If you want data to understand whether the average woman who participate on Lesswrong are subject to substantial sexual harrasment the lesswrong data is okay. To the extend that we think about modifying how we talk about certain issues on Lesswrong that’s the demographic that we care about.
Having the question in the lesswrong data set also allows us to see whether the answer to the question correlates with other answers on the survey.
To the extend that we think about modifying how we talk about certain issues on Lesswrong that’s the demographic that we care about.
When we talk about these things, it’s most often in the context of potentially driving away demographics whose representatives might offer underrepresented insights or perspectives. Sampling from a set self-selected to not have been driven away yet isn’t going to give us the data we want.
When that’s not the context, we’re usually talking about issues depending on the general population, and the pitfalls of using LW data for that are obvious.
When that’s not the context, we’re usually talking about issues relevant to the general population, and the pitfalls of using LW data for that are obvious.
I don’t think we only care about the general population. We care about the people with whom we are interacting on a daily basis. We have a bunch of people in this community who want spend time with rational friends instead of spending time with an average member of society.
Even if we are not intending with rational people we are still unlikely to interact with the average person.
Most woman I meet, I meet during Salsa dancing. That activity selects for woman who are okay with strangers physically touching them during Salsa dancing.
Why? The survey allows for finding correlations with existing questions. It means that you get answers to questions such as whether being harrased correlates with IQ for free.
Those answers also tend to be more likely to generalize to the general population than the absolute values of the amount of people who report being harrased.
It seems to me that a good survey on street harassment would be fairly long and the survey is already long enough. Still, if there’s still interest when the next survey is being discussed, it’s a possible topic. Prediction
Just defining harassment is difficult.
IQ (especially at LW levels) doesn’t strike me as likely to give much information. IQ might correlate with spending time in better neighborhoods, or with being more distracted (less likely to notice minor harassment? more likely to get harassed by men who don’t like being ignored) or with being less distracted (more likely to notice harassment).
I’d like more research on the subject—I suspect that local culture makes a huge difference. I also realize that discussions of street harassment are more likely to attract women who’ve been harassed.
IQ is just an example. We also have questions about moral beliefs. We have questions about how likely you find various risks.
At this stage the results wouldn’t be conclusive but they would increase the grasp I would have on the issue. Having a question on the LW survey wouldn’t give the same level of detail as a in depth study, but it would be an improvement.
I’d like more research on the subject—I suspect that local culture makes a huge difference.
I think the local culture question is one of the questions that interests me most.
Should I expect that this is an issue for the woman I meet in daily life, given that I live in Germany? Women like my sister don’t bring the issue up, even in discussions about the value of feminism.
I know a bunch of women through the internet who report being troubled by street harassment and those don’t live in Germany. Given the reports of those woman, I do think that the issue is serious.
Perhaps we should add questions that measure street harassment to the next Lesswrong survey?
We’re no less demographically skewed than your average feminist site. More, probably.
Skrewing depends on the purpose of your data.
If you want data to understand whether the average woman who participate on Lesswrong are subject to substantial sexual harrasment the lesswrong data is okay. To the extend that we think about modifying how we talk about certain issues on Lesswrong that’s the demographic that we care about.
Having the question in the lesswrong data set also allows us to see whether the answer to the question correlates with other answers on the survey.
When we talk about these things, it’s most often in the context of potentially driving away demographics whose representatives might offer underrepresented insights or perspectives. Sampling from a set self-selected to not have been driven away yet isn’t going to give us the data we want.
When that’s not the context, we’re usually talking about issues depending on the general population, and the pitfalls of using LW data for that are obvious.
I don’t think we only care about the general population. We care about the people with whom we are interacting on a daily basis. We have a bunch of people in this community who want spend time with rational friends instead of spending time with an average member of society.
Even if we are not intending with rational people we are still unlikely to interact with the average person. Most woman I meet, I meet during Salsa dancing. That activity selects for woman who are okay with strangers physically touching them during Salsa dancing.
I don’t think it belongs in the survey, but it might be worth doing as a separate project.
Why? The survey allows for finding correlations with existing questions. It means that you get answers to questions such as whether being harrased correlates with IQ for free.
Those answers also tend to be more likely to generalize to the general population than the absolute values of the amount of people who report being harrased.
It seems to me that a good survey on street harassment would be fairly long and the survey is already long enough. Still, if there’s still interest when the next survey is being discussed, it’s a possible topic. Prediction
Just defining harassment is difficult.
IQ (especially at LW levels) doesn’t strike me as likely to give much information. IQ might correlate with spending time in better neighborhoods, or with being more distracted (less likely to notice minor harassment? more likely to get harassed by men who don’t like being ignored) or with being less distracted (more likely to notice harassment).
I’d like more research on the subject—I suspect that local culture makes a huge difference. I also realize that discussions of street harassment are more likely to attract women who’ve been harassed.
IQ is just an example. We also have questions about moral beliefs. We have questions about how likely you find various risks.
At this stage the results wouldn’t be conclusive but they would increase the grasp I would have on the issue. Having a question on the LW survey wouldn’t give the same level of detail as a in depth study, but it would be an improvement.
I think the local culture question is one of the questions that interests me most. Should I expect that this is an issue for the woman I meet in daily life, given that I live in Germany? Women like my sister don’t bring the issue up, even in discussions about the value of feminism.
I know a bunch of women through the internet who report being troubled by street harassment and those don’t live in Germany. Given the reports of those woman, I do think that the issue is serious.