# Poll: A Social Experiment? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 1, 2008, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-a-social-experiment/447620 "2008-05-01T15:56:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Lama\_Pacos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Lama\_Pacos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lama_Pacos)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2008, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-a-social-experiment/447620/101 "2008-05-02T04:54:31Z")
1. Halle Berry 2. Lyle Lovett 3. Jennifer Lopez 4. Lucy Liu I seriously have no idea why I thought of Lyle Lovett. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2008, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-a-social-experiment/447620/102 "2008-05-02T05:17:15Z")
1. Laurence Fishburne 2. David Beckham 3. Alex Rodriguez 4. Margaret Cho ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2008, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-a-social-experiment/447620/103 "2008-05-02T05:20:30Z")
1. Denzel Washington 2. Anthony Hopkins 3. Antonio Banderas 4. Jet Li ---
**Author:** ![JpnDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@JpnDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JpnDude)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2008, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-a-social-experiment/447620/104 "2008-05-02T07:16:38Z")
1. Denzel Washington 2. Jodie Foster 3. Jimmy Smits 4. Maggie Cheung ---
**Author:** ![hocow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hocow/32/4112_2.png) [@hocow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hocow)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2008, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-a-social-experiment/447620/105 "2008-05-02T13:06:33Z")
1. Will Smith 2. Tom Hanks 3. George Lopez 4. Jackie Chan ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2008, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-a-social-experiment/447620/106 "2008-05-02T18:29:41Z")
1. Will Smith 2. Brad Pitt 3. George Lopez 4. Jet Li. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2008, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-a-social-experiment/447620/107 "2008-05-02T18:33:16Z")
1. Samuel L. Jackson (always fun to watch) 2. Nicholas Cage (first one, as you said, appearing in my mind unbidden-bad brain bad brain!) 3. Lorena Ochoa (the best female golfer in the world has to be considered a celebrity, right? That and she is cute as hell) 4. Lucy Liu (mainly because that is the name of my Mom’s Shih Tzu). ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2008, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-a-social-experiment/447620/108 "2008-05-02T18:44:44Z")
I should have said RuPaul. ---
**Author:** ![SkeptiJess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@SkeptiJess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkeptiJess)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2008, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-a-social-experiment/447620/109 "2008-05-02T18:56:54Z")
Without looking at anyone else’s answers: 1. Name a black celebrity – Oprah Winfrey 2. Name a white celebrity – Paul Newman 3. Name a hispanic celebrity – Antonio Banderas 4. Name an Asian celebrity – Lucy Liu ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2008, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-a-social-experiment/447620/110 "2008-05-02T19:07:20Z")
[QUOTE=The Controvert] Help me test out a hypothesis. Just answer the following questions with the first thing that pops into your mind. I will reveal the experiment and the results if we get enough responses to go past the first page. Thanks! 1. Name a black celebrity 2. Name a white celebrity 3. Name a hispanic celebrity 4. Name an Asian celebrity [/QUOTE] 5. James Earl Jones 6. Christopher Walken 7. Ricky Martin 8. Chow Yun Fat ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2008, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-a-social-experiment/447620/111 "2008-05-02T19:08:26Z")
[QUOTE=The Controvert] Help me test out a hypothesis. Just answer the following questions with the first thing that pops into your mind. I will reveal the experiment and the results if we get enough responses to go past the first page. Thanks! 1. Name a black celebrity 2. Name a white celebrity 3. Name a hispanic celebrity 4. Name an Asian celebrity [/QUOTE] 5. Sidney Poitier 6. Tom Cruise 7. Salma Hayek 8. Jet Li ---
**Author:** ![OatmealB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc79bd/32.png) [@OatmealB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OatmealB)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2008, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-a-social-experiment/447620/112 "2008-05-02T19:13:22Z")
1. Denzel Washington 2. Tom Cruise 3. Jennifer Lopez 4. Lucy Liu ---
**Author:** ![KSO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@KSO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KSO)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2008, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-a-social-experiment/447620/113 "2008-05-02T19:17:58Z")
1. Denzel Washington 2. Jennifer Aniston 3. Jennifer Lopez 4. Michelle Wie ---
**Author:** ![Taber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ac91a4/32.png) [@Taber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taber)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2008, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-a-social-experiment/447620/114 "2008-05-02T19:51:12Z")
Samuel L Jackson Keanu Reeves Carlos Mencia Jet Li ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2008, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-a-social-experiment/447620/115 "2008-05-02T22:21:08Z")
1. Usher 2. Paul Walker 3. Freddy Rodríguez 4. Jon Cho Was your theory that we’d name ones we find attractive? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Controvert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@The\_Controvert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Controvert)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2008, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-a-social-experiment/447620/116 "2008-05-02T22:25:11Z")
No, the theory was that people would name fewer black women than black men. At least, compared to other races. ---
**Author:** ![Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilvert_s_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2008, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-a-social-experiment/447620/117 "2008-05-02T23:50:18Z")
[QUOTE=Freudian Slit] Ah, do you mean George Takei? [/QUOTE] :smack: ummm, that would be ‘yes’… ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-a-social-experiment/447620/118 "2008-05-03T00:06:32Z")
[QUOTE=The Controvert] Help me test out a hypothesis. Just answer the following questions with the first thing that pops into your mind. I will reveal the experiment and the results if we get enough responses to go past the first page. Thanks! 1. Name a black celebrity 2. Name a white celebrity 3. Name a hispanic celebrity 4. Name an Asian celebrity [/QUOTE] 5. Will Smith 6. John Travolta (Probably because he was brought up in a conversation I had today) 7. John Leguizamo (sp??) 8. Jackie Chan. ---
**Author:** ![bubble\_pop\_electric](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecae2f/32.png) [@bubble\_pop\_electric](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bubble_pop_electric)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-a-social-experiment/447620/119 "2008-05-03T02:34:40Z")
[QUOTE=The Controvert] Help me test out a hypothesis. Just answer the following questions with the first thing that pops into your mind. I will reveal the experiment and the results if we get enough responses to go past the first page. Thanks! 1. Name a black celebrity 2. Name a white celebrity 3. Name a hispanic celebrity 4. Name an Asian celebrity [/QUOTE] 5. Halle Berry 6. Gweneth Platrow 7. Eva Longoria 8. Lucy Liu ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-a-social-experiment/447620/120 "2008-05-03T11:14:19Z")
[QUOTE=The Controvert] No, the theory was that people would name fewer black women than black men. At least, compared to other races. [/QUOTE] That’s not really much of a theory, i’m missing lots of things that I thing I’d need to know. First of all, as some other poster asked, what do you mean by ‘overrepresented’? I take it that the celebrities named represent the population of all celebrities of a certain race and gender. What we haven’t heard is how big these populations are. If, for instance, there is only one female black celeb for every 100 male black celebs, than the women are overrepresented. How can we tell that this is not the case. One final thing that I’d like to hear from you is the causal mechanism which informs your hypothesis, in other words: why would it be the case that black women are named less than proportionally often? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-a-social-experiment/447620.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-a-social-experiment/447620.md?page=7)