---
title: Connections
categories:
- work
content-tags:
- project
- personality
- data
- psychology
---

[This][1] isn't the first time I've wondered about correlation of surveys.  One of my crazy if-only-I-could-retire-now ideas has been a site like [Emode][2] or [Quizilla][3], with all results data (anonymously) evaluated for reliability and correlation with each other and demographics.

   [1]: https://web.archive.org/web/20040114000132/http://homepage.mac.com/phobia/C2142514717/E595300049/index.html
   [2]: http://www.emode.com/tests/
   [3]: http://quizilla.com/

Since I first dreamt that up, though, the blog phenomenon has surfaced, along with hundreds of people taking all sorts of self-administered tests and [surveys][4] and posting their answers or measure results.  Granted, many of these are meaningless "which character are you" surveys, but even then the raw answers might be scientifically interesting.

   [4]: http://www.fridayfive.org/

What I wish for now, then, is a more [structured][5] way to work with all this data.  Perhaps if more measures were tracked by [FOAF][6] as [MBTI][7] is now, so a [client][8] could mine for correlations.  If only I could get the blogosphere to move off [social][9] [network][10] [islands][11] and [claim
ownership][12] of their own information

   [5]: http://www.semanticweb.org/
   [6]: http://www.foaf-project.org/
   [7]: http://rdfweb.org/mt/foaflog/archives/000004.html
   [8]: http://xml.mfd-consult.dk/foaf/explorer/?foaf=http%3A%2F%2Fphobia.com%2Ffoaf.rdf
   [9]: http://www.friendster.com/
   [10]: http://www.tribe.net/
   [11]: http://disobey.com/ghostsites/show_exhibit/sixdegrees
   [12]: http://www.ldodds.com/foaf/foaf-a-matic.html
