X-Message-Number: 27738
Subject: FDGD 2006 Survey Analysis/Commentary (LONG)
From: Kennita Watson <>
Date: Mon, 20 Mar 2006 13:37:50 -0800
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Here's the data I gathered from this year's survey.
For inveterate data masseurs, I've attached the
Excel spreadsheet with the raw data I'm working
from, and the analysis from last year (for trends).
Cheers,
Kennita
FDGD 2006 Survey Analysis/Commentary
80 surveys returned, all usable (about the same as last year).
I might get some more if I had more help so one person could
be administering surveys while the other talked with people.
(More help than that would allow some people to see some of
the festivities.)
59 with contact info (50 last year) -- I attribute the
increase to being more clear about not putting them on
mailing lists, etc., and to pointing out the Cryobear
(excellent outreach tool).
Only 13 gave email addresses, which is no major loss since
I'd promised not to send more than one email anyway.
As before, I plan to send everyone notice of whether or not they won
a prize, with how the winners were chosen, how they can get the
prizes for themselves if they didn't win, and my email and Web site.
I think I have enough envelopes, so 39 cents times 59 people ~ $23;
not a lot compared to hotel, airfare, food, ground transport,
Cryobear, and chocolate.
I'll just bear the pain of filling out the 59 address labels.
Any computer-based survey would not be FDGD-specific. I don't
see getting FDGD surveys online.
Respondents 44 Female, 35 Male, 1 Unknown (last year 33 Female,
18 Male, 29 Unknown -- I had checkoffs for it this time; a few
left it blank, but it was obvious from the name).
I'll do question-by-question commentary as before, with
comparisons to last year. Some questions and/or answer sets
are different, so comparison is impossible. Many differences
are statistically insignificant given the sample size, but I
mention some of them anyway.
Frozen Dead Guy Days 2006
Cryonics Awareness/Attitudes Survey
Questions About Grandpa Bredo
1) Do you think Grandpa Bredo has been properly cryopreserved? 12
_Yes 30 _No 38 _Don't know
There were many who came by the booth who knew nothing about
cryonics, some who had only watched the "Grandpa's Still In the Tuff
Shed" movie, and some to whom it didn't matter because they felt it
could never work anyway. The word "properly" allows for
interpretation, too. I think it would make sense to have a big sign
behind the booth with concise definitions of cryonics and
cryopreservation, with or without reference to FDGD.
2) What do you think the chances are that science will ever allow us
to revive Grandpa Bredo?
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
90% 100%
38 from 0-10%
14 20-40%
13 50% (the "I don't know" answer)
8 60-80%
5 90-100%
The people who give him less than 50% outnumber those who give him
even odds or better by 2 to 1. This is OK with me, Venturism aside.
What I was looking for was the spread between this and the answers to
Q11-Q13, which demonstrate that people see the difference in the
chances afforded by modern cryonics procedures.
3) If >0%, how many years do you think it will be before he is revived?
4 _<20
16 _20-50
15 _50-100
13 _100-200
1 _200-500
2 _>500
Two people who said 0% to Q2 answered Q3 too (they were the only
">500" people). I think I could combine the two and alleviate
confusion by having a "Never" choice on Q3. Basically, people figure
that if we can revive him at all, we can do it in the next 200 years.
4) Do you think Grandpa Bredo should be: (choose one)
27 _ left where he is?
4 _ removed from dry ice and buried or cremated?
7 _ taken to a cryonics facility and stored in liquid nitrogen?
1 _ moved to a more prominent and easy-to-reach location?
33 _ handled however the family wants?
2 _ other
(specify)
.?
5 _ no opinion
By far the majority seem content to butt out (leave him where he is
or let the family decide, which are effectively the same thing, or
offer no opinion). One "other" asked "What did HE want before
dying?"; the other said "whatever you want, it makes no difference".
I think they would have fit into one of the other categories and
saved the short-answer problems if I had left the "other" choice
off. The LN2 people presumably recognize its superiority for
cryopreservation, and have a "better late than never" outlook. I
presume the "buried or cremated" people are in a "free his soul" camp
(heaven or reincarnation).
Questions About Frozen Dead Guy Days
These questions suffered from being crammed onto one line each so
that the survey wouldn't run more than 2 pages. Next year I think
I'll answer more of the matters of fact on the display, which will
free up space (and make the survey more inviting).
Note: Even though the numbers of Maybes are distressingly similar,
no one copped out and just answered Maybe ("I don't know") to every
question.
5) The Frozen Dead Guy Days trivialize cryonics and make it look
ridiculous. 2 Yes / 56 No / 22 Maybe
It's good to see that No outnumbers Yes and Maybe together by more
than 2 to 1. I think being separated from the proceedings helps, and
I think that a more professional-looking banner and literature
(applicable to venues other than FDGD) would help even more.
6) People serious about cryonics might attend the Frozen Dead Guy
Days. 45 Yes / 8 No / 27 Maybe
Not as overwhelmingly positive, I think partly because the question
can be read in multiple ways. I may come up with a better way to
phrase it, or separate it into two questions.
7) I feel more positive towards cryonics with a cryonicist here to
explain it. 37 Yes / 16 No / 27 Maybe
Not everyone knew what "cryonicist" meant; one person asked. 9 of
the Noes also said 0% on Q2, which suggests that their minds are made
up and nothing I could say would help. I asked for it; I solicited
surveys even from people who warned me that they disagreed with my
standpoint.
8) The media will use the Frozen Dead Guy Days to give cryonics a bad
name. 12 Yes / 43 No / 23 Maybe
I think this is the source of many cryonicists' unease with a
cryonics presence at the event. However, note that the bad-name-
giving is independent of whether a cryonicist is present. In future
years it might be helpful to ask if having a cryonicist here (to
explain the differences) makes it easier or harder for the media to
do the bad-name-giving.
9) Cryonics patients and the Frozen Dead Guy are pretty much the
same. 15 Yes / 42 No / 20 Maybe
It's good that most people said No, but both a better-worded question
and more education on the differences could help. Note that some
people who knew nothing to the extent of not having seen the film,
spoken to me, or read any of the literature took the survey, so their
Maybe answers might easily become Noes. Some of the Yeses may be on
a function level (either everybody will be revived, or nobody will)
or a form level (frozen is frozen). More education again.
10) The Frozen Dead Guy Days are a good place to do cryonics
outreach. 43 Yes / 13 No / 23 Maybe
More than half Yes. I'd love to see on what basis the Noes made
their determination (headspace, traffic, etc.). I wonder to what
extent the Maybes were "I don't know" and to what extent they were
"Yes and No". A better phrasing might be "a good place to inform
people about real-world cryonics".
Questions About Cryonics
11) Do you think science will ever allow us to revive anyone
currently cryonically preserved?
no way!
maybe
probably
of course!
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
The bins spanned numbers, which made for lots of .5's. 31/80 thought
there were at least even odds, and 65/80 thought the chances were at
least 1 in 5. Apparently not as optimistic as last year, when I only
asked Yes/No.
12) If so, how many years would you guess it will be before the first
successful revival?
6 _<20
23 _20-50
20 _50-100
15 _100-200
3 _200-500
3 _>500
Many more people (70) guessed this year (27 last year), presumably
because of the multiple choice. I think this allowed a more
representative weighting, not so heavily weighted towards <50 years.,
13) If not, how many years do you think it will be before we are able
to cryonically preserve
people so that they can be revived at some later date?
5 _<20
13 _20-50
12 _50-100
7 _100-200
1 _200-500
2 _>500
5 _Never
The "if so"/"if not" choice must have confused a lot of people,
because there should have been 10 people left after the 70 who
answered Q12, but 45 answered this question as well.
30 of the 45 think we will be able to preserve someone well enough
that we will eventually be able to revive them within the next 100
years.
(please continue on other side) _
Cryonics Survey, cont.
14) Before Frozen Dead Guy Days 2006, did you know that cryonics is
accessible to the general
public (for example, payable by means of a life insurance policy)?
36 _Yes 43 _No
Definitely a place for education. The media hasn't helped here; they
like to pull out numbers with lots of zeroes in them. I was
surprised by the number of Yeses, actually -- I wonder if some took
"accessible" to mean "on sale", independent of price.
15) Check any cryonics organizations you have heard of:
8 _Alcor Life Extension Foundation
6 _American Cryonics Society
12 _Cryonics Institute
7 _Trans Time, Incorporated
CI had an advantage here, since some of their literature was on the
table. I'm surprised that Trans Time and ACS did almost as well as
Alcor.
Questions About You
16) What is your current age?
7 _<18
11 _18-25
18 _26-35
17 _36-45
16 _46-55
9 _56-65
2 _66-75
0 _>75
Fewer kids and more older people this time; fewer in 26-35 range.
17) You are: 35_Male 44_Female
18) How much would you say you enjoy life overall now?
Not at all
some
pretty well
very much!
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
9 10
No one 0-3 (thank goodness); 2 4-5; 17 6-7; 59 8-10.
Last year, no 0-3 (thank goodness); 3 4-5; 4 6-7; 63 8-10.
More people in the middle were willing to say so this year?
19) Till what age would you like to live if you could be in good
health the entire time? (circle one)
5 <70, 20 70-90, 24 90-120, 3 120-150, 5 150-200, 3
200-300, 1 300-500, 2 500-1000, 0 >1000, 14 no limit
Someone pointed out that people may be thinking of "good health"
relative to other people in a given age range, not youthful and
healthy as cryonicists expect to be rejuvenated to.
1 person age 46-55 wanted to live till <70; I suspect depression.
The rest of those who wanted to live to <70 were under 35 and maybe
hadn't thought about it. I think the large number in the 70-90 and
90-120 bins suffer from lack of imagination, and maybe a sense of God
wanting them to live a certain amount of time. Of the 14 "No Limit",
8 F, 6 M. Of the 6 from 200-1000, 5 M, 1 Unknown. For the 8
120-200, 4 F, 4 M.
20) What do you guess the world will be like in the far future,
compared to today?
5 _much worse
22 _ worse
18 _about the same
21 _ better
10_much better
This is not nearly as optimistic as I'd like to see, but may be
indicative of the public at large.
21) If money were no object, would you consider cryonic preservation
for yourself (and, if you
like, for people you care about)? 9 _Yes 48 _No 21 _Maybe
Last year there were 30 Yes, 46 No, 3 Maybe
The "If not, why not" answers were interesting last year; maybe bring
that back in some more manageable form. Interesting that the Noes
are about the same, but many Yeses became Maybes. Maybe a "How
important is X in your decision?" list?
This graph cross-correlating the answers to Q20 and Q21 corroborates
the association between optimism about the future and willingness to
consider cryonics.
Q21 Yes No Maybe
Q20
MB 3 5 2
B 2 8 11
S 2 12 4
W 1 18 3
MW 0 4 1
(1 Yes and 1 Maybe had no Better/Worse predictions)
The weighting towards optimism for the future in people willing to
consider cryonics, and towards pessimism for the future in people not
willing to consider it, is perhaps to be expected. This would
suggest that it might be fruitful to approach people about cryonics
who self-identify as optimists (speak at group meetings, etc.?).
_ _ _
Thank you for your participation! Please supply contact information.
By default it will only be
used to let you know if you win the drawing (and to send you your
prize if you win). None of your
information will be given or sold to any third party without specific
instructions.
If I win, I want CryoBear Chocolate (circle one)
FTR, 22 asked for the CryoBear and 22 asked for chocolate. 15 made
no choice but gave their addresses anyway (did they expect to be
automatically entered for the bear?). 21 gave no contact information.
Name:
Mailing address:
Number/Street: :
City/State/Zip: :
If you would like to receive one (1) follow-up email from the
Cryonics Advocacy Group with a list
of URLs related to this survey, please supply your email address here:
Email: :
Only 13 people supplied email addresses -- maybe some didn't notice
the blank, didn't think email was needed, or were just tired of
filling out the form. Putting the email address request a bit
earlier might help.
Check here if you would like an information packet from _Alcor and/or
_Cryonics Institute
4 people wanted info; 3 from Alcor, all 4 from CI.
I'll forward this ASAP, and maybe justify my existence :-) .
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