bubble quiz
 

I suppose most of the political geeks on this forum are probably aware of the book "Coming Apart"; I haven't read it yet, but I did find a neat excerpt of it online that contains the 'Bubble Quiz'.

link

Basically, the quiz is a fun exercise to see where you came from and where you are currently situated in America. The questions are, of themselves, pretty funny, as are the statistical insights.

If you're curious, I got a 59, so: "a lifelong resident of a working-class neighborhood with average television and moviegoing habits". Which is mostly accurate; I don't watch TV or popular movies much and I avoid chain restaurants (excepting fast food).... but, I've spent so much time in rural areas I think it's inevitable my score would have been high.

I've heard of that book. Haven't read it though.

Those questions are interesting. I wonder if someone who lives outside the US (like in another Western industrialized nation, like Canada or the UK) could answer them and get a decent result. I guess I could try... I grew up in a in a blue collar family in suburban neighbourhood in Toronto. Some of those questions don't apply to me though, so they just get an automatic no or zero...

Maybe I'm misreading this thing, but it looks like a 59 can also be "a first- generation middle-class person with working-class parents and average television and moviegoing habits" and "a first- generation upper-middle- class person with middle-class parents".

I got a 56 for what it's worth. I'm not really sure how to interpret that.

I got a 72. Apparently that's closest to the typical 77 for the very first option, "A lifelong resident of a working-class neighborhood with average television and movie-going habits".

I didn't bother to add up the score but I am definately "A life long resident of a working class blah blah blah..."

So I just assumed that I am American and answered the questions. Most of them can be applied to Canadian life as well, I guess. Who knows if that messed up my results, but I answered every question with 100% honesty.

I scored 23.

But I don't really fit into either of the interpretations that I'm "supposed" to fit into:

Ohhhh, I'm DEFINITELY not upper-middle-class anything. Both of my parents come from generations of blue collar workers. My father has been a factory machinist, making parts for airplane engines, for almost 35 years now. Before that, he dropped out of high school, moved to Canada, and found temp jobs in different factories. He learned his vocation through apprenticeships at different companies, before he got a job with his current employer. He makes about $70,000 - 80,000 annually. And he owns his own 4 bedroom house, and is well-off enough to own a higher end vehicle (not like a BMW or anything, but more than a Corolla or something like that). Not sure exactly what my mother makes, she is self-employed (runs a daycare out of the house, gets paid per child. She can have up to 5 children at once). I believe she makes about $30,000 in a good year.

We are middle class at best.

So yeah. I don't believe I am upper-middle-class. I certainly don't live (and have never lived) the extremely hoity-toity lifestyle of your average upper middle class person. They are a totally different breed of people. And you know what? I'm not interested in ever living that life either. I don't care if I start earning 6 figures at some point in my life, it just won't happen. Of course, I want to be a teacher so earning 6 figures is kind of a far-fetched idea for me anyways, especially as a music teacher.

I grew up in a middle class neighbourhood, went to a high school with mostly middle class students (there were a few lower class kids there too, though), and most of my friends today are from middle class families.

Maybe it's better to be a working-class person in Canada than in the US?

Well, there you have it. Sorry for that verbal drivel, but I had to respond to those descriptions. I have always thought of my socioeconomic status as "working-class", but maybe that's not the case. I'm just a middle-class girl with working-class values, I guess.

That's a horrible presentation for an 'online' quiz but whatever.

Actually scratch that, this is a horrible quiz, I got 47 or...

A first- generation middle-class person with working-class parents and average television and moviegoing habits.
Range: 42–100. Typical: 66.

First generation? One of my aunt's has done genealogical research to the point of tracing my maternal family back to some of the first European settlers in North America.

Middle Class? Does growing up in a single parent home, with no car ever, in rural Canada, where my mom raised two kids on $5 a hour, sound middle class to anyone?

Average TV and Movie habits? At one point about two years ago my flatmate approached me and apologized for the lack of cable tv in the place. He said it should be fixed soon and that everything should be smooth from then on. Apparently we hadn't had working tv in like 3 months, I never noticed before he apologized.

Yeah... that quiz sure is... something.

It's inaccurate.

There's no point me doing this quiz as I've never lived in North America, Out of interest why is the quiz aimed at whites? On the cover it says "The State of White America 1960-2010, or have I just misread something here?

The book limits its data to Whites to avoid controversy, which Murray is certainly no stranger to, as he co-authored The Bell Curve. If you want to know more, read more about the book.

Anyways, Burning Down, the average household in the USA earns $50k/annually. A single person who earns $125k/annually is upper class. (edit) So, if your father and mother combined earn ~$120k/annually, more than double the American average.... you'd be upper middle class, without doubt.

And, yeah, Janszoon, you're correct. I could qualify as working class or first generation middle class.

...(edit) and, lastly, Mr. Dave, you're missing the idea of the book and what the test is to show, which is how culture and class tend to go hand in hand.

I got 37 points, + or - 1 for adding as I went and possibly losing track (though it's relative, it still leaves me in the under 40 range).

I could have gotten a lower number if I hadn't eaten at Denny's 3 times last year ... and that puts my lifetime Denny's visits at about 6, so damn. Also, I bought Coors like once because the people coming over didn't want to drink fancy schmancy beer (and I didn't want to spend that much $ on people who wouldn't appreciate it). Saw True Girt, Inception, and watch Big Bang Theory, even though I don't own a tv or go to movies :P I "lettered" in lacrosse in high school, because we started the team and there wasn't enough people to make varsity and jv, so everyone was varsity >.> We lost every single game over three years :D but I got a letter (pfft and threw it away... I despise the commentary on high school sports he had... "such an important part of the culture" <--- I hope this changes over time, I think "school spirit" and all that is mumbo jumbo.)

I did figure that was the point but I'm not sure how the test is actually reflecting that. Same as Burning Down I'm Canadian but I don't think there's really that much difference between our nations that it would result in something so completely off the mark.

Shouldn't you get negative points for knowing Nascar drivers and/or watching Dr. Phil?

No. Knowing NASCAR drivers and watching Dr. Phil are signs that you're less in the upper class bubble, not more. Low scores = upper class here.

I was wrong. $85,000 is the combined household income. My mother makes WAY less than I thought she did. After she puts money into her business, pays taxes for her business and her personal taxes, her net income is only about $12,000. Too bad, she works so hard, but if she started charging $600 for each kid she'd be out of business because nobody wants to pay that for daycare. So I guess we're middle class. Cost of living is higher in Canada, though. Like, we pay more for gas (on average) than Americans do even though most of it comes from inside our borders. But I still have no idea why my score was so low. I must live under a rock or something :(

But like I said, my parents grew up as true working class people for the most part, and those values have been instilled in me. Stuff like "you have to work to get the things you want" etc.

I think the fact that we couldn't afford stuff like cable tv while growing up made the quiz think we were upper class due to having 'avoided' such pedestrian mainstream distractions.

I avoid eating at cheesy chain restaurants like Denny's not because I think I have a more refined palette and choose to eat fancier meals, it's because I can't afford it on a regular basis. Again the quiz would have taken that as a sign of cultural class superiority.

Whatever, broken quiz is broken.

I got 54.

'Sup social strata buddy!

I scored a 25.

This brings me closest to the range of “A first-generation upper-middle-class person with middle-class parents. Range: 11-80. Typical: 33.” But both of my parents were working class and I grew up in a working class neighborhood. And I am middle class now. What seems to have brought me more into the upper-middle-class range is: very low t.v. and movie viewing habits; non-rural living; never below poverty line; never worked on factory floor; no manual labor jobs; not an Evangelical Christian; no friends with whom I have wide-ranging political disagreements; no close friend who could seldom get better than Cs in high school (attended a specialized high school where the majority of students got good grades); not around cigarette smokers in last month; 1 point on the military insignia; didn’t know Jimmie Johnson of NASCAR or Dallas Cowboys; never purchased Avon products; no pickup truck; no domestic mass-market beer; no fishing; went to Denny’s once in the last year; no varsity letter, cheerleading or marching band in high school; no Kiwanis Club, Rotary Club or union hall meetings; no parades; no uniform; took long-distance buses, but no hitchhiking; and thought Branson was Richard Branson.

Nothing much! Geez, 56? What a redneck.

Boy, I tell you whut.