Geographic location poll

[sqbr]

I've been pondering how to do polls about various things in a way which minimises people feeling excluded or otherwise misrepresented. And I think the easiest way to test those ideas out is make polls and see what people don't like about them!

First off, nationality. As was pointed out to me the last time I tried doing a poll on this topic, just because I've lived in the same country my whole life and fit comfortably into it's majority culture doesn't mean other people's identities are so simple. It struck me that asking where people are currently located is a much less ambiguous question though of course you have to be careful not to then make the jump from "geographic location" to "national identity" in the analysis etc (especially since people might be on a three day business trip or something :)).

So! Please do this poll and then tell me anything about it that bugs you.

Poll #3915

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: Just the Poll Creator, participants: 39

In which geographic region are you currently located?

Africa
0 (0.0%)

North America
12 (30.8%)

South America
1 (2.6%)

Asia
1 (2.6%)

Europe
9 (23.1%)

Oceania
17 (43.6%)

Polar regions
1 (2.6%)

Somewhere at sea
0 (0.0%)

The sky/Space/parallel universe etc
0 (0.0%)

Other
0 (0.0%)

Using Wikipedia's Regions of the World. I divided North and South America since they are two different continents.

Another different question I could ask is "in which geographic location is the place or places that you consider "home" in some significant way?" but that's a bit vague, maybe.

Any alternatives, extra questions or extra answers etc you think would be better?

Comments

[yalovetz]

Currently located in Oceania, legal citizen of and cultural identity most informed by an upbringing in a country in Europe, and also a legal citizen of a country in the Caribbean (which would probably come under North America in your poll, or perhaps Somewhere at sea).

For me, legal nationality =/= cultural identity =/= current location.

[sqbr]

*nods*

I think if I make any polls which actually have a point beyond arbitrary random interest (like "How do people's opinions on X topic vary depending on what region they're 'from'" etc) I'm going to have to think very carefully about which of those (or other identities etc) is relevant and how to ask about it. Location seemed like a good place to start with since it is at least fairly easy to answer for most people but it obviously doesn't tell you very much about a lot of things.