Transparent by design
How the 12 Axes test is scored
The math is intentionally small enough to inspect. Your browser calculates twelve normalized scores and compares them with editorial reference vectors.
1. Responses use a five-point scale
Strongly disagree is −1, disagree is −0.5, neutral is 0, agree is +0.5, and strongly agree is +1. Each statement carries a signed weight for one or more axes. Positive weights point toward the first-named pole; negative weights point toward the second.
2. Weighted answers create an axis total
For axis k, the raw score is the sum of each response multiplied by its weight: Sk = Σ(Oi × Wi,k). The maximum absolute score is the sum of the absolute weights: Mk = Σ|Wi,k|.
3. Each total becomes a percentage
The normalized score is Pk = ((Sk + Mk) ÷ (2 × Mk)) × 100. This places every dimension on a 0–100 scale. A score of 100 points fully toward the first pole; 0 points fully toward the second.
4. Matching compares twelve-number vectors
The site calculates the Euclidean distance between your twelve scores and each reference ideology vector, then shows the smallest distance. All axes currently have equal importance in the comparison. The result depends on the profiles in the library, so adding or revising profiles can change the nearest match.
What this method cannot tell you
This is not a validated psychological instrument. Five questions per axis cannot capture every definition, policy detail, or context. Ideology profiles are editorial approximations rather than measurements of all people who use a label. The useful output is the pattern of answers you can inspect—not a claim that an algorithm has discovered your identity.
Privacy and reproducibility
Scoring happens in the browser. In-progress answers may be kept in local storage on your device, then cleared when you finish or restart. A result URL contains only twelve percentages and can be recalculated without an account or server database.
Methodology FAQ
Normalization makes dimensions with different total weights readable on the same visual scale. A score of 50 represents a balanced weighted total for the statements on that axis.
It provides a simple, reproducible way to compare the complete twelve-number vector. The method is transparent, but it is sensitive to which reference profiles are included and how those profiles are defined.
No. The statements and vectors have not been validated on a representative sample. Reliability, construct validity, and population norms would require a formal research program.