Science and Technology Knowledge Quiz

Mustang_Susie

You scored better than 52% of the public, below 37% and the same as 11%.

Maybe I should have fibbed about my education... :blushing:

And I would hope I knew the healthcare questions...

shadowkat57

100%! And I only have an arts degree

Redbird99ky

13 of 13

I can only claim one year of college, and only half was in the school of engineering.

But, 16 1/2 yrs in the Navy Nuclear Power Program worked in my favor, as did teaching at ITT for 7 yrs. Yeah, I'm ... experienced

And yes, if 52% of the respondents scored 8 or less ... well ... that's kind of scary!

bumblebums

Fantastic. Then perhaps you can explain to me the logic of why the number of female chemists, physicists and engineers and biologists should have anything to do with how your average phone survey respondent performs on a quiz with 13 questions that tests middle school knowledge.

It's pretty simple. The percentage of women who take an active interest in the health and biological scientists is higher than the percentage that take an interest in physical sciences. They are statistically more likely to have taken a relevant course in college/high school, and statistically more likely to have picked up a book/magazine/watched a history special on those topics.

Even if this were true, what does it have to do with a quiz with middle school-level questions?

foxro

easy quiz... here's an old engineering interview question for the OP.

let's say you are sitting in a canoe in the middle of a swimming pool and you can measure its' level on the side of the pool. in that canoe with you is a cinder block. if you held up that cinder block and dropped it into the water, what will happen to the water level and why?

this gets asked often of new grads just to see how well they reason.

The cinder block will punch a hole in the liner. You'll pay up to 4k for a liner replacement and to do that the water from the pool needs to be drained :laugh:

Edit - if it's an above ground pool, the liner gets ruptured, the water level drops and the back yard gets flooded. Your family blames you and it all ends up in divorce. Your Eng. licence is revoked and you are banned from all public swimming pools !!:laugh:

DrMAvDPhD

Fantastic. Then perhaps you can explain to me the logic of why the number of female chemists, physicists and engineers and biologists should have anything to do with how your average phone survey respondent performs on a quiz with 13 questions that tests middle school knowledge.

It's pretty simple. The percentage of women who take an active interest in the health and biological scientists is higher than the percentage that take an interest in physical sciences. They are statistically more likely to have taken a relevant course in college/high school, and statistically more likely to have picked up a book/magazine/watched a history special on those topics.

Even if this were true, what does it have to do with a quiz with middle school-level questions?

I never said that adults shouldn't be able to answer these questions I merely stated that it is not, in fact, surprising that women did better on biology/health questions than on physical science questions due to the MOUNTAINS of evidence stating that women are more successful in these fields. I'm not saying women can't succeed in physcial sciences, I AM SIX MONTHS FROM RECEIVING A PHD IN CHEMISTRY AND A WOMAN. I am just relaying the fact, FACT, that there are fewer women who excel in the physical sciences than the biological.

I am not sure if it is logical reasoning or reading comprehension that is the problem here but you are all just providing evidence that most people can't follow logical, evidence based conclusions.

ScatteredThoughts

Statistical bias aside in terms of who is taking the test, does it disturb anyone else that this is the state of scientific knowledge among the general population?

Yes, indeed. I wasn't completely surprised by the overall numbers, but it is worrisome.

bumblebums

Fantastic. Then perhaps you can explain to me the logic of why the number of female chemists, physicists and engineers and biologists should have anything to do with how your average phone survey respondent performs on a quiz with 13 questions that tests middle school knowledge.

It's pretty simple. The percentage of women who take an active interest in the health and biological scientists is higher than the percentage that take an interest in physical sciences. They are statistically more likely to have taken a relevant course in college/high school, and statistically more likely to have picked up a book/magazine/watched a history special on those topics.

Even if this were true, what does it have to do with a quiz with middle school-level questions?

I never said that adults shouldn't be able to answer these questions I merely stated that it is not, in fact, surprising that women did better on biology/health questions than on physical science questions due to the MOUNTAINS of evidence stating that women are more successful in these fields. I'm not saying women can't succeed in physcial sciences, I AM SIX MONTHS FROM RECEIVING A PHD IN CHEMISTRY AND A WOMAN. I am just relaying the fact, FACT, that there are fewer women who excel in the physical sciences than the biological.

I am not sure if it is logical reasoning or reading comprehension that is the problem here but you are all just providing evidence that most people can't follow logical, evidence based conclusions.

Wow. Good luck at your defense

MinnieInMaine

Wow! I got 13 out or 13 right!