Losing battle for much of it though. Language morphs and
  changes. The way you and I write and speak might make past
  generations cringe with equal irritation. Still, good to hold
  people to some standards. I tend to use "based off of" rather
  than "based on". It carries a "bounce" sense rather than a
  'stable concrete footing" sense. Think of photons reflecting off
  of a surface versus considering the surface to "have a color".
  That's how my mind sees things. I don't know about others. Of
  course "base" *should* have a sense of solid footing but I
  suspect the language shift is due to the similarity of the sound
  of "based" and "bounced" honestly.   Also consider the phrase
  "bouncing ideas off of you" and how there has been a shift in
  considering "facts" as "opinions". There's some sort of
  connection there. "based off of" abstracts the results slightly
  from the study, as if an opinion that could be potentially
  incorrect, rather than something set in a concrete base. I dunno
  - just thinking aloud :)