John Denvir and Henry Visconsi
We chose to examine speed dating data from a number of speed dating events. In regards to the background of the data, those who were responsible for the data compilation wrote: "We studied dating behavior using data from a Speed Dating experiment where we generate random matching of subjects and create random variation in the number of potential partners. Our design allows us to directly observe individual decisions rather than just final matches." Our findings will not only help determine which traits are most attractive to potential matches, but also make the speed dating process more efficient and benefical for those who participate in it..
Our first visualization was quite telling because it illustrated how ineffective the speed dating process can be. According to our pie chart, a large majority of dates were not matches. This demonstrates that there is much room for improvement in the organization and strucutre of speed dating events.
Our second visualization examined the different career fields of participants, and how effective each field was at matching during the convention. It was interesting - although not suprising - that fields with a strong emphasis on communication such as philosophy, education, or law were among the leading fields in attracting matches.
The third visualization is quite interesting because our box graph demonstrates that men place great importance on a potential match's physical appearance. This numerical data seems to support the perceived stereotype that men places unneeded emphasis on the attractiveness of women..
The fourth and fifth visualizations show that women, by contrast, are more interested in a partner's intelligence than their physical attractivness. Women also place a higher emphasis on the race of a potential match, which adds yet another aspect in the complexity of partner preferences. This is fascinating because our visualizations illustrate that the two genders have vastly different approaches to finding a partner.
Our examination and visualization of data from this speed dating convention has been extremely enlightening and informative. Plotting and visualizing this data has demonstrated that there is quite a bit of room for development in the speed dating process. There are many different solutions and recommendations, such as experimenting with different formats or questions to speak about. However, our visualizations also have a use for people awho might be attending speed dating conventions, and wish to assess their "strength and weaknesses" in the dating game. Knowing which groups of people find what traits attractive might lead to better and more meaningful connections going forward.