TD Or Not TD

Our Methodology

Transparency is at the heart of what we do. Here's exactly how we calculate your results.

How Scoring Works
A step-by-step breakdown of our alignment calculation

For each question you answer, we compare your position to each candidate's stated position. The calculation considers:

  1. 1.
    Position Match:How closely your answer matches the candidate's stance (exact match = 100%, opposite = 0%)
  2. 2.
    Your Importance Weight: Issues you marked as more important count more heavily in the final score
  3. 3.
    Evidence Confidence: Positions with stronger evidence (e.g., direct candidate responses or manifesto commitments) are weighted higher than those with weaker evidence (e.g., media reports)
Position Distance
How we measure agreement between you and candidates

Both you and candidates are scored on a 5-point scale from "Strongly Disagree" (-2) to "Strongly Agree" (+2). The match score is based on the distance between positions:

DistanceMatch Score
Exact match (0)100%
One step apart (1)75%
Two steps apart (2)50%
Three steps apart (3)25%
Opposite (4)0%
Evidence Standards
How we gather and verify candidate positions

We only assign positions to candidates when we have verifiable evidence. Sources are ranked by reliability:

  • Direct Candidate Responses - Statements made by candidates directly to TD Or Not TD (highest confidence)
  • Candidate Manifesto - Direct written commitments (high confidence)
  • Voting Record - How they actually voted on relevant legislation
  • Party Policy - Official party positions (may not reflect individual views)
  • Public Statements - Interviews, speeches, social media
  • Media Reports - Journalistic coverage (lower confidence)

When we cannot find reliable evidence for a position, we mark it as "unknown" and exclude it from the alignment calculation.

Some issues may have multiple pieces of evidence (for example a voting record and a public statement). If sources contradict one another, we flag that conflict in the evidence shown and lower our confidence accordingly.

Handling Unknown Positions
What happens when we don't have evidence

If a candidate's position on an issue is unknown, we:

  1. 1.Exclude that question from the alignment score calculation
  2. 2.Show an "evidence coverage" percentage so you know how complete our data is
  3. 3.List the unknown issues separately so you can research them yourself
Editorial Policy
How we maintain neutrality and accuracy
  • Every stance must be traceable to verifiable evidence
  • We do not infer extreme positions without strong evidence
  • We distinguish between candidate views and party positions
  • Uncertainty is clearly marked
  • All candidates receive equal treatment in presentation
  • We never hide candidates because of low alignment scores