[Guest post by Jack Dunphy]
Patterico readers are of course a well-informed group. But you may be surprised at how clueless your fellow citizens are. The Pew Research Center has a simple, 12-question online quiz to test your knowledge of current events. None of the questions is at all tricky. Take the quiz and report back with a comment. And no cheating!
–Jack Dunphy
Pronounced "Patter-EE-koh"
E-mail: Just use my moniker Patterico, followed by the @ symbol, followed by gmail.com
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The statements made on this web site reflect the personal opinions of the author. They are not made in any official capacity, and do not represent the opinions of the author's employer.
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Missed one Over all score (82)
I missed re Iraq deaths I chose 5300 rather 4300
Phaedrus (419f68) — 4/17/2009 @ 9:01 am94
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
BP (99e1f5) — 4/17/2009 @ 9:02 amYet another 94. Too easy.
Damion (885b93) — 4/17/2009 @ 9:04 am11/12. I missed BB! What is shocking is the breakdown of how well each question is answered by the general public!
Eric Blair (67731f) — 4/17/2009 @ 9:07 am12 of 12. These were easy questions. What is most worrisome is the low numbers who know anything about Afghanistan and Pakistan and who have no clue about where the stock-market or unemployment rate is.
bio mom (a1e126) — 4/17/2009 @ 9:08 amThanks!
This explains how Obama won the election.
It is also a wonderful testimonial to our Teachers Unions. Creating an uneducated,un-curious, marginally literate and economically ignorant generation of voters took some real work!
MAS1916 (de1316) — 4/17/2009 @ 9:09 amMissed 1, on the number of Iraq deaths.
PatHMV (13de4f) — 4/17/2009 @ 9:10 am12 out of 12.
Steverino (69d941) — 4/17/2009 @ 9:12 amMissed the Iraq deaths, went under the actual. That looked like one of the most missed. I also missed the increase in troops to Iraq. Almost hit Increase. So only 69 score. Interesting, since BO the “death count” is reported not a all it seems. Of course, the rate is way down, which is good.
LYNNDH (975d26) — 4/17/2009 @ 9:14 amMAS1916 wins this thread hands down.
tmac (f9e092) — 4/17/2009 @ 9:15 amOops. 11/12, as I Missed Ben Bernanke at the Fed. So I’m more aware of the news than 84% of Americans. Yippee. And I don’t even watch the news!
carlitos (56cf62) — 4/17/2009 @ 9:16 amMissed the last one (picked Paulson… doh!!) for a score of 82.
Stashiu3 (460dc1) — 4/17/2009 @ 9:16 am11/12, missed the “death count”
John Hitchcock (fb941d) — 4/17/2009 @ 9:18 am12 out of 12, no sweat. Too bad the national average is only 50%…I guess that explains why a socialist neophyte is now the President and a bunch of corrupt hacks are running Congress. We’ve got a lot of work to do!
2Cents (ee090a) — 4/17/2009 @ 9:18 amBut that report is just more proof that liberals and women shouldn’t vote. 😉
John Hitchcock (fb941d) — 4/17/2009 @ 9:19 am82% – I thought Ford took some of the original bailout money.
pggnd88 (fcbef1) — 4/17/2009 @ 9:20 am94% – missed the death count.
And John at #15 – You beat me to it!!
Tex Lovera (456ded) — 4/17/2009 @ 9:27 amIt is telling that the questions about responses at the end to do demographic breakdown do NOT include:
1. race (no surprise there! what would Eric Holder say?)
2. party affiliation
The thing I worry about is how many people STILL think the republicans control congress.
It’s almost as if democrats and their stooges in the news and entertainment media are trying to hide that fact.
John (0bfead) — 4/17/2009 @ 9:28 am12 for 12!
Count me among the oh-so-ignorant Conservative masses.
Also, I was kind of surprised how many people knew about the China debt. I thought that was still a “Let’s not admit it, and then it won’t be true,” kind of fact.
Will (7e03c3) — 4/17/2009 @ 9:32 am82% Death Count…dang! Also if my math is correct which it usually is, getting 11 correct out of 12 should be 91.67%. Are these the same guys telling Obi that he can cut taxes for 95% of the people and still spend trillions?
Chuck (7b5546) — 4/17/2009 @ 9:33 amThe 82% isn’t the percentage you got correct, it’s your percentile rank among those who took the test. In other words, you scored better than 82% of all test takers.
Steverino (69d941) — 4/17/2009 @ 9:37 am11/12. Thought Japan held the most US debt. They certainly did until recently eclipsed by China, I guess.
Chris (a24890) — 4/17/2009 @ 9:41 amJust like grade school 100.
HeavenSent (637168) — 4/17/2009 @ 9:41 am12/12, and cripes I would hope so.
Here’s a bonus question for extra credit:
Which one is in the middle of your arm?
1. Ass
2. Elbow
What’s striking is how poorly the 18-29 year olds score in particular, and how poorly every Democratic constituency in general scores. Maybe they should stop watching the Daily Show…
orthodoc (ab7cd7) — 4/17/2009 @ 9:49 am12/12
Like John, it made me queasy about having extended the franchise to women. I’d also like to see a breakdown by property ownership, since that too used to be a requirement to be an elector.
simon kenton (54abd1) — 4/17/2009 @ 9:52 amorthdoc, bite your tongue. Jon Stewart “keenly lampoons” Fox like no other 🙂
carlitos (56cf62) — 4/17/2009 @ 9:55 amHere’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. In reading the analysis, it was interesting to see which self identified political party did better..Republicans
HChambers (f21257) — 4/17/2009 @ 9:55 am12 out of 12–the averages for younger people are pathetic.
rochf (ae9c58) — 4/17/2009 @ 9:56 amMissed 1, on the number of Iraq deaths
Horatio (55069c) — 4/17/2009 @ 9:57 am94, I got all 12. Shouldn’t that make me an effete snobbish RINO conservative, like George Will, as opposed to the Neanderthal gun-clinging bitter redneck conservative that lefties insist I should be?
509th Bob (cb5f32) — 4/17/2009 @ 9:58 am12 out of 12. National scores are scary.
Barsinister (a96662) — 4/17/2009 @ 9:59 am12 of 12. Not that great as I had to mentally flip a coin between Paulson and Bernake on the Fed question. (And could probably get it wrong if you asked me right now.) Almost got the national debt question wrong as I expected it would be the trick sucker question in the group.
Have Blue (854a6e) — 4/17/2009 @ 9:59 amOne of my co-workers watches HLN news in dispatch and I usually come in to relieve him just as Nancy Grace ends and she always has the current casulty count up in large gold letters as she signs off.
12/12, because I keep track of those grim milestones that we’re never going to read about… now.
Karl (a772b4) — 4/17/2009 @ 10:00 amI got 12 out of 12. The results are depressing, but not surprising.
Tony Ciarriocco (b83d0e) — 4/17/2009 @ 10:07 amI got 82%. I tried to answer correctly on “Lending More Money,” but I guess I hit Next before clicking on the choice.
All others are correct.
Brad S (9f6740) — 4/17/2009 @ 10:09 amYou correctly answered 11 out of the 12 possible questions, which means you did better on the quiz than 82% of the general public.
Missed the question on unemployment.
Sarge (066e78) — 4/17/2009 @ 10:18 am82
Amphipolis (fdbc48) — 4/17/2009 @ 10:18 am12 out of 12, but only because I refuse to limit my information sources to the MSM.
in_awe (bc82df) — 4/17/2009 @ 10:18 am12 of 12 I’m in the 6%. Is that really a good thing? Jokes aside please “Troll” taggers.
Are we any better off because we’re in the 94 percentile 84 or whatever?
I know this much, I envy the people who are in that 94%, who are happy, successful (there has to be some right), good people without a political care in the world.
As long as they don’t whine, like tea party goers or Iraq war protesters.
I guess that’s it isn’t it? The higher our score the more we get to whine, and we will 😉
I don’t know.
Oiram (983921) — 4/17/2009 @ 10:27 am12 of 12, and I would have had to slink off into the blackness if the result had been other.
AD (8d39bd) — 4/17/2009 @ 10:29 am11 of 12, missed on the number of service member deaths in Iraq. What’s the breakdown of combat deaths v. other causes? How to explain my ignorance on that.
Mark (5b3e50) — 4/17/2009 @ 10:30 amI missed the last question.
ML (14488c) — 4/17/2009 @ 10:31 amI suppose I can predict the moonbat answer: I’ve been brainwashed by Faux News. Now that that’s out of the way . . .
Mark (5b3e50) — 4/17/2009 @ 10:31 amMissed the Iraq death toll.
jodetoad (b147dc) — 4/17/2009 @ 10:34 am12 for 12.
Couldn’t help but notice that members of those demographics that were all in for Obama scored the lowest.
My concern that the Dems exploit low-knowledge voters has been validated.
belloscm (cf0c5e) — 4/17/2009 @ 10:35 amHere’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.
Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R., (799ef2) — 4/17/2009 @ 10:37 amAny chance that the “Clingers” out-scored the Obama-bots?
belloscm (cf0c5e) — 4/17/2009 @ 10:38 amGot 12 out of 12 and I have not watched a tv news broadcast in 5 years. The level of “difficulty” for these questions I feel is around 8th grade social studies level. That the sampled Americans did so poorly is a reflection on the abysmal state of our schools, and our culture that places more importance on who got kicked off American Idol than on a government that is destroying the next 3 generations future with crushing debt levels.
50 years of liberal control of education has resulted in the desired result, a nation of deaf, blind, and dumb proles.
Thegreatsatan (84afaf) — 4/17/2009 @ 10:40 amI’m ashamed.
h2u (81b7bd) — 4/17/2009 @ 10:43 amHere’s a bonus question for extra credit:
Which one is in the middle of your arm?
1. Ass
2. Arm
Of course, it’s Ass, you big dummy. Now where’s my free house?
Acorn Member (cf0c5e) — 4/17/2009 @ 10:44 amAnd, for the record, I missed the unemployment percentage question and the troop deaths question.
h2u (81b7bd) — 4/17/2009 @ 10:44 amMissed the on the death count because I had lost track.
R.E.D. (340972) — 4/17/2009 @ 10:50 amI am appalled by the number of women who apparently have no concern for the kind of world their children and grand children are about to inherit.
That said, most of the numbers are a little scary.
For people who missed a question, specifically the employment and Iraq casulty questions, did you go over or under? On this type of multiple choice where the correct answer is in the middle it is sometimes more interesting to know whether the common perception has the number too high or too low.
Have Blue (854a6e) — 4/17/2009 @ 10:50 am“missed on the number of service member deaths in Iraq.”
Don’t feel bad, so did everyone else.
“Since the start of military action in Iraq, about how many U.S. military personnel have been killed?”
Military action in Iraq began in 1991 when the United States intervened afer Iraq invaded Kuwait, and the total number of our people who have died or been killed in theater (or died out of theater, from illness or injury suffered in theater) is a lot higher than 4300.
What the question should have been is “How many U.S. military personnel have died in the Iraq theater since the United States invaded Iraq in 2003?”
Then the answer would have been about 4300.
Dave Surls (25de50) — 4/17/2009 @ 10:50 am12/12. I like the idea of this kind of quiz a lot, but the implementation is often really bad (http://www.dontvote.org/ — test test is comprised entirely of attaching names and job titles to pictures; who cares if you can do that?) This one’s better than most, but I still think it could have addressed what is really important (the opposite being current events trivia) a little better:
Ben (7d5ee1) — 4/17/2009 @ 10:53 amUnemployment: instead of absolute 8% number, how much higher is unemployment than in reference time period X?
DJIA: instead of absolute 8000 number, how much higher or lower is the DJIA than reference period X? (perhaps “when Obama was elected” or “a year ago”)
“Six-in-ten Americans approve of the job President Obama is doing.”
Since a whole lot of people don’t even know the most basic facts about what’s going on, then how important is that?
“Beyond the economy, the survey also addressed public awareness of some basic facts about U.S policy toward Afghanistan. Two-thirds (66%) are aware that Barack Obama has decided to increase the number of U.S. troops stationed in Afghanistan (21% believe he decided to decrease troop levels and 7% said he decided to make no changes). Roughly the same proportion (69%) responded correctly that Pakistan and Afghanistan share a border; 15% say the two countries do not share a border and 16% offered no response.”
If one third of the people don’t even know what Obama’s position is on how to handle the campaign in Afghanistan, then how can they evaluate his job performance?
Dave Surls (25de50) — 4/17/2009 @ 10:57 amI got 12 of 12, the upper 6%ile. Does that mean Obama will tax me even more?
PCD (02f8c1) — 4/17/2009 @ 10:59 amI got 12/12, but would have missed one if I had written in “Satan” under Hillary’s job description like I wanted.
Building on 10:40’s comment, it actually would have been interesting to have one question about American Idol for comparative purposes. I would bet a significant increase in correct answers on that one.
Apogee (e2dc9b) — 4/17/2009 @ 10:59 am94.
this is interesting – college graduates only scored 56%. no wonder boy wonder was elected.
i also think it would be interesting to see the democrat/republican split. zeigler, that awful criminal, hit the nail on the head. i will go so far as to say democrats are less informed/intelligent than their republican counterparts.
wonder how boy genius would do on a test like this with no teleprompter to help him out?
ktr (5eba07) — 4/17/2009 @ 11:05 amNot neccessarily (#59). I would suspect that quite a few of those who scored 12/12, do not watch A-I, and would have no idea.
AD (8d39bd) — 4/17/2009 @ 11:09 am“Republicans More Knowledgeable”–Pew
Duh!
Dave Surls (25de50) — 4/17/2009 @ 11:11 amI scored 12 of 12. It was just too easy for me. Okay, so it proves I spend too much time reading news on the internet. 🙂
SomeOtherSteve (79f2fe) — 4/17/2009 @ 11:20 amI missed one, but I’m up here in Canada. Those results are depressing.
RW (0bc9c4) — 4/17/2009 @ 11:21 am11/12 82% Put all automakers got loans. My first instinct was correct but wasn’t sure so answered all of them.
Mike Miller (4d185f) — 4/17/2009 @ 11:21 am“Across the 12 knowledge items tested, the biggest gap between Democrats and Republicans comes over awareness of the current level of the Dow. Republicans also are more likely to correctly name Ben Bernanke as chairman of the Federal Reserve Board and know that Tim Geithner’s position is treasury secretary. In addition, a greater percentage of Republicans than Democrats know that Obama decided to increase the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan and that Ford is the U.S. automaker that has not taken emergency government loans.”
“But there is little or no partisan gap in knowledge on some other key items: Democrats and Republicans are about equally likely to know that China holds the most U.S. debt, that Hillary Clinton is secretary of state and that roughly 4,300 U.S. troops have been killed in Iraq.”
“The differences in knowledge levels between Republicans and Democrats are mostly a reflection of the different demographics of the two groups. Republicans tend to be older, more educated, higher income and are more likely to be male; each of these characteristics is strongly associated with political and economic knowledge. When these characteristics are held constant — that is, when Republicans and Democrats with similar demographic characteristics are compared — there is little difference between the two groups.”–Pew
Big shocker. People who vote for the Republicans are better educated on the issues than people who vote for the Democrats.
Somebody alert the press. I am SO surprised to hear that.
As if we didn’t already know that people like Barack Obama get elected to office because a bunch of ignorant fools are allowed to vote.
Dave Surls (25de50) — 4/17/2009 @ 11:23 amI credit the fact that I canceled the Globe 3 years ago.
Dave (in MA) (037445) — 4/17/2009 @ 11:25 am11/12 for 82%. I underestimated the number of American troops killed in Iraq.
Bruce Kelly (0d6401) — 4/17/2009 @ 11:25 am12/12 – but I thought long and hard about where the Dow is at the moment and guessed right. I was really hoping I was wrong and it was closer to 11,000.
rfy (0f1c61) — 4/17/2009 @ 11:26 am12 for 12. You don’t have to be a brainiac, just pay attention. The problem is that not enough poeple are/were paying attention.
PatriotRider (7b495e) — 4/17/2009 @ 11:27 amBy the way, did anybody notice this link?
SomeOtherSteve (79f2fe) — 4/17/2009 @ 11:28 amhttp://pewresearch.org/pubs/1179/economic-news-iq-quiz
It gave a breakdown by party ideology.
Just had an email from an friend, that really comes from “left field”, but is really relevant to the discussion here. It’s kind of long, and I can’t link to it, so I apologize if it seems excessive, but some of you might enjoy it. I know it’s generally beyond me (been away from a lot of this stuff way too long).
This is the eighth-grade final exam from 1895 in Salina , Kansas , USA . It was taken from the original document on file at the Smokey Valley Genealogical Society and Library in Salina , and reprinted by the Salina Journal.
8th Grade Final Exam: Salina , KS – 1895
Grammar (Time, one hour)
1. Give nine rules for the use of capital letters.
2. Name the parts of speech and define those that have no modifications.
3. Define verse, stanza and paragraph
4. What are the principal parts of a verb? Give principal parts of ‘lie,”play,’ and ‘run.’
5. Define case; illustrate each case.
6 What is punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of punctuation.
7 – 10. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar.
Arithmetic (Time,1 hour 15 minutes)
1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.
2. A wagon box is 2 ft. Deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. Wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?
3. If a load of wheat weighs 3,942 lbs., what is it worth at 50cts/bushel, deducting 1,050 lbs. For tare?
4. District No 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?
5. Find the cost of 6,720 lbs. Coal at $6.00 per ton.
6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.
7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft.. Long at $20 per metre?
8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.
9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance of which is 640 rods?
10. Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt
U.S. History (Time, 45 minutes)
1. Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided
2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus
3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.
4. Show the territorial growth of the United States
5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas
6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.
7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton , Bell , Lincoln , Penn, and Howe?
8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, 1865.
Orthography (Time, one hour)
1. What is meant by the following: alphabet, phonetic, orthography, etymology, syllabication
2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?
3. What are the following, and give examples of each: trigraph, subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals
4. Give four substitutes for caret ‘u.’ (HUH?)
5. Give two rules for spelling words with final ‘e.’ Name two exceptions under each rule.
6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.
7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: bi, dis-mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, sup.
8. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound: card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare, last.
9. Use the following correctly in sentences: cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane , vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.
10. Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks and by syllabication.
Geography (Time, one hour)
1 What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?
2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas ?
3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?
4. Describe the mountains of North America
5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia , Odessa , Denver , Manitoba , Hecla , Yukon , St. Helena, Juan Fernandez, Aspin wall and Orinoco
6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S Name all the republics of Europe and give the capital of each.
8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?
9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.
10. Describe the movements of the earth. Give the inclination of the earth.
And, like my correspondent, I don’t have the answers either.
AD (8d39bd) — 4/17/2009 @ 11:30 am11 out of 12 as well.
Whew. And I didn’t even read outlines and write crib sheets for the exam like I did in Law School.
Jim (743658) — 4/17/2009 @ 11:31 am11/12 – overguessed on the amount of military deaths [hangs head]. I almost clicked Sen NY for Hillary and had to slow down and read all the possibles.
Reading two papers a day (now plus websites) is a good way to stay informed.
harkin (f9df5a) — 4/17/2009 @ 11:31 amThe reason I asked the above question is that talking to two other people who also took this quiz and both got 11/12 and both had overestimated Iraq war casulties.
Have Blue (854a6e) — 4/17/2009 @ 11:32 am12 for 12, and in under a minute.
Yep, another underedjumicated bitter clinger redneck.
Tully (c2f070) — 4/17/2009 @ 11:35 am94 – 12 out of 12 –
Pretty good? Huh? And I am a blond – go figure…
Jane (1a6db7) — 4/17/2009 @ 11:37 amHere’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.
… and THIS is supposed to test your knowledge of current events? Sheeeeesh!
Allen (282825) — 4/17/2009 @ 11:43 am12 of 12.
Robert ashton (093c85) — 4/17/2009 @ 11:47 amI got 12/12 on the test questions, but I flubbed the one about my age 🙁
gp (72be5d) — 4/17/2009 @ 11:50 am12/12
I’m interested in your (in depth) consideration of the policy being discussed at the DoD.
Have you thought deeply about it or do you just have an opinion (not interested in opinions)?
PashaG (c71bb1) — 4/17/2009 @ 11:51 amI got them all right!!94th percentile. Too bad I didn’t go to an Ivy League School. I remember when I took the Graduate Record Examination many moons ago, I was surprised at my high percentile ranking in spite of the fact that I had mediocre grades at a school that wasn’t considered top flight. Seems like the crowd at Patterico are a little above the Air America crowd.
Charles Harkins (971090) — 4/17/2009 @ 11:54 amI shot an 81 today ;-). 73 degress and spring is finally here !!!!!
JD (40dc71) — 4/17/2009 @ 12:06 pmThat is scary. How can a dumb ass high school graduate like me score 94th and the rest of the country average 50%. I did guessed at one so my score is closer to 82 or 83 but still? No wonder we have Obama as president.
Jack (e29f15) — 4/17/2009 @ 12:06 pm12 of 12 94%
Wickedpinto (2c3ce5) — 4/17/2009 @ 12:07 pmI thought unemployment was closer to 11% for some reason. And I had Iraq troop deaths at around 2,300.
h2u (81b7bd) — 4/17/2009 @ 12:08 pmHey, Surls-ly, whereas the number of Iraqis who died between 1991 and 2003 would change the correct answer to the question, the 100 Americans who died in 1991 would not affect the answer.
You get an 0 for 1 for that question. Get back to you militia meeting and figure out how to secede again.
timb (5df15b) — 4/17/2009 @ 12:09 pm12 of 12 — hard to believe I’m one of the elite 6% 😉 not bad for an ol boy from Ky
Seriously… laughably easy
voiceofreason2 (10af7e) — 4/17/2009 @ 12:09 pm12/12 94%
Perfect Sense (0922fa) — 4/17/2009 @ 12:12 pmI only hesitated on the Ford (lack of) bailout question.
Here’s a bonus question for extra credit:
Which one is in the middle of your arm?
1. Ass
2. Elbow
Comment by orthodoc
That’s funny. I don’t watch the news anymore, I get all my info from blogs, Jerry Doyle and the occasional newspaper article. And those only because they entertain me.
Wickedpinto (2c3ce5) — 4/17/2009 @ 12:15 pm[…] Posted by John Hichcock on 2009/04/17 H/T AD […]
We Is More Smarter Today « Truth Before Dishonor (ea1fd5) — 4/17/2009 @ 12:18 pm12/12
Clavius (4a0f51) — 4/17/2009 @ 12:22 pm12 for 12. too easy
Most people’s knowledge does not extend past “as seen on TV”. And we all know how accurate that can be. Just try living without atmospheric CO2.
tarpon (26027c) — 4/17/2009 @ 12:22 pm12 out of 12 and I did it between my 2nd and 3rd shots on #18.
JD (40dc71) — 4/17/2009 @ 12:22 pm10 out of 12, I missed the last two. Not bad for someone who just barely made it out of high school. I must be reading to much from Patterico.
Bill (95b999) — 4/17/2009 @ 12:25 pm11 out of 12 for 82%. I lowballed the troop casualty number. 🙁
jmh (cb0e0a) — 4/17/2009 @ 12:29 pm12/12
Michael (c6b016) — 4/17/2009 @ 12:32 pm12 out of 12. Now, where’s my free gas?
BJT-FREE! (56337a) — 4/17/2009 @ 12:35 pm12/12
Sean (eadb15) — 4/17/2009 @ 12:40 pmGood thing I didn’t allow school to get in the way of my education.
12 of 12, almost missed the ‘casualty count’.
Wayne (230dca) — 4/17/2009 @ 12:50 pmThe quiz was heavy on people, light on policies.
11 of 12. I keep forgetting that Ford didn’t get “Emergency” money…
Scott Jacobs (90ff96) — 4/17/2009 @ 12:50 pmIf you all would get out of your reichwing echo chamber now and then maybe you could score like a liberal.
JD (40dc71) — 4/17/2009 @ 12:53 pm“Scoring” like a liberal is the main reason we don’t live at Patterico 😉
Oiram (983921) — 4/17/2009 @ 12:56 pm12/12 Old guys rule. The unemployment report today came in at 10% so if I had guessed 12% (I didn’t because I didn’t think Pew had time to alter the quiz) I would still call it correct.
Hazy (4e0dda) — 4/17/2009 @ 12:56 pmOld guys that read Patterico that is, I never watch msm news. Read a lot of Pat and Ace tho.
Hazy (4e0dda) — 4/17/2009 @ 12:58 pm12/12, because I read Patterico.com.
Anon (10cc96) — 4/17/2009 @ 1:06 pmBecause your hand keeps cramping up?
🙂
Scott Jacobs (90ff96) — 4/17/2009 @ 1:10 pm12/12
O’Doyle rules!
Another Chris (2d8013) — 4/17/2009 @ 1:10 pm12/12 also. I am despairing of my country.
Jess (0a7359) — 4/17/2009 @ 1:12 pm12/12, 94th percentile. Interesting that the ‘youths’ who stampeded for Obama were the lowest-scoring about current events. Choice of the ignoranti! Be proud, Obama.
Insufficiently Sensitive (aa4142) — 4/17/2009 @ 1:15 pm11/12. I missed the one about debt. I thought it was Japan but we were more worried about China, them being Commies and all. But it is China, so now I’m really worried, LOL!
Patricia (2183bb) — 4/17/2009 @ 1:15 pm12 for 12. Member of the 6% club.
Dan (b77f4b) — 4/17/2009 @ 1:17 pm#107 Something like that Scott 🙂
Oiram (983921) — 4/17/2009 @ 1:17 pmSame score as Phaedrus #1. I missed the same question too, I thought 4300 was an old number so I answered 5300.
EdWood (c2268a) — 4/17/2009 @ 1:20 pm12/12 here as well.
Buzz Killington (747191) — 4/17/2009 @ 1:28 pm11 of 12, over on the casualty number – however, I think that number is quite open to different interpretations, as well as the unemployment figures, since that number is usually a trailing figure compared to the present – day status of unemployed workers. Oh well.
Dmac (1ddf7e) — 4/17/2009 @ 1:29 pmSpeaking of Jerry Doyle has any one heard about him running for Senate?
Garibaldi for Senate!
Have Blue (854a6e) — 4/17/2009 @ 1:29 pmBuzz Killingon? Giggety!
Dmac (1ddf7e) — 4/17/2009 @ 1:30 pm94th %ile …
I have sent it to a friend who enjoys the Daily Report as his main news source, it seems … – that, and ThinkProgress … I’m curious to learn how he does …
And I’ll probably have my kids take it – the two still at home, anyway …
Patricia – the more China holds of our notes, the less likely they are to damage the collateral …
Scott @ 1:10 pm – probably just 2 of mOira’s fingers, I’d suspect – not the entire hand …
Alasdair (e7cb73) — 4/17/2009 @ 1:30 pm#119 I’m curious Alasdair, how certain are you that your friend’s only news source is “The Daily Report” (Assuming you meant “The Daily Show w/Stewart”)?
Regardless, as wrong as it is, I would rather a person got his news exclusively from “The Daily Show” (your friend supposedly) as opposed to getting news exclusively from Fox News (Cheney circa 2004).
I like your take on China’s notes.
As far as cramped fingers, I’ve got one for both you and Dmac.
All in good fun (just kidding guys)
Oiram (983921) — 4/17/2009 @ 1:38 pmSo now Mario claims that the “news” on the Daily Show is a better source than Fox. But we are stupid redneck ignerts.
JD (40dc71) — 4/17/2009 @ 1:44 pmI was 12 for 12. Probably beat everyone on DailyKos
Dave (405885) — 4/17/2009 @ 1:52 pmWith your screwed up limbic systems, it is a wonder you mouth breathin’ knuckle draggin’ racist hilljack rednecks could even read the questions.
JD (40dc71) — 4/17/2009 @ 1:57 pm11 out of 12. I actually thought Obama hadn’t made any decision about troops in Afghanistan. I almost said “increase”, but almost doesn’t count.
PatAZ (9d1bb3) — 4/17/2009 @ 1:57 pm“Hey, Surls-ly, whereas the number of Iraqis who died between 1991 and 2003 would change the correct answer to the question, the 100 Americans who died in 1991 would not affect the answer.”
If only 100 Americans had died in the Iraq theater between 1991 and 2003, then you would be right, but actually a lot more than that have died or been killed…they just don’t get counted.
For example, these soldiers who were killed in an accident in Kuwait in 2001 don’t count as casualties of the operations against Iraq, even though they are, and if they had been killed after the 2003 invasion they would have been counted as deaths in the Iraqi campaign…
“CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A soldier from Wisconsin who was killed during a bombing range accident in Kuwait was a father of two and had been seriously injured in an Army helicopter crash in Kentucky.”
“Spc. Jason D. Wildfong, 29, of Union Grove, Wis., who had spent several months in West Virginia and listed that as his home state, was among six people who died during the misplaced air strike Monday.”
Everyone who has died in theater since the 2003 invasion has been counted, no matter what the manner of their death (enemy action, accidental death, death by disease, etc.). No one who died between 2001 and 2003 is being counted.
A lot more than 4300 Americans have died as a result of our military operations against the Iraqis since 1991.
“Since the start of military action in Iraq, about how many U.S. military personnel have been killed?”
A lot more than 4300.
“Since the U.S./allied invasion of Iraq in 2003, how many American military personnel have been killed or died in the Iraq theater or as a result of illness, accident or military action which took place in the Iraq theater?”
About 4300.
Dave Surls (25de50) — 4/17/2009 @ 2:15 pmhttp://www.enquirer.com/editions/2001/03/15/loc_serviceman_killed_in.html
Here’s the source of the story I quoted. Troopers killed in Kuwait in 2001.
Dave Surls (25de50) — 4/17/2009 @ 2:17 pmI got 12 of 12 and felt it was easy for anyone who watches/reads news on a regular basis.
DTM
Doris Morrissey (4922e2) — 4/17/2009 @ 2:32 pm12 out of 12, me.
jack (d9cbc5) — 4/17/2009 @ 2:48 pm12 out of 12 right. It’s depressing to think that voters would mess many of these questions.
Arthur (9b6e6c) — 4/17/2009 @ 2:49 pm12 of 12. What do I win?
Ag80 (b19e67) — 4/17/2009 @ 2:55 pm11/12. Missed the Dow Jones Average.
mike d (b28b9d) — 4/17/2009 @ 2:56 pmWhy is everyone so surprised by the abysmal results among our populace? Every time there are surveys done measuring the public’s knowledge of the branches of gov’t, their current Senators, heck, any current events – it’s always an epic fail. We’ve become a nation of dunces, that’s why we’re having to relive history once again with our current POTUS.
Dmac (1ddf7e) — 4/17/2009 @ 3:14 pmTruth is, Dmac, both the RNC and DNC likes it that way.
That, above all, is why I like the “Tea Parties.” It’s a hopeful sign.
Eric Blair (c8876d) — 4/17/2009 @ 3:22 pmAnother 11/12. Missed the KIA figure. Should not have missed that one. I will do penance!
Longwalker (4e0dda) — 4/17/2009 @ 4:11 pm11/12, also lowballed troop casualty
cboldt (3d73dd) — 4/17/2009 @ 4:14 pm.
Not surprised at all at the public average.
Missed the number of U.S. combat deaths…yet told the truth about my age (so maybe it evens out to a perfect score!). If they had asked my weight, I’d have lied through my teeth.
Dana (d08a3a) — 4/17/2009 @ 4:19 pm12 of 12
slp (058f69) — 4/17/2009 @ 4:19 pm12/12…sad what people don’t know.
OlyCon (d0e439) — 4/17/2009 @ 4:24 pmI told the truth about my age, too. I’m 2B years old.
John Hitchcock (fb941d) — 4/17/2009 @ 4:28 pm100 percent for me, but I take no pride in it. The questions were so easy I worry about a nation whose college graduates can’t average better than 56 percent
James Fulton (9d1bb3) — 4/17/2009 @ 4:32 pm82…was too high on the unemployment rate…must have been paying too much attention to the MSM.
Les Zavadil (f953a2) — 4/17/2009 @ 4:36 pmI also get 12/12 but wonder what the Harvard seniors’ result would have been. Probably not too much lower than the general public. They were easy questions.
Mike K (8df289) — 4/17/2009 @ 4:46 pmMissed one for 82 percentile; number of Iraqi war dead was around 4300 not 3300.
Makes one wonder what the colleges and High School are teaching and what news sources are being used to keep abreast of current events.
David Hampton (9d1bb3) — 4/17/2009 @ 4:52 pmYup, me too. Missed the same question with the same answer.
Ol' Dave (d933db) — 4/17/2009 @ 4:59 pmGot them all correct.
Bill M (ede1e3) — 4/17/2009 @ 5:34 pm“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.”
meh
Lord Nazh (899dce) — 4/17/2009 @ 5:48 pmAnswered 12 of 12.
Not a good sign that 7.4 these questions (relatively easy) were answered right on average.
This is a good example of how liberals get away with all their cut-and-paste propaganda and rewriting of history.
Baxter Greene (8035ae) — 4/17/2009 @ 5:54 pmThe vast majority of this country is just not paying attention.
11 out of 12 – 82%. I screwed up the automaker bailout question.
DaveinPhoeneix (9b506a) — 4/17/2009 @ 6:10 pmTwelve out of twelve.
I wish they had asked political affiliation with the online test.
Mike G in Corvallis (70f47e) — 4/17/2009 @ 6:25 pmJohn Hitchcok @ 4:28 pm – by that reckoning, I’m a mere 37 years old, myself … (sadly, not many understand fluent geek) …
Oiram @ 1:38 pm – he has the same ability as you – to read the word “main” and, in his own head, read it as “only” and then respond indignantly/defensively … try reading what I actually wrote, not what you want me to have written …
Oh – and I consider myself to be in good company when associated with Dmac … ((grin) Dmac may have other opinions, however) …
Alasdair (e7cb73) — 4/17/2009 @ 6:34 pm11 for 12 missed the Death Count
Dan Kauffman (3c9c17) — 4/17/2009 @ 6:40 pm11 of 12 – I don’t share the Left’s ghoulish obsession with the Iraq casualty totals.
radar (1cf809) — 4/17/2009 @ 6:41 pm12 for 12.
Edward Cropper (6a7a91) — 4/17/2009 @ 6:52 pmI still marvel at the total ignorance of the average voter. Many people I know who follow the news are lacking in general truth about current events because they only listen and read what the MSM slings against the wall.
Hitler said it best. If you say something often enough most people will believe it.
This from the guy who said there will not be peace in Europe till their is a body hanging from every lamppost
I missed the unemployment number because I had just finished reading about the 20 hardest hit cities and the unemployment rates were closer to 12 than 8.
David M (8180db) — 4/17/2009 @ 6:56 pmMy bad! We’ll get there before this is all over, so maybe I’m just a prophet?
12 Correct! The breakdowns are pathetic. A sad state of affairs in our education system and national media.
Garrett (be2add) — 4/17/2009 @ 7:17 pm12 for 12 mofos. I went to a public high school. Beliee dat
bigcity (b0fe29) — 4/17/2009 @ 7:17 pm11/12
Pretty good for a female, some college Canadian. I missed the casualties question too.
gigi (75b2d5) — 4/17/2009 @ 7:20 pm11 for 12. Missed the Dow Jones question, which is the one missed by the most people (not that that’s an excuse).
The thing is, if I, who generally only skim the news periodically (it serves my purposes simply to know if the stock market is down or up; specific numbers mean little to me), can score 82%, what does that say about the rest of the citizens of this once-great country?
danebramage (700c93) — 4/17/2009 @ 7:24 pmDmac may have other opinions, however) …
Hey, the more the merrier on this blog.
Dmac (1ddf7e) — 4/17/2009 @ 7:30 pmI scored zero. Thanks, anyway, but, you know, what I know, and what I want to know, and what you want me to know, and what you think I should know, you know ….
nk (56f8d1) — 4/17/2009 @ 7:36 pmJust another 94.
Sure I’m soon to be on the list of RW extremists…
the bhead (a31060) — 4/17/2009 @ 8:20 pm12 for 12.
On the numerics, “getting it wrong” is actually less than half the interesting information. Have Blue (54) asks a pertinent question that should be generalized: how many were over, and how many were under — and what were the respective demographics? Who thought the casualties of “Bush’s” war & recession were higher — and who thought they were lower? And how did these responses compare to those on the non-quantitative questions?
Oh, geez, what was I thinking? It’s Pew, who never seem to find anything of interest in the ur-data…
porkopolitan (d0f530) — 4/17/2009 @ 8:36 pm12 of 12 – 6% of the population
JAFAC (25cd25) — 4/17/2009 @ 9:23 pm12 out of 12, but to be honest I guessed lucky on the Iraq casualty question.
Thanks for listing that.
Cyrus Sanai (ada6da) — 4/17/2009 @ 9:40 pmI missed the Dow Jones question. Though I know it’s a lame excuse, I’ve just never been able to get myself interested in news about money.
Nels (3e56d7) — 4/17/2009 @ 9:41 pm11 of 12….did ok, I guess
reff (a473c9) — 4/17/2009 @ 10:01 pmI got 12 of 12, but may have an unfair advantage working in news.
Darleene (ccba80) — 4/17/2009 @ 10:22 pmI got all 12 but I have to admit that I wasn’t too sure of a couple of answers. I would really like to see a breakdown by voter registration and most recent Presidential vote.
Ken Hahn (ff1280) — 4/18/2009 @ 1:10 am12 for 12 with only one semi “guess” — Iraq war deaths.
But what is really scary is to look at the percentage of correct answers by the listed demographic groups.
Not to throw stones at anyone here, but females under 29 are completely clueless. Go take the test again and look at some of the incredibly low percentages for females and for the Under 29 category.
I weep for my country.
WLS Shipwrecked (53653f) — 4/18/2009 @ 1:24 am11 o/o 12
firefirefire (5c7d07) — 4/18/2009 @ 3:42 am11/12 forgot the dow level which was stupid
FrancisT (00503e) — 4/18/2009 @ 4:10 amI correctly answered 12 of the 12 possible questions along with approximately 6% of the public. I did better than 94% of the general public.
It’s scary to think that many of our fellow citizens could be so clueless.
william (d2333c) — 4/18/2009 @ 5:29 amDarleene – many would consider working in the media to be an obstacle that you managed to overcome 😉
JD (aaf9e7) — 4/18/2009 @ 6:03 am94th percentile.
The only one I had to “guess” at was the largest holder of US Government debt. Up until relatively recently, Great Britain was the largest holder of private debt in the US (ie, the largest financial investor in the US), I do not know if that is still true or not.
Oh, and I watch TV…the Food Channel, and on occasion some episodes of NCIS or whatever is on Sci-Fi…
EW1(SG) (e27928) — 4/18/2009 @ 6:45 amGot 11 of 12. Answered 3,300 for deaths in Iraq since the question asked “how many have been killed”. Combat deaths are 3,400+.
PSJ (cae8ad) — 4/18/2009 @ 6:59 amaced it- big whoop…most americans seem to be like the drone man-on-the-street cretins interviewed by Jay Leno. And wimmen get about one third of the facts right? No wonder we have an affirmative action puppet as potus. Many magazines are praising O to high heaven. Oh boy, he’s a jock! Actually a scrawny assclown who can read a teleprompter and smoke ciggies while apologizing for past American “sins”. Yeah, no chance of impeachment but don’t blacks have high risk factors for some diseases? God forbid if he had a massive myocardial infarction while being teabagged by Chrissie Matthews. The conspiracy nuts would go bonkers. Or Chrissie had one and chomped down on teh one’s manhood? Sort of like the accident in World According to Garp.
aoibhneas (0c6cfc) — 4/18/2009 @ 7:08 am12/12 for another old fart Patterico reader.
gajim (bfdbf3) — 4/18/2009 @ 7:37 am100%. And I have not read the NYT since 2000.
Barbara McMahon (76144f) — 4/18/2009 @ 8:08 amDad? I thought you said you were Army, not Navy. Wassup wit dat? 😉
Stashiu3 (460dc1) — 4/18/2009 @ 8:15 amNCIS? I prefer JAG, but not necessarily the weaker first year. My favorite line in the show: Lock it up, Marine.
John Hitchcock (fb941d) — 4/18/2009 @ 8:31 amThe poll results are probably skewed optimistically. Consider that those who actually follow current national/political/economic events are more likely to take the time and answer the questions, instead of moving on to something less “challenging” online. If there were some type of reward or incentive for taking the quiz in order to entice an even more representative sample, then I imagine the averages would plummet.
Dagwood (ecd2ff) — 4/18/2009 @ 8:42 amDagwood,
That is a depressingly good point that I hadn’t considered. It explains a lot though.
Stashiu3 (460dc1) — 4/18/2009 @ 8:55 amThe way the pdf file reads, it was a phone survey and not an online survey. The online “survey” is just for you to see how you measure up against the scientific phone survey.
John Hitchcock (fb941d) — 4/18/2009 @ 9:05 am12 of 12. I’m depressed about so many people getting half of these easy questions wrong.
trentk269 (ec7ce3) — 4/18/2009 @ 9:11 am12 of 12.
kimsch (2ce939) — 4/18/2009 @ 10:03 am12 for 12 here.
grs (b9e726) — 4/18/2009 @ 10:33 amMine’s 11 out of 12 – missed the Dow Jones question. But then, I don’t own a TV (they charge for the privilege here in Britain), nor do I listen to the Radio (mostly junk). Newspapers have become a biased bore too. Where do I get my information from? The internet, of course, via blogs like this one.
Detcord (875fcf) — 4/18/2009 @ 11:49 amI only got 69% but then I have had my head buried in the sand ever since the election.
snookered (c64d75) — 4/18/2009 @ 12:49 pmHere’s Your Score: You correctly answered 11 out of the 12 possible questions, which means you did better on the quiz than 82% of the general public.
Dow Jones did me in.
Javert (58b08c) — 4/18/2009 @ 1:23 pm12 out of 12. This is pretty depressing. I should be paying more attention to the weather or maybe that novel.
Bleepless (a0d6c8) — 4/18/2009 @ 6:31 pm12 of 12 (but hesitated about Ford)
Not too bad for a 3e potential terrorist (i.e. VN vet who is conservative enough to believe in the Constitution). Maybe I should have finished college.
Roy in Nipomo (4fb76b) — 4/18/2009 @ 8:34 pm94
12/12
I am an internet addict…
JoeS (9d0535) — 4/18/2009 @ 9:22 pm51 year old female college graduate – 12 of 12 correct, 94th percentile.
SoFedUp (242f9c) — 4/19/2009 @ 8:03 am12 for 12 that would be batting 1000
infidelcruz8r (730015) — 4/19/2009 @ 2:51 pmThat’s the best summary I’ve seen.
Isn’t it ironic that the “young” group starts in 1975,
a year before the former worst choice for President
ever elected ruled the mindless.
12 for 12
NO-MO_BAMA (3281e7) — 4/19/2009 @ 3:32 pm12/12/ Like others, I would like to know the distribution of wrong answers.
Several of the questions were wrongly phrased: those beginning “Do you happen to know…” The correct answer to “Do you know what time it is?” is “yes” or “no”, not “A quarter to four”. (Why, yes, I’m a computer programmer.)
A minor point: the 50% average of the general population is the average percentile result – which by definition is 50%. That is, half the questioners will be above the 50th percentile and half below. One wonders why they reported this.
Rich Rostrom (874cbd) — 4/19/2009 @ 7:01 pm“You correctly answered 12 of the 12 possible questions along with approximately 6% of the public.”
I also haven’t read a daily newspaper or watched a MSM news show for almost 10 years. I guess relying on right wing blogs and conservative radio for the news leads to a good education in current events.
tyree (5bef7a) — 4/20/2009 @ 5:38 am12/12
My primary source of news is the Internet. Fox News is the secondary source.
I wish the Pew folks had included “primary news source” as another demographic category.
Calvin Dodge (aa6a5e) — 4/20/2009 @ 7:37 pm