X-Message-Number: 27859
References: <>
From: David Stodolsky <>
Subject: Re: Life Extension Values Clarification Survey -- PLEASE DISTRIBUTE!!
Date: Thu, 20 Apr 2006 21:33:45 +0200

On 19 Apr 2006, at 23:00,  wrote:

> I am
> still mystified by how 7 people can say cryonics is "always useless"
> in question (20) and 28 say cryonics has "no chance" in question (21).
> I think that there could be serious interpretation problems with
> question (22). A person who is expecting to die and go to heaven
> would have no fear of "re-awakening in an alien future world without
> friends or family". Nor would a person who is happy to be obliterated
> at age 75. Nor would a person who expects to achieve
> everlasting life through vitamin pills without any stasis period.
>
>    I have gotten a few private e-mails asking for more demographic
> questions. But the most important purpose of the "survey" is the
> influence it might have on the thinking of the survey-takers. This
> makes me favor questions that probe attitudes and understanding
> rather than demographic facts (which are boring questions to
> answer).

GIven the anomalous responses you are getting, it appears you are  
overambitious in thinking you can influence attitudes this way.  
Demographic info might help untangle the mess.

A normal research design would first measure attitudes and then  
undertake an attitude change intervention, followed by a retest of  
attitudes. Your shortcut looks like it yields neither clean attitude  
data nor attitude change.

Instead of starting from scratch, a review of the literature would be  
more likely to yield scales that reliably measure attitudes, etc.



dss


David Stodolsky    Skype: davidstodolsky

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