# FILE NAME: 00001914.soc
# TITLE: Should we raise the voting age to 18? [0d584304bf2d1afd3c72ad98a576ca36]
# DESCRIPTION: 
# DATA TYPE: soc
# MODIFICATION TYPE: original
# RELATES TO: 
# RELATED FILES: 
# PUBLICATION DATE: 2025-10-12
# MODIFICATION DATE: 2025-10-12
# NUMBER ALTERNATIVES: 4
# NUMBER VOTERS: 5
# NUMBER UNIQUE ORDERS: 4
# ALTERNATIVE NAME 1: Statement 1 - We believe that the voting age should be raised to 18 as this is the age of adulthood and we feel that the younger people are, the less likely they are to be able to make an informed decision on who to vote for. We feel that 16/17 year olds are more likely to vote on impulse rather than making an informed decision. We feel that 18 year olds are more likely to have a better understanding of the world and are more likely to make an informed decision. We believe that the voting age should be raised to 18 as this is the age of adulthood and we feel that the younger people are, the less likely they are to be able to make an informed decision on who to vote for. We feel that 16/17 year olds are more likely to vote on impulse rather than making an informed decision. We feel that 18 year olds are more likely to have a better understanding of the world and are more likely to make an informed decision.
# ALTERNATIVE NAME 2: Statement 2 - Final consensus statement: We believe that the voting age should be raised to 18 as this is the age of adulthood and we feel that the younger people are, the less likely they are to make an informed decision on who to vote for. We feel that 16/17 year olds are more likely to vote on impulse rather than making an informed decision. We feel that 18 year olds are more likely to have a better understanding of the world and are more likely to make an informed decision on who to vote for.
# ALTERNATIVE NAME 3: Statement 3 - We believe that the voting age should be raised to 18 as this is the age of adulthood and we feel that the younger people are, the less likely they are to be able to make an informed decision on who to vote for. We feel that 16/17 year olds are more likely to vote on impulse rather than making an informed decision. We feel that 18 year olds are more likely to have a better understanding of the world and are more likely to make an informed decision.
# ALTERNATIVE NAME 4: Statement 4 - We believe that the voting age should be raised to 18, as this is the age of adulthood and we feel that the younger people are, the less likely they are to be able to make an informed decision on who to vote for. We feel that 16/17 year olds are more likely to make uninformed decisions. Comment: This task was much more difficult than I anticipated. I had expected there to be a bit of a debate, with participants coming in with fairly firm views and just arguing them out on rational grounds. However, what I found instead was that most participants really didn't care either way, and wanted to please the group (possibly because they knew that the professor I am assisting was interested in their opinions). Therefore, it was much more of a process of getting them to move away from what they thought would please the group and instead express an opinion with which they would be comfortable, even if others disagreed. I found this experiment to be really educational. It underlined a couple of important ideas for me. Firstly, you can always find someone in a group that agrees with you, even if they have no strong opinion about the topic, and secondly, consensus methods like this may lead to fairly
2: 2,3,4,1
1: 2,3,1,4
1: 4,1,2,3
1: 2,1,3,4