Speed Dating
Anthony Nathan Lin, Andrew Ton, Mansoor Syed
DS 4559 - Professor Abigail Flower
Fall 2016, University of Virginia
Analysis of a dataset from kaggle.com
What influences love at first sight? (Or, at least, love in the first four minutes?) This dataset was compiled by Columbia Business School professors Ray Fisman and Sheena Iyengar for their paper Gender Differences in Mate Selection: Evidence From a Speed Dating Experiment.
Data was gathered from participants in experimental speed dating events from 2002-2004. During the events, the attendees would have a four minute "first date" with every other participant of the opposite sex. At the end of their four minutes, participants were asked if they would like to see their date again. They were also asked to rate their date on six attributes: Attractiveness, Sincerity, Intelligence, Fun, Ambition, and Shared Interests.
The dataset also includes questionnaire data gathered from participants at different points in the process. These fields include: demographics, dating habits, self-perception across key attributes, beliefs on what others find valuable in a mate, and lifestyle information.