missed at least two. If you miss none, you're in the top 94%. If you miss one, you're still in the top 85%.
posted by
theColorNine
on Sep 25, 2007 at 06:56 AM
Thanks, Tom. I understand it from the standpoint of a percentage of people missing at least one question, two questions, etc. But if someone got a perfect score, why don't we say they are in the 100th percentile? What accounts for that other 6%? Maybe an explanation differentiating percentages and percentiles is what I need.
SPAM code: JQKQZ Scrabble score: 43. Darn, 2 pts short of the record.
posted by
ronmexico
on Sep 25, 2007 at 07:17 AM
I was 12 for 12. I am sure a lot of liberals got at least one wrong... How many service men have died. By listening to the media, you would think we have lost around 100,000... 12 for 12 puts you in the top 94 percentile, which means 6 % got the quiz 100% right. Pretty well breaks down along the income lines doesn't it?? 5% in this country make a ton of money and pay almost all the taxes. 50% of this country pays no taxes at all.. BAKERSFIELD.COM HOT TOPICS: Loading Stories
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