Science Quiz

[PeterRoss]

To get 0/13 you have to have really bad luck. Even a rock should answer around a half of the questions correctly by chosing random answers. On the other hand, you can get 0/13 if you know all the correct answers but want to play the fool because of some reason.

I made two test runs of the quiz. At first run I always chose the first answer, at the second run I chose random answer not reading neither question nor answers at all.

There are my results:

1) 5/13 You scored better than 15% of the public, below 77% and the same as 8%.
2) 6/13 You scored better than 23% of the public, below 69% and the same as 8%.

It makes me think that at least 23% of people participated in the survey answered randomly, i.e. didn't know what they answered about at all.

 

[BruceJohnJennerLawso]

It's not subjective at all. It is asking if it is better to use a scientific control...or not. This is a basic part of the scientific method and should be understood by every 9th grader.

To be fair, if it were 13 questions on 9th grade spelling and grammar, I would probably miss a few "easy" questions. It's harder when it's not your thing.

Fair enough. I chose the 50-50 split because it would be better than the alternative. My point would be that some previous data on the given disease should be already available that would be useful as the other 1000 samples, if you can avoid considering things like regional statistical biases depending on when the study was done.

But you are right about the fundamental process. Drawing conclusions about effects of a particular environmental factor always needs to be contrasted properly against its absence, otherwise the data would be meaningless.

 

[garyw]

12/13. I got the chemical reaction question wrong.

 

[goaowonk]

At least 50% of people got about 9 or more correct and 25% got 11 or more. That's something I guess. Still kinda scary though.
These are results from adults. Maybe you would get higher results if you surveyed people who more recently attended highschool or early college.

Last OCDE tests for adult literacy & numeracy positions Spain at the last place in Europe, I'm glad to see I'm not the reason. 13/13 here

13/13, but I agree some questions there require more context. Also the cultural bias is a bit strong there, especially since as European, I can't answer the demographics at the end correctly. :rofl:

Lastly there have been (and still being) lots of controversy (media coverage & people protesting) about fracking techniques (we use the English word) here, so it's a little cheating for me

demographics, they exclude us as Europeans :rofl:

 

[NukeET]

13/13 here too.

Too bad they didn't ask in the demographics if the respondent was an Orbiter geek.

I had 80% of the questions answered before reading the answers.

Nice find Andy44!

 

[romanasul]

Well actually on average men have a higher IQ than women. Most people find this hard to believe and it is also my experience throughout school that women score higher on tests and are generally more successful in life than men. However this isn't because they are more intelligent, but it is due to the hard working nature of women when compared to men. Men are lazy, period. Not everyone but the majority. Women are much more hard working than we are.

 

[Urwumpe]

Well actually on average men have a higher IQ than women. Most people find this hard to believe and it is also my experience throughout school that women score higher on tests and are generally more successful in life than men. However this isn't because they are more intelligent, but it is due to the hard working nature of women when compared to men. Men are lazy, period. Not everyone but the majority. Women are much more hard working than we are.

I think it is rather because the whole concept of the IQ is developed by men. The IQ test questions have strong advantages for male brains - and often ignore female capabilities completely. There is for example no question about social skills in any IQ test, despite this taking considerable intelligence: Can you remember all your customers, with all their faces, important detail information and character traits that are important for business? An average woman will have no problem handling 50 customers like that. An average man will already complain about this waste of time, when he has to handle 20 customers.

 

[Donamy]

13/13

The electrons and atoms question almost threw me. Electrons has more letters in it.

 

[Capt_hensley]

13/13, I found most to be common sense, and others to be activities I learned in grade school.

 

[blixel]

13/13. These were all just basic trivia questions that I've learned over the years by having a normal interest in science.

 

[Shifty]

Well actually on average men have a higher IQ than women. Most people find this hard to believe and it is also my experience throughout school that women score higher on tests and are generally more successful in life than men. However this isn't because they are more intelligent, but it is due to the hard working nature of women when compared to men. Men are lazy, period. Not everyone but the majority. Women are much more hard working than we are.

Almost everything written here is wrong:

Women on average have a higher IQ than men: http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/07/16/why-women-finally-have-higher-iqs-than-men/

Women, at least in the US, are not more successful than men, though probably through no fault of their own. There is a persistent gap in the wages that women earn compared to men with the same qualifications and experience.

I'd be interested to see a study on gender and laziness.

What I found interesting about the quiz was that the younger you were, generally the better you did.

 

[C3PO]

I think it is rather because the whole concept of the IQ is developed by men. The IQ test questions have strong advantages for male brains - and often ignore female capabilities completely. There is for example no question about social skills in any IQ test, despite this taking considerable intelligence: Can you remember all your customers, with all their faces, important detail information and character traits that are important for business? An average woman will have no problem handling 50 customers like that. An average man will already complain about this waste of time, when he has to handle 20 customers.

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I don't think tests like this give any good statistical data about the difference between the genders. I jumped at that quiz because I'm interested in science, and I might even learn something. I'm not sure that I would if it was a test of social skills, and I bet it would be similar for most of the people on this forum.

If the test subjects were randomly chosen I'm sure that the difference would be much smaller. The bell-curves for both sexes for most things are almost identical, but voluntary tests have an tendency to rope in an unnaturally large part of top performers in the specific subject.

 

[Linguofreak]

13/13, but I agree some questions there require more context. Also the cultural bias is a bit strong there, especially since as European, I can't answer the demographics at the end correctly. :rofl:

In general, having completed high school means you have completed the level of education that you are expected to complete while still a minor / still in your parents home, so it's equivalent to Hauptschule / Realschule / Gymnasium.

"College" means adult education, whether vocational or university.

 

[Notebook]

12/13, seems I didn't answer one question, memory going...

N.

 

[fsci123]

13/13 in 22 seconds

 

[Andy44]

Seems like a lot of you, especially non-Americans, had a problem with the fracking term. I think "fracking" in the context of hydrocarbon mining is a slang term; the proper name for the technique is "hydraulic fracturing".

I think the test is targeted at Americans, but even so I don't like questions that are less science questions than they are "current events" questions.

---------- Post added at 12:27 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:26 AM ----------

Oh, yeah, if you are a fan of Battlestar Galactica, then you know fracking has a whole different meaning, which could be related to biology.

 

[769270865]

11/13 here Those question should be fairly easy