The Jeopardy! Anytime Test

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Re: The Jeopardy! Anytime Test

Post by opusthepenguin »

boson wrote: Thu Feb 20, 2020 6:27 pm I'm suspicious of the reasons for this change. There are lots of people who pass the test who don't get an audition, so it isn't due to a lack of people. It must be due to a lack of the people the producers want.

My suspicion is diversity of the pool: more women, more rural people, more visible minorities. I don't think they are looking for higher scores.
I think a simpler explanation is they're considering transitioning to this as the new normal. But they don't want to rely on this method until they've tested it and worked through any bugs. Worst case scenario: the new method is a disaster and they have to scrap the results completely. (Turns out one in three qualifying test takers lives in North Korea.) But no worries since they've got all the candidates they need from the old method.
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Re: The Jeopardy! Anytime Test

Post by triviawayne »

Bigdogstalfos wrote: Thu Feb 20, 2020 5:40 pm
opusthepenguin wrote: Thu Feb 20, 2020 4:39 pm
jeff6286 wrote: Thu Feb 20, 2020 3:45 pm I'm guessing this is a trial run, maybe they will make it year round in the future.
I bet you're right. Furthermore, I'd bet that if they do that, scheduled online tests will become a thing of the past. There's no reason to run it the old way if this way works.
When I told my wife about this, her first reaction was that they must be transitioning over to this as a model where everyone who takes it in a certain period is entered into one pool. I do like being able to do it whenever, depending on schedules, especially for someone like me who has a toddler running around, which left me with only the third test as an option this year.

Has it been clarified if you take this test in addition to the test last month and get 35 on both, do you still have only one entry into the lottery? I would assume so as it seems like a really easy way to game the system for this one year otherwise.
It said they take the higher of the two scores, so one entry.
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Re: The Jeopardy! Anytime Test

Post by Robert K S »

boson wrote: Thu Feb 20, 2020 6:27 pm I'm suspicious of the reasons for this change. There are lots of people who pass the test who don't get an audition, so it isn't due to a lack of people. It must be due to a lack of the people the producers want.

My suspicion is diversity of the pool: more women, more rural people, more visible minorities. I don't think they are looking for higher scores.
But they have always wanted those things.

To my mind, the simpler explanation to the answer for "why now?" is that it has taken them this long to develop a large enough bank of questions and the (admittedly not groundbreaking) technology needed to deliver and score them to cheat-proof the test. If you can run the test with your friend watching (or streaming it to a video sharing site, or whatever) and then everyone else can take the exact same test, then everyone can have scores approaching perfect, rendering the test useless (they might as well just collect an information form). Making a take-anytime test probably isn't something you can build overnight, but now they've managed it.
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Re: The Jeopardy! Anytime Test

Post by DysonSphere »

Robert K S wrote: Thu Feb 20, 2020 8:37 pm To my mind, the simpler explanation to the answer for "why now?" is that it has taken them this long to develop a large enough bank of questions and the (admittedly not groundbreaking) technology needed to deliver and score them to cheat-proof the test. If you can run the test with your friend watching (or streaming it to a video sharing site, or whatever) and then everyone else can take the exact same test, then everyone can have scores approaching perfect, rendering the test useless (they might as well just collect an information form). Making a take-anytime test probably isn't something you can build overnight, but now they've managed it.
It's probably "all of the above." It's true it's significantly easier to vet 150 questions than to build up a bank of the thousands of questions necessary for an anytime test. They would need at least 5,000 before people would start noticing repeats.

I liked the shared experience of taking the test at the same time, and it encouraged me to study up in the preceeding weeks, so I will be sad to see the old format go.
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Re: The Jeopardy! Anytime Test

Post by Golf »

DysonSphere wrote: Thu Feb 20, 2020 8:44 pm It's probably "all of the above." It's true it's significantly easier to vet 150 questions than to build up a bank of the thousands of questions necessary for an anytime test. They would need at least 5,000 before people would start noticing repeats.
With a 5000 question database, wouldn’t it be roughly 50/50 on seeing at least 1 repeat question on your second test?
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Re: The Jeopardy! Anytime Test

Post by talkingaway »

Golf wrote: Thu Feb 20, 2020 8:50 pm
DysonSphere wrote: Thu Feb 20, 2020 8:44 pm It's probably "all of the above." It's true it's significantly easier to vet 150 questions than to build up a bank of the thousands of questions necessary for an anytime test. They would need at least 5,000 before people would start noticing repeats.
With a 5000 question database, wouldn’t it be roughly 50/50 on seeing at least 1 repeat question on your second test?
First, they could easily mark questions that you've already seen, since you have to log in before taking the Anytime test. So, if you take a 50 question test and bail at the last question (like I did this afternoon), instead of drawing from a pool of 5000 questions, you're now drawing from a pool of 4950 questions.

But let's say that you have exactly one friend, and watch him take the test, and then you research all 50 of his questions and know those cold. Now J! will be forced to draw from the 5000 question bank, of which 50 would be known to you. The chance of all 50 of your questions coming from the pool of 4950 unknown questions would be (4950 choose 50) divided by (5000 choose 50), which is about 60%. Thus, 40% of the time, you have at least one question you've seen before.

Is that a problem, in a practical sense? I imagine (but I'm too lazy to do the math right now) that most of the 40% of the "problematic" tests only have 1 or 2 repeats. Thus, the only time it's an issue is if your "non-cheating" score would have been 33/50 or 34/50, AND those 1 or 2 questions that got repeated are one of the 16 or 17 questions you WOULD have gotten wrong, but you got right because of research. (This is assuming that 35 is still the cutoff.)

And, of course, there's also the fact that you have to take a paper-and-pen test once you get to the audition. If you live by an audition city, sure, maybe you try to cheat the system. It's not a huge waste of your time - you spend 2-3 hours having a fun time with J! folks, you get a cool clicky pen, and you get to play J! in front of people before your application quietly goes into the circular file because you scored 25/50 on the paper-and-pen test. But if you're making a 5-hour road trip from Smallville to get on J!, it's not in your interest to cheat.

By the way, if you want a 50-50 chance for two 50-question tests drawn from a question bank to have 100 unique questions, you have to draw from a pool of only about 3650. For perspective, that's a little more than 12 weeks of shows. Granted, a lot of clues wouldn't work for typographical Jeopardy - but there aren't too many responses that would be too long (from Wednesday's show, Dia de los Muertos and Feminine Mystique would probably be a little too long, but most of the others would be okay).
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Re: The Jeopardy! Anytime Test

Post by True North »

I’m curious how this will affect auditions coming out of the January test. Would they delay until after the Anytime Test ends in April? Or would they treat that as a separate pool?
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Re: The Jeopardy! Anytime Test

Post by talkingaway »

True North wrote: Fri Feb 21, 2020 3:47 pm I’m curious how this will affect auditions coming out of the January test. Would they delay until after the Anytime Test ends in April? Or would they treat that as a separate pool?
Is it a delay to have no auditions scheduled between now and April? I always assumed they do most of their auditioning between seasons or towards the end of a season, and they're still working on S36 AFAIK. Plus, I imagine they'd want to give a month or so of advance notice, to let people arrange work schedules, etc., for those who don't happen to be local to an audition city.
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Re: The Jeopardy! Anytime Test

Post by True North »

talkingaway wrote: Fri Feb 21, 2020 4:00 pm
True North wrote: Fri Feb 21, 2020 3:47 pm I’m curious how this will affect auditions coming out of the January test. Would they delay until after the Anytime Test ends in April? Or would they treat that as a separate pool?
Is it a delay to have no auditions scheduled between now and April? I always assumed they do most of their auditioning between seasons or towards the end of a season, and they're still working on S36 AFAIK. Plus, I imagine they'd want to give a month or so of advance notice, to let people arrange work schedules, etc., for those who don't happen to be local to an audition city.
My first audition was at the beginning of May, and I was notified in mid-March. That was also after a late-January test.
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Re: The Jeopardy! Anytime Test

Post by MollyQMurphy »

triviawayne wrote: Thu Feb 20, 2020 11:35 am
DysonSphere wrote: Wed Feb 19, 2020 10:25 pm They have such an enormous pool of test-takers who never get an audition invite, it raises the question of why they felt an anytime test was necessary. Ultimately, of course, it's at their discretion.
an interesting take on the situation; totally agree they don't need to do more to get their contestant pool, and shows usually don't take the time to do more than they need to on this front due to the extra expense.

However, the show seems to be reaching out more to the public than in the past, and looking into other ways to find the next James, and this may be part of that effort.

If they don't pull me out of the pool, I'm hoping this sticks around and comes back next year in case I can't take the test in the designated three days. If I had to take it this year, I would've only been available on the night I would've failed the test.
I have a young friend who has the potential to be another James. He took the test in January, thinks he got 46. He has very impressive chops elsewhere, quite elite, but this is his first time trying for J! - not sure why he's waited.

We've done the referral to Corina post-test, and are now waiting/hoping to hear. I'm wondering whether this Anytime! test will delay further casting from the January sessions. Has anyone heard one way or the other?

ETA: I had only read to the post I quoted before replying. Sorry for the redundancy with the latest two! Lol
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Re: The Jeopardy! Anytime Test

Post by Austin Powers »

The "why now?" is that Maggie left the week before and there's a new producer.

If you were in the pool previously you should assume that you're going to get tired treading water.

The big thing remains the photo. They want to see what you look like. The show is committed to being as visually diverse and young-looking as possible. They think this will achieve those goals more easily.

Of course, the GOAT event didn't get great ratings because of any of that. The show is practically borderline when it comes to what it wants from contestants.
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Re: The Jeopardy! Anytime Test

Post by triviawayne »

Austin Powers wrote: Sat Feb 22, 2020 10:28 am The "why now?" is that Maggie left the week before and there's a new producer.

If you were in the pool previously you should assume that you're going to get tired treading water.

The big thing remains the photo. They want to see what you look like. The show is committed to being as visually diverse and young-looking as possible. They think this will achieve those goals more easily.

Of course, the GOAT event didn't get great ratings because of any of that. The show is practically borderline when it comes to what it wants from contestants.
I had heard that Maggie left (very disappointed I never got to meet her), but doesn't the new producer start with the new season? Either way, this has nothing to do with the anytime test. To create and implement this would take way more time than a few weeks. No way was this waiting in the wings for when maybe a couple people on staff decide to leave the show.



Sorry, but no way can this be accurate. The show needs a full pool to choose from, and they aren't auditioning new swimmers until maybe late April at the earliest...so if those of us currently in the pool are going to drown, who is left to be on the show the rest of this season?




I would think the photo is to ensure you are the person who took the test online when you get to the audition. This is a random draw of test passers for who gets the invite, so having the photo beforehand is meaningless for the reason you stated, plus they take your photo at the audition, while also taping said audition.



I have no idea what you even mean by that last sentence.
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Re: The Jeopardy! Anytime Test

Post by triviawayne »

MollyQMurphy wrote: Fri Feb 21, 2020 11:21 pm
triviawayne wrote: Thu Feb 20, 2020 11:35 am
DysonSphere wrote: Wed Feb 19, 2020 10:25 pm They have such an enormous pool of test-takers who never get an audition invite, it raises the question of why they felt an anytime test was necessary. Ultimately, of course, it's at their discretion.
an interesting take on the situation; totally agree they don't need to do more to get their contestant pool, and shows usually don't take the time to do more than they need to on this front due to the extra expense.

However, the show seems to be reaching out more to the public than in the past, and looking into other ways to find the next James, and this may be part of that effort.

If they don't pull me out of the pool, I'm hoping this sticks around and comes back next year in case I can't take the test in the designated three days. If I had to take it this year, I would've only been available on the night I would've failed the test.
I have a young friend who has the potential to be another James. He took the test in January, thinks he got 46. He has very impressive chops elsewhere, quite elite, but this is his first time trying for J! - not sure why he's waited.

We've done the referral to Corina post-test, and are now waiting/hoping to hear. I'm wondering whether this Anytime! test will delay further casting from the January sessions. Has anyone heard one way or the other?

ETA: I had only read to the post I quoted before replying. Sorry for the redundancy with the latest two! Lol

What is this referral of which you speak? Is there a way to pave the path for a potential contestant?????? (asking for a friend ;) )
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Re: The Jeopardy! Anytime Test

Post by goongas »

I came to the same realization when I heard the Maggie news, that those who auditioned under Maggie would not have a good chance of continuing. I know people have been contacted long after an audition though.

The current season of J! Is almost over, they stop taping in April, there aren’t terribly many tape dates left that people have not been contacted for.

I had read that Michael Richards was going to shadow Harry this season. I don’t know if that ever happened. But I can’t imagine Michael is completely out of the loop. The Anytime test is ending in April I imagine because then they will start the prep for the new season.

I hope I am wrong as I am in the pool from a Maggie audition.
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Re: The Jeopardy! Anytime Test

Post by Austin Powers »

triviawayne wrote: Sat Feb 22, 2020 2:16 pm
Austin Powers wrote: Sat Feb 22, 2020 10:28 am The "why now?" is that Maggie left the week before and there's a new producer.

If you were in the pool previously you should assume that you're going to get tired treading water.

The big thing remains the photo. They want to see what you look like. The show is committed to being as visually diverse and young-looking as possible. They think this will achieve those goals more easily.

Of course, the GOAT event didn't get great ratings because of any of that. The show is practically borderline when it comes to what it wants from contestants.
I had heard that Maggie left (very disappointed I never got to meet her), but doesn't the new producer start with the new season? Either way, this has nothing to do with the anytime test. To create and implement this would take way more time than a few weeks. No way was this waiting in the wings for when maybe a couple people on staff decide to leave the show.

Sorry, but no way can this be accurate. The show needs a full pool to choose from, and they aren't auditioning new swimmers until maybe late April at the earliest...so if those of us currently in the pool are going to drown, who is left to be on the show the rest of this season?

I would think the photo is to ensure you are the person who took the test online when you get to the audition. This is a random draw of test passers for who gets the invite, so having the photo beforehand is meaningless for the reason you stated, plus they take your photo at the audition, while also taping said audition.


I have no idea what you even mean by that last sentence.
Lot of assumptions there by you, all wrong.
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Re: The Jeopardy! Anytime Test

Post by triviawayne »

Austin Powers wrote: Sat Feb 22, 2020 3:27 pm
triviawayne wrote: Sat Feb 22, 2020 2:16 pm
Austin Powers wrote: Sat Feb 22, 2020 10:28 am The "why now?" is that Maggie left the week before and there's a new producer.

If you were in the pool previously you should assume that you're going to get tired treading water.

The big thing remains the photo. They want to see what you look like. The show is committed to being as visually diverse and young-looking as possible. They think this will achieve those goals more easily.

Of course, the GOAT event didn't get great ratings because of any of that. The show is practically borderline when it comes to what it wants from contestants.
I had heard that Maggie left (very disappointed I never got to meet her), but doesn't the new producer start with the new season? Either way, this has nothing to do with the anytime test. To create and implement this would take way more time than a few weeks. No way was this waiting in the wings for when maybe a couple people on staff decide to leave the show.

Sorry, but no way can this be accurate. The show needs a full pool to choose from, and they aren't auditioning new swimmers until maybe late April at the earliest...so if those of us currently in the pool are going to drown, who is left to be on the show the rest of this season?

I would think the photo is to ensure you are the person who took the test online when you get to the audition. This is a random draw of test passers for who gets the invite, so having the photo beforehand is meaningless for the reason you stated, plus they take your photo at the audition, while also taping said audition.


I have no idea what you even mean by that last sentence.
Lot of assumptions there by you, all wrong.
And you know this how...
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Re: The Jeopardy! Anytime Test

Post by StevenH »

Austin Powers wrote: Sat Feb 22, 2020 10:28 am The big thing remains the photo. They want to see what you look like. The show is committed to being as visually diverse and young-looking as possible. They think this will achieve those goals more easily.
How are you coming to this conclusion? I have a hard time believing that J! plans to go the way of Survivor and Big Brother and make it where anyone over the age of 35 will have a hard time being picked for the show (among new, not returning players). As long as the contestant exam is a thing there is always going to be that minimum level competency that someone has to show before they can even get into the pool. Sending a photo with your online test registration was something that was started a few years ago, though IIRC it is optional to send for the regular online test (not sure if it is required for the anytime test?)

Then again, as I noted earlier in the thread the online tests did seem to play easier than normal this year. I am not sure that I am ready to say that was anything more than a coincidence, though.
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Re: The Jeopardy! Anytime Test

Post by talkingaway »

I'm 99% sure the photo is required for the online test. I remember taking it (albeit not too seriously) about 5-6 years ago, and I didn't have to upload one. They didn't seem to have any of my info from years ago, and my new account basically required the picture.

I imagine it's a security, one-person-to-one-account thing - but I guess they already have name and birthday for that, no? I somehow doubt it's solely for diversity. Maybe it's a backup picture - they use that AND whatever pictures they take at auditions (do they take your picture at the audition?) to jog the contestant coordinators' memories when they're picking who gets The Call.

And, yes, I'm sure they DO push for diversity. But I would guess that's more after you get the email inviting you to an audition - I've always pictured the audition emails going out fairly willy-nilly amongst all contestants who "pass", with the caveat that you're only competing against people who also want to audition in your city - if they have 3,000 people qualified who want to audition in Austin, but 45,000 people want to audition in Providence, that does help spread out the distribution of players throughout the country.

The question bank for the anytime test isn't gigantic - I would estimate not much more than 5,000. I haven't beat my score from January yet, so I've bailed three times. I'm pretty sure I've had at least 3 pairs of questions that have repeated from one test to another. But then again, they could be stratifying the clues - there could be 1,000 "easy", 3,000 "medium", and 6,000 "hard", so the clues you get repeated are likely to be easy clues that a 35+er would get right anyway, so seeing them again isn't a big deal. The hard clues would be less likely to be repeated, and would be able to differentiate between 35+ers and the rest.
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Re: The Jeopardy! Anytime Test

Post by triviawayne »

talkingaway wrote: Sat Feb 22, 2020 6:15 pm The question bank for the anytime test isn't gigantic - I would estimate not much more than 5,000. I haven't beat my score from January yet, so I've bailed three times. I'm pretty sure I've had at least 3 pairs of questions that have repeated from one test to another. But then again, they could be stratifying the clues - there could be 1,000 "easy", 3,000 "medium", and 6,000 "hard", so the clues you get repeated are likely to be easy clues that a 35+er would get right anyway, so seeing them again isn't a big deal. The hard clues would be less likely to be repeated, and would be able to differentiate between 35+ers and the rest.
Considering it's a random drawing to get an invite to a city from all passers who choose the same city, if you've already passed this year, why would you take the test again?

They said they would only keep the higher of the two scores, but if you already have a passing score, then the only reason I can see for taking another test (other than for funsies) is if you want to change your audition city as I would expect the score to go with the chosen city.
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Re: The Jeopardy! Anytime Test

Post by Golf »

triviawayne wrote: Sat Feb 22, 2020 7:49 pm Considering it's a random drawing to get an invite to a city from all passers who choose the same city, if you've already passed this year, why would you take the test again?

They said they would only keep the higher of the two scores, but if you already have a passing score, then the only reason I can see for taking another test (other than for funsies) is if you want to change your audition city as I would expect the score to go with the chosen city.
1, considering we don't know for certain what a passing score is, he doesn't know if he "passed" on not.
2, if TPTB gave you a choice of submitting a score of either 42 or 44 on your online test, which would you pick?
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