It’s finally springtime!
It’s April! After what felt like eternity, it’s starting to warm up here at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. So today, in celebration of spring, we’re going to take a look at few whimsical data sets that have made us laugh, smile, and think.
Dogs of NYC was published by the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in 2013. The department collected data on 50,000 New York dogs, including their name, gender, breed, birth date, dominant, secondary and third color, and whether they are spayed/neutered or a guard dog, along with the borough they live in and their zip code. WYNC used this data to explore dog names and breeds by area, and Kaylin Pavlik used the data to show the relationship between dog names and dog breeds.
What made us laugh: How high the TF-IDF score for the name Pugsley was for Pugs as compared to other breeds.
What made us think: Does the perceived danger of a dog breed influence what people name them?
UK Government Hospitality wine cellar annual statement
Each year, the UK publishes an annual statement on the Government Wine Cellar, which they describe as being “used to support the work of Government Hospitality in delivering business hospitality for all government ministers and departments”. The first report was published in July 2014, and the latest was published in September 2017.
What made us laugh: Government Hospitality has an an advisory committee that meets four times a year and are known as Masters of Wine. They are unpaid.
What made us think: With threats to government transparency across the globe, it is nice to see data that some may brush off as inconsequential, but actually deals with large sums of money.
Most Popular Christmas Toys According to Search Data
Published by Reckless in November 2017, this data set shows search data based on the Toys R Us catalog (RIP) that shows which toys, video games, and board games were most popular among different age groups. Favorite toys included the Barbie Dreamhouse, Furby Connect, Razor Crazy Cart, and R2D2 Interactive Robotic Droid.
What made us laugh: The Silly Sausage game was one of the most searched board games during this period.
What made us think: Toys play a pivotal role during childhood development. It’s a little astonishing to see that, despite all of her critics, Barbie still reigns supreme in the 2-4 year-old age group.
Do you have a favorite data set? Let us know in the comments!