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A comment on The Nine Ways: On the Enneagram. Parent comment

Re:The Nine Ways: On the Enneagram by tgv on Tuesday July 09, 2024 @09:21AM (#40915811)
Statistically reliable, in what sense? That they frequently produce the same outcome on repeated application of the test? That's not a surprise. As a wise man said: the gold standard for repeatable outcome is astrology.

Suppose I make a test and ask questions like "Do you like coffee?" and "Is your favorite color blue?". That would get a very high test-retest reliability. If I then score e.g. +coffee -blue as "intelligent", does that really mean people who like coffee but prefer orange are intelligent?

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Re:The Nine Ways: On the Enneagram by knallfrosch on Tuesday July 09, 2024 @09:38AM (#40916006)
> Statistically reliable, in what sense?

Let's just say that if astrology was reliable, people would follow their horoscopes.

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Re:The Nine Ways: On the Enneagram by tgv on Tuesday July 09, 2024 @02:24PM (#40919249)
Astrology has a great test-retest reliability. Every time someone tests your sign, the same answer comes out. That's what it means. Same for personality inventories: people's replies don't vary much over time. As astrology shows, that doesn't mean you can draw conclusions.
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Re:The Nine Ways: On the Enneagram by bitwize on Tuesday July 09, 2024 @08:24PM (#40922673)
But star sign doesn't really correlate with personality traits. People with similar horoscopes can have vastly different personalities. People with similar Big 5 scores have similar personalities.
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