# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-a-social-experiment/447620/121 "2008-05-03T11:17:39Z")
[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] 1 Will Smith 2 Jeff Bridges 3 JLo 4 Lucy Liu ---
**Author:** ![The\_Them](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/898d66/32.png) [@The\_Them](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Them)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-a-social-experiment/447620/122 "2008-05-03T17:05:23Z")
1. Richard Pryor 2. Charlize Theron 3. George Lopez 4)Vanessa Mae ---
**Author:** ![fervour](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@fervour](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fervour)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-a-social-experiment/447620/123 "2008-05-03T18:28:04Z")
1. Oprah 2. Brad Pitt 3. Jennifer Lopez 4. Sandra Oh ---
**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 3, 2008, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-a-social-experiment/447620/124 "2008-05-03T23:23:10Z")
[QUOTE=Švejk] 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. [/QUOTE] Wow, you must really think little of black women if 1% equals “overrepresented” in your mind. My hypothesis was that black women are under-represented, and the numbers seem to bear that out. Have you looked at the numbers? ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2008, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-a-social-experiment/447620/125 "2008-05-04T02:57:22Z")
1. Name a black celebrity-Tiger Woods 2. Name a white celebrity-Tiger Woods 3. Name a hispanic celebrity-Juan Valdez 4. Name an Asian celebrity-Tiger Woods ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2008, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-a-social-experiment/447620/126 "2008-05-04T03:22:55Z")
Now what about the 50 who responded to the poll? I’ll bet at least 45 are white. Do you think that may have an influence on the results. Maybe 50 of each, white, black, hispanic, and asian would show a marked difference. It would be interesting to compare the groups. (but probably imposible to conduct such a survey here. But you could try) ---
**Author:** ![NicePete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee7513/32.png) [@NicePete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NicePete)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2008, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-a-social-experiment/447620/127 "2008-05-04T03:53:33Z")
1. Name a black celebrity _Bill Cosby_ 1. Name a white celebrity _Steve Carrell_ 1. Name a hispanic celebrity \*Salma Hayek \* 4. Name an Asian celebrity \*Sandra Oh \* ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2008, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-a-social-experiment/447620/128 "2008-05-04T03:56:41Z")
1. Bill Cosby 2. Martha Stewart 3. J Lo 4. Jet Li ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2008, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-a-social-experiment/447620/129 "2008-05-04T06:23:50Z")
Oprah Winfrey Paris Hilton Carlos Mencia George Takei ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2008, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-a-social-experiment/447620/130 "2008-05-04T06:56:08Z")
I think what \*\*Švejk \*\* meant is that if among the population there is 1 black female celebrity for each 100 black male celebrities, then statistically, they should be mentioned 1% of the time; in your informal poll, they received higher than 1% of the mentions, and therefore would be **statistically** over-represented. She pulled the number out of the air as an example. I also think that the kind of people whom people remember has to do with a lot more than their actual numbers within a population. There are many, many choices for female white celebrities, more than enough for each of us and a few thousand others to have all said somebody different; yet several of us said “Paris Hilton”. So, while I think that black female celebrities almost certainly ARE under-represented in society, gauging this by asking people to name someone who has made an impression on them (Good OR bad! Gaaaaaak!) is not the best way to get an accurate reflection. Also you have to look at how often a given subgroup **gets in the news** ; which is a reflection of additional cultural bias, and has a substantial impact on who people will immediately think of. God knows there are a lot more eminent black women than you will ever see in the news media. ---
**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 4, 2008, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-a-social-experiment/447620/131 "2008-05-04T08:21:06Z")
[QUOTE=The Controvert] Wow, you must really think little of black women if 1% equals “overrepresented” in your mind. My hypothesis was that black women are under-represented, and the numbers seem to bear that out. Have you looked at the numbers? [/QUOTE] :rolleyes: Wow, you must really understand very little of the concept of statistical representation if you misread my posts like that. What I wrote earlier and the \*hypothetical \*numbers I pulled out of my \*ass \*(you’ll notice that the sentence you quoted starts with an if-clause) as an example say nothing whatsoever about what I think about black women. It says nothing about what I think of anyone, really. The point I was trying to make, as **Brujaja** pointed out, is that any statement about how well a sample represents a population needs to be based on the distribution in the population. In this little analysis here, your population is black celebrities. You have offered no numbers regarding the distribution of gender over this population, you simply assume that they’re distributed equally (50 % black women, 50 % black men). It is conceivable that this is not the case, that’s all I’m trying to say, and if, indeed, the distribution\* is \*different, and that is reflected in your numbers, than there’s no over- or under representation. ETA > [@brujaja](#): > > She pulled the number out of the air as an example. technically, i’m a he 😉 ---
**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 4, 2008, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-a-social-experiment/447620/132 "2008-05-04T11:57:45Z")
How about this: my hypothesis is that there are more black male celebrities than black female celebrities. (on edit) And the proportion is more unbalanced than for any other race. ---
**Author:** ![Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abby_Emma_Sasha)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2008, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-a-social-experiment/447620/133 "2008-05-04T12:19:09Z")
I’d like to test that theory further ---
**Author:** ![Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abby_Emma_Sasha)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2008, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-a-social-experiment/447620/134 "2008-05-04T12:28:28Z")
I’m trying to think how we can test **Contrapuntal** ’s theory without naming every god damned female black celebrity we know, but I cain’t. So, should we? Halle Berry Oprah Winfrey Alfre Woodard CCH Pounder Gabrielle Union Beyonce Knowles Star Jones Rosario Dawson Robin Roberts Regina King Tichina Arnold Marianne Jean-Baptiste Khandi Alexander Marsha Thompson that’s off the top pf my head. Add more, please. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2008, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-a-social-experiment/447620/135 "2008-05-04T13:48:40Z")
1. Name a black celebrity **Denzel Washington** 2. Name a white celebrity **Edward Norton** 3. Name a hispanic celebrity **Cheech Marin** 4. Name an Asian celebrity **Chow Yun-fat** ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2008, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-a-social-experiment/447620/136 "2008-05-04T14:09:46Z")
I find it interesting that so many responders apologize for their white celebrity choice. (Including me: I have no idea why Edward Norton popped into my mind.) I have an idea why that might be–do you? ---
**Author:** ![FaerieBeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e95f7d/32.png) [@FaerieBeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FaerieBeth)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2008, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-a-social-experiment/447620/137 "2008-05-04T14:36:12Z")
1. Will Smith 2. Robert Downey, Jr. 3. Jennifer Lopez 4. Chow Yun-Fat ---
**Author:** ![BetsQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@BetsQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BetsQ)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2008, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-a-social-experiment/447620/138 "2008-05-04T23:00:48Z")
1. Chirs Rock 2. Jerry Seinfeld 3. George Lopez 4. Margaret Cho ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2008, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-a-social-experiment/447620/139 "2008-05-05T10:48:55Z")
[QUOTE=Koxinga] I find it interesting that so many responders apologize for their white celebrity choice. (Including me: I have no idea why Edward Norton popped into my mind.) I have an idea why that might be–do you? [/QUOTE] I suspect it’s because the first white celebrity who springs to mind may very well be somebody who is famous because or in spite of being obnoxious – like my response of Paris Hilton. Black celebrities can’t afford to be too obnoxious – it’s hard enough to overcome cultural bias as it is. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2008, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-a-social-experiment/447620/140 "2008-05-05T11:16:18Z")
[QUOTE=brujaja] I suspect it’s because the first white celebrity who springs to mind may very well be somebody who is famous because or in spite of being obnoxious – like my response of Paris Hilton. Black celebrities can’t afford to be too obnoxious – it’s hard enough to overcome cultural bias as it is. [/QUOTE] Lucky I didn’t put down my second choice of **Flavor Flav**. But otherwise, yeah, that’s kind of what I thought too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-a-social-experiment/447620.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-a-social-experiment/447620.md?page=8)