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How I fit into the Disaffected discourse community
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How I fit into the Disaffected discourse community
Abstract
Many citizens, as myself, are not politically educated and are unaware of the
various political parties. There are nine different typologies, including bystanders as to
where you could fall under based on your beliefs of the government, economy and how
you live your lifestyle. Pew Research Typology quiz will help you figure out which
typology you best fit into. The quiz is based on a few questions asking about certain
issues such as abortion, same sex marriage, and how you feel the economy is right
now. You can also compare other typologies to your group and see whether you feel
the same way as your typology or if you agree more on a different belief.
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How I fit into the Disaffected discourse community
With all the conflicts going on in the world today there has to be different opinions
going on through the citizens’ heads. How people feel about certain issues, splits the
society up in different typology groups. There are nine different typology groups that
describe how a person mostly feels and believes about political issues in the United
States of America. I belong to the typology Disaffected, along with eleven percent of
registered voters and I agree that I fit into this discourse community based on a few of
their beliefs, such as religion being a very important part of their life and being
financially stressed.
One day, I was assigned to take a typology quiz and find out which typology
group I best fit into. I went online and decided to take the quiz. The quiz is based upon
the way government is doing right now. It is only twenty questions long and asks you
blunt questions whether you fully agree or you fully disagree. Examples of some
questions are: if you dislike immigrants and think they are taking over our jobs, whether
you are religious or not, etc. I was real curious about which typology group I would
belong to because I am not a person that is big into politics. According to the results of
the typology quiz, I am considered a Disaffected. Majority of the Disaffected believe the
country cannot solve many of its important problems (Pew Research Typology Quiz,
2011). They are also religious and socially conservative, along with being sympathetic
to the poor and supportive of social welfare programs (2011).
Twenty-five percent of the Disaffected are Republicans and the other Seventyfive percent are Independent, none are Democrat (Analyze Groups and Issues, 2011).
In the past presidential in 2008, Obama had Twenty-five percent votes from the
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How I fit into the Disaffected discourse community
Disaffected and McCain had Forty-one percent. Only Twenty-two percent of the
Disaffected would re-elect President Barack Obama in 2012 (Analyze Groups “Vote
Preference”, 2011). While Forty-eight percent would prefer to elect a republican next
election (2011) .The Disaffected also do not approve of the way President Barack
Obama is handling his job as a president (Analyze Groups “Obama Job Approval”). In
the past Congressional vote in 2010, fifty votes from the Disaffected went towards the
Republican candidate, while only twelve votes went to the Democratic candidate (Red
vs. Blue, 2011). Majority of the Disaffected believe that the government is doing poorly
and not attending to problems as much or as rapid as they should be. Eighty percent of
the Disaffected can “some of the time/never” trust the government is doing the right
thing (Analyze Groups “Trust in Government”, 2011).
The Disaffected are the most financially stressed of all the typology groups.
Nearly half describe their household as “struggling” (Red vs. Blue, 2011). They usually
don’t make enough income to pay their bills on time. Seventy-one percent have
experienced unemployment in their household in the past 12 months. The Disaffected
also do not approve of immigrants and believe that the immigrants are coming to take
over our jobs and take up space by living here (2011). I think there are some facts that
describe who I am and make me fit into this typology group. My dad is disabled, so he
gets disability checks once a month, and my mom works at a nursing home which
causes financial issues. With both of their checks combined, we still do not have
enough money to pay off all of our bills at the time required. I am also a religious
person and sometimes I can be sympathetic to the poor, depending on the situation.
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How I fit into the Disaffected discourse community
Compared to Solid Liberals and Staunch Conservatives, there are a lot of
different opinions arising. Fifty-two percent of the Disaffected typology group are
strongly against same-sex marriage, while there are Thirty-four percent that strongly
favor same-sex marriage (Analyze Groups “Same sex marriage”, 2011). Eighty-five
percent of Staunch Conservatives strongly oppose same-sex marriage, while only nine
percent favor for same-sex marriage. Thirteen percent of Solid Liberals are strongly
against same-sex marriage, Eighty-five percent are strongly for same-sex marriage
(2011). I personally do not agree with my typology group considering I do not have any
problem at all with same-sex marriage. I think it should be okay to marry whoever we
wish to be with for the rest of our lives, whether it is same sex or not.
Forty-three percent of the Disaffected think that abortion should be illegal in all
cases, and forty-eight percent say that it should be legal in most cases (Analyze Groups
“Abortion”, 2011). Seventy-two percent of Staunch Conservatives agree that abortion
should be completely illegal in all cases, and twenty-seven think that it should be legal.
Solid liberals, being completely opposite, only fifteen percent believe that abortion
should be illegal. Leaving eighty-four percent, which is the majority, believing that
abortion should be legal (2011). I agree with the Staunch Conservatives. I personally
think that abortion should be taken seriously and that it should not be legal because that
is another life growing in the mother’s stomach and a lot of women take abortion for
advantage just for their sake to not be pregnant.
Many question whether marijuana should be made legal within the United States.
Forty-nine percent of the Disaffected say that it should stay illegal and the other fortytwo percent think it should be made legal (Analyze Groups “Marijuana Legalization”,
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How I fit into the Disaffected discourse community
2011). Majority of Staunch Conservatives, seventy-three percent believe that marijuana
should still be illegal and only twenty-two percent believe that it should be legal. Thirtyone percent of Solid Liberals think that marijuana should be illegal while sixty-six
percent think that it should be legalized (2011). I do not agree with the Disaffected. I
think that marijuana should be legalized because it does no harm to you, unlike
cigarettes.
Forty-seven percent of the Disaffected believe that hard work does not
guarantee any success and the other half believe that most can get ahead if you work
hard (Analyze Groups “Hard work and Success”, 2011). Staunch Conservatives are
very opposite in the way that seventeen percent say that if you work hard you still are
not guaranteed success. Seventy-nine percent say that mostly everyone will succeed if
you work hard and do not stop. Solid Liberals agree about the same as the Disaffected,
fifty percent say no guarantee and forty-five percent say you can succeed with hard
work (2011). I believe that if you really do work hard and do not get too far ahead of
yourself that of course you can succeed. I think it is better to work ahead rather than
working behind and having to catch up.
With so many issues being arisen, I know it is hard for the government while
most people play the “blame game” and are not satisfied at all with the way things are
going on right now with this country. Eighty-six percent of the disaffected are not
satisfied, while only ten percent that are actually satisfied (Analyze Groups “National
Satisfaction”, 2011). Ninety-five percent of Staunch Conservatives are not nationally
satisfied, leaving only four percent satisfied. With the Solid Liberals, sixty-seven
percent are not satisfied with the government and the way they are running things, and
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How I fit into the Disaffected discourse community
twenty-eight percent do believe that they are satisfied (2011). As you can see, there
are a lot of United States citizens that are not pleased with our government and the way
they are handling certain situations. I personally agree with the Disaffected in the way
that I am not satisfied over all. I do not like this recession and the rising gas prices. I
also do not agree with people having their jobs threatened to have taken away from
them.
There has been a lot of impact on the citizens with the recession going on in the
world today. Sixty-three percent of the Disaffected believe that the recession has made
a major impact, and it is not yet recovered (Analyze Groups “Recession Impact”, 2011).
It has made a major impact and mostly recovered to the other sixteen percent. Forty-six
percent of Staunch Conservatives have had a major impact from the recession but not
yet recovered and twenty-one percent is mostly recovered. Only thirty percent of Solid
Liberals have let the recession make a major impact on them and not yet recovered,
while thirty-three percent were mostly recovered (2011). I feel that the recession has
made an enormous impact on my life and it is not yet recovered. As I said earlier, my
father is disabled, so my mother was the only one working and having to support four
other people in the household at the time. The recession made a huge financial struggle
in our lives and effected having the bills paid on time.
I think the typology quiz fit me into the correct typology but there are certain
issues that I do not agree with. For example, same sex marriage and how abortion
should be illegal. Overall I feel that most statistics that my typology is based on best fits
who I am and what I also believe in. Taking five minutes out of my time to take this quiz
has made an impact on my outlook towards our government. I never really was into
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How I fit into the Disaffected discourse community
politics but I do see that there are some topics that get me a little irritated that other
people believe in and that I disagree upon. I do not think that a two question survey
would be accurate at all because you would not see what that person actually believes
in. You would also not get enough information to see what typology they would best fit
into.
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How I fit into the Disaffected discourse community
References
Analyze Groups and Issues. (n.d.). Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. Retrieved
September 15, 2011,
from http://people-press.org/typology/

Analyze Groups and Issues "Abortion". (n.d.). Pew Research Center for the People and
the Press. Retrieved September 15, 2011,
o from http://people-press.org/typology/

Analyze Groups and Issues "Hard Work & Success". (n.d.). Pew Research Center for the
People and the Press. Retrieved September 15, 2011,
o
from http://people-press.org/typology/

Analyze Groups and Issues "Marijuana Legalization". (n.d.). Pew Research Center for
the People and the Press. Retrieved September 15, 2011,
o from http://people-press.org/typology/

Analyze Groups and Issues "National Satisfaction". (n.d.). Pew Research Center for the
People and the Press. Retrieved September 15, 2011,
o from http://people-press.org/typology/

Analyze Groups and Issues "Obama Job Approval". (n.d.). Pew Research Center for the
People and the Press. Retrieved September 15, 2011,
o from http://people-press.org/typology/

Analyze Groups and Issues "Recession Impact". (n.d.). Pew Research Center for the
People and the Press. Retrieved September 15, 2011,
o from http://people-press.org/typology/
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How I fit into the Disaffected discourse community

Analyze Groups and Issues "Same Sex Marriage". (n.d.). Pew Research Center for the
People and the Press. Retrieved September 15, 2011,
o
from http://people-press.org/typology/

Analyze Groups and Issues "Trust in Government". (n.d.). Pew Research Center for the
People and the Press. Retrieved September 15, 2011,
o from http://people-press.org/typology/

Analyze Groups and Issues "Vote Preference". (n.d.). Pew Research Center for the
People and the Press. Retrieved September 15, 2011,
o from http://people-press.org/typology/

Beyond Red vs. Blue. (n.d.). Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.
Retrieved September 15, 2011,
o from http://people-press.org/typology/

Pew Research Typology Quiz. (n.d.). Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.
Retrieved September