I'm Back, With Survey Results!

I'm Back, With Survey Results! April 30, 2014

Thank you to all those who participated in my little reader survey. I’m back from my short hiatus with survey results and lots of writing ideas! The other day, the number of participants reached 50, which is a nice round little number, so I thought I would close the poll on that note. (If you wanted to vote but didn’t get a chance, feel free to comment below with your answers.) Some results were expected, some surprising. In fact, I am embedding one additional question on a question here, since the result I got was so unexpected that it appears I needed to broaden my options selection!

Here is what I discovered about you all, my dear readers. I learned in stats class that 50 is an indicative sample, so that’s how I will treat it in this report:
1. I discovered that a little over 1/3 of you identify yourselves with some “Other” denomination than one of the options I gave, which is exactly as many as identified Baptist. So, clearly I need a follow-up question: If you chose “Other,” or if you didn’t take the survey because it looked too long and strange but you can find time for a single question, please select which “Other” you are, if not Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist or Pentecostal. I think I know which one I forgot that was getting all the votes, but I’ll see if my hunch shakes out here:

2. I discovered that nearly half of you are over 50, with the 31-50 demographic a distant second.
3. I discovered that in the car, 2/3 of you reach for Southern Gospel (you think maybe?) but curiously, the distant second place went not to one of the other genres I provided, but to something “Other.” Presumably this would include jazz, pop, classical, chorale, and other genres I left out. Sadly, it appears that none of you reach for classic rock! Ah well, just because that’s what reach for…
4. I discovered that an overwhelming majority of you, 83%, identify as “right or right-leaning.” No surprise there, what I am surprised about is that I have anyone still reading who is “left or left-leaning!” Furthermore, I was surprised to note that all five readers who chose that option were over 50, while I think all but one reader under the age of 30 identified as right-leaning.
5. Tastes were split pretty evenly on movies/TV, with “family” just edging out comedy and drama at 29%, 23% and 21% respectively.
6. About 2/3 of you are yourselves musically inclined, which I was happy to see.
7. More of you drew a blank on who John Piper and Andy Stanley are (60%) than on Star Wars and Star Trek (42%)! But Andy Stanley and Star Wars nosed forward among those who did have an opinion.
8. At least 39% of you hadn’t even heard of the Discovery Institute, with 53% going decisively for Answers in Genesis. One thing that interested me was that Answers in Genesis got votes even among those identifying as “left-leaning” or “other” politically. Not that I consider the Discovery Institute “left-leaning” by any means (don’t confuse them with Peter Enns and the hacks at Biologos!), but I just see AiG types being targeted even more often and more vitriolically by those on the left. However, for those of you who would like a little more information about Discovery and their work both in the area of intelligent design and economics, here is their website.
9. 3/4 of you duked it out over Perry Mason vs. Columbo, and it was a heated battle but Perry Mason received one vote more. I was interested to see that about half of my younger readers were NOT left scratching their heads on this particular question!
10. The Cathedrals beat Gold City hands down. It wasn’t even close.
11. 88% of you offered your opinion on Beach Boys vs. Beatles, and after a competitive race, the boys of California just squeaked past the boys of Liverpool.
12. 86% of you weighed in on Elvis vs. Johnny Cash, and the King scored a decisive 60% victory.


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