tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3216915583002841491.post3254346672778614602..comments2009-04-13T14:37:22.430-07:00Comments on The Power of People: Breaking Down Data: Sociopolitical Views by Religious AffiliationWill Sharphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00913237907487156692noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3216915583002841491.post-24475236033183205062009-04-13T14:37:00.000-07:002009-04-13T14:37:00.000-07:00Another additional thought: Evangelicals and prot...Another additional thought: <BR/><BR/>Evangelicals and protestants can be, and often are, the same people. A qualification of this case probably needs to be made or else people may see it as an oversight or confusion in definition. Admitting possible limitations in your study, or the study you used for data, boosts credibility in the long run.Stephanie Graveshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04710970402517182084noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3216915583002841491.post-6806930603385108942009-04-13T14:31:00.000-07:002009-04-13T14:31:00.000-07:00I am VERY impressed with the fact that you took da...I am VERY impressed with the fact that you took data from different surveys to answer your own question and did not rely on someone else's curiosities for this post. Along with the fact that you decided to design your own analysis of such date to find your answer, this post definitely legitimizes you as a scholar. <BR/><BR/>If you chose to expand this I would like to hear why you think Catholics, a group usually thought to be ultra conservative and almost "extreme," ended up being the most representative of the average American. Also, an analysis of a group's over arching doctrine and how close its followers usually adhere to said doctrine would be highly beneficial if you chose to expand it. For instance, the Catholic realm is extremely large and diverse. It would be interesting to find a survey of how much of the Catholic population actually adheres to the standards of the catholic church. This might explain your findings better. <BR/><BR/>As far as the logistical and editorial critique of this post, I would say it is sometimes hard to follow the explanation of the data. Simplifying your methodology might help (And free up more space for your conclusion as well). Though I could sit down and take a couple more minutes to go through it and figure it out, most curious readers will not. I appreciated the thoroughness, but, as I was saying, your time could be spent better else where. <BR/><BR/>Overall, Bravo!Stephanie Graveshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04710970402517182084noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3216915583002841491.post-35496746109909540972009-04-01T14:48:00.000-07:002009-04-01T14:48:00.000-07:00William, your post on the Pew Forum’s survey and i...William, your post on the Pew Forum’s survey and its very interesting findings brought forth some well thought-out questions about the voice of America. I have forever held that view that America, as you mentioned, is a pluralistic nation consisting of many religions. Your thesis arguing that the voice of America, at least portrayed in elections and as viewed by the rest of the world, largely seems to be Evangelical Protestant is a side that I had never really considered. Therefore, your thoughtful reflection on it and methodical analysis of the data really demonstrated a well-researched argument supported by empirical evidence. I do like your use of rhetoric, with terms like “while” and “however.” This really showed that you anticipated and were ready to counter any issue presented by the reader. Furthermore, the format of this recent post is different compared to your other posts, and definitely added something interesting for the reader. Having read many scientific articles, I felt that this format was very professional and commend your use of it.<BR/><BR/>With any post there is always room for some improvement. While I do think that images in a blog post should be large, I would argue that the opening image may be too large and hence, take away from your introduction. I did appreciate your links to Excel documents that you created as well as graphs that were self-generated. I would have explained to the reader what the difference average meant in simpler terms (e.g. ~3 indicated a score similar to the average views of Americans and ~19 was a score far more different than the average American). Although this can be easily seen on your Excel sheet, for the few users who do not have the ability to open the document, that information could have more conveniently been placed on your post. I found it very interesting that Atheist and Agnostic views were so far from mainstream views. I think mentioning this in your conclusion, along with the similarity of perceptions between average Americans and the Muslim community, may have been enlightening to a reader, who may not have realized how similar the two are. Overall, I think this was a very enlightening post and your presentation of it showed your expertise and was appreciated.Diana Cholakianhttp://thestethoscope.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com