01/02/10

Data are sexy: great use of statistics

Who would have thought that showing your tits became a better strategy for pulling partners the older you get? Since I’ve never tried e-dating, it has never occured to me that it’s a spectacular source of data for epi-nerds interested in sexual networking. My eyes have been opened by OKCupid, whose data nerds have publish a wonderful analysis of what works and what doesn’t in on-line dating.

I found it slightly depressing that I’m out of the denominator (they only look at data from 18-32 year olds). But I was particularly delighted by this graph:

ageing_tits

It looks at the effectiveness of showing clevage in your profile picture. The bad news is that all women’s pulling power falls over time. But Apparently, showing clevage bounces up your chances of getting a date more the older you get. Men, depressingly, don’t lose out on dates as they age. Unless they’re trying to show off their six-pack. Abs shots are less successful the older you get.

ageing_abs

Now tell me data analysis is not sexy…

Thanks to Nico, who is definitely in the denominator, but has tragically stopped sharing his wisdom with us.

This post was published on 01/02/10 in Good sex and bad.

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5 comments

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  1. Comment by ladyconomist, 01/02/10, 10:17:

    I love this post (I have a deep appreciation for sexy graphs and data) but would suggest that those women showing cleavage in their photos are more likely to have higher confidence in their appearance than the non cleavage showing sample. If there is a correlation between confidence and actual attractiveness then the difference could be caused by the cleavage showers simply being more attractive.

    On the other hand, the steep male decline indicated to me that older men showing their abs, while perhaps more attractive than the non-flaunters, suffer from an inflated sense of attractiveness as they age..

    just a thought =)

  2. Comment by RJS, 02/02/10, 11:28:

    “Men, depressingly, don’t lose out on dates as they age.”

    Sounds like you’re anti-male. Men as a group also die sooner than women. Does that make you happy too?

  3. Comment by elizabeth, 02/02/10, 12:11:

    Anti-male? Moi? Would readers that know me care to comment?!

  4. Comment by admin, 03/02/10, 02:20:

    If I were to comment on her attitude towards males, it would mean I know far too much… But the last time I check, the queue outside her front door was still longer than that at the post office 😛

  5. Comment by Student's Tea Test, 12/05/12, 10:14:

    “Lies, damn lies, and statistics” – seems to apply to dating as well…particularly of the “e-dating” type…

    OK, I’ll tell you – “data analysis is not sexy”! The only “multiples” I get are the regression kind…

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