1. 1
Coding Posts for gender

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Instructions
• You will read a random series of online posts
made by a single individual.
• Based on the content of these posts, you will
guess the gender of the author.
• For the purposes of this study, guessing
gender will simply be a binary choice: male or
female.

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• When you accept a HIT, you will be taken to a
series of 10-20 posts by the same author.
• You may scroll through these posts freely.
• There are two questions for each HIT:
–Binary choice of male or female
–Rating of your own confidence in your choice of the
author’s gender

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• 5-10 seconds after you arrive on the page, a
“submit” button will appear. You may make
your ratings and submit them at any time
after this point.
• You are required to categorize every author as
either male or female
–If you really aren’t sure, make the choice as best you can,
and indicate that you weren’t confident

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Here’s what you’ll see

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Example
● Happiest of Mother's Days to the strongest, most loyal, most creative, most inspiring woman
I've ever known! I lovelovelove you
● Pug life.
● Five minutes in this coffee shop: Tom Waits, Crystal Castles, Robyn, Kraftwerk.
● Has anyone ever punched someone in the face while putting on a coat?
Let’s say you saw the above posts and decided
that the author was female, but you weren’t
too sure.
In this case, you would choose “female” and
“not very confident,” then submit your
response.

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Example
● is it thanksgiving time again already??
● Constantly disappointed that the three parts of candy corn don't taste different.
● I accidentally listened to Fergalicious and now my day is ruined.
● Do I look like if Seth Rogan and the guy in the Twix commercial had a baby? Be honest.
This time, you decide the author is male and you
feel pretty sure.
In this case, you would choose “male” and “very
confident,” then submit your response.

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• Sometimes, you will have to go by intuition;
this is fine!
• But, there may be information in a post which
strongly implies the author’s gender:
– “hell of a time to get my period”
– “Is it bad when you overhear your boss talking about you
and all he says is “He dresses well?’”
• Read carefully, but also go with your gut.

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• Your guesses will be based on your own ideas
of how “male” and “female” differ.
• Except for the rare case where an author
explicitly states his or her own gender, we
don’t expect you to ever know the right
answer for sure. Just guess the best you can.
Don’t overthink.