Written by Connor Zahler: Of all the phenomena that social scientists have an interest in, conspiracy theories may appear to have the least association with anything quantitative. Everyone knows the stereotypical hallmarks: tinfoil hats, irrational suspicion, chains of association that defy logic, and general unlikeliness. What few know, though, is that quantitative research into conspiracy…
Author: Caitlin Posillico
A Quantitative Look at the 2023 Oscars
Written by Connor Zahler: The Academy Awards, more popularly known as the Oscars, celebrate the year in movies and give recognition to the most outstanding films (and aspects of films) of the year. While they have faced a lot of very fair criticism, most notably regarding a lack of diversity, many stars and regular viewers…
QMovie Reviews: Moneyball
Written by Connor Zahler: Introduction Writing for the QMSS student blog has granted me a lot of opportunities. One drawback, though, is that it has made me so analytically savvy that it can be hard to turn off QMSS-vision. Case in point: my friends and I were having a good old-fashioned movie night the other…
A Quantitative Look at Urban Public Transportation
Written by Cecilia Morales-Barraza: Public transportation, commuting times, and the walkability of cities are heavily interconnected factors which form the key aspects of urban transportation. By creating more walkable cities and investing in quality transportation, we can form an environment that is not only sustainable, but equitable for all Americans. Public Transportation From buses to…
Putting Methods to the (March) Madness: A Quantitative Look at NCAA Tournament History
Written by Cecilia Morales-Barraza: As the days of excitement for football games and abundant school spirit fade into distant memory, the most anticipated time in college basketball begins. With every game in this yearly NCAA D1 basketball tournament, new data becomes available for analysis. Women on the Rise Women’s teams have been competing in the…
Are IRS Tax Algorithms Racist?
written by Connor Zahler: Introduction As the old adage goes, two things are unavoidable: death and taxes. Indeed, taxes are part of just about everyone’s lives. Every April (or hopefully before then), millions of Americans sit down and try not to commit felonious fraud (or pay someone to avoid fraud for them) as they report…
Artificial Intelligence and Artistic License
Written by Tate Moyer: Introduction “Once we lose this capability of telling what’s real and what’s fake, everything will suddenly become fake because you lose confidence of anything and everything.” These were the warning words of Wael Abd-Almageed, a professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Southern California, during an interview with…
The New World of ChatGPT
Written by Jason Hollander: Introduction On November 30, 2022, OpenAI, an AI research and development company, released ChatGPT to the public. Ever since, this new technology has taken the tech world by storm, and many have been speculating about how advanced AI has become and what is next for our computer-operated world. What is ChatGPT?…
Serial Killer Statistics
Written by Taylor Stacy: Introduction Americans seem to have a strange fascination with serial killers. For decades, we as a nation have been enthralled by the idea of someone who kills for pleasure. In 1979, the trial of Ted Bundy was among the first to be televised nationally and was watched by millions of Americans.…
A Quantitative Look at Love
Written by Connor Zahler: Love. To most, it seems like the ultimate qualitative experience. It can make people act irrationally and is almost impossible to describe to someone who hasn’t experienced it. That hasn’t stopped social scientists from trying, however. Today, we’ll look at some theories of love, the possible backing behind it, and what…