Geek Alert!

[katbaggins]

I've been digging into some fun science blogs in the last year or two, since I discovered Bloglines. One of them just conducted a fascinating informal poll about Valentines Day gifts that revealed some fun facts.

First, clear about ten minutes out of your day (and allocate some brain space, cause those graphs get tricky!) and read this post from

Comments

[boffo]

I think the flaw with that survey is that it treats different data as if it's the same. Specifically, there's no reason to assume the people taking the survey are the same as the significant others of the people taking the survey. So any differences may not be the result of people misjudging what their partners want, but may reflect the fact that someone other than their partner is taking the survey.

In other words if I were to fill out my expectations of what electricia would like, and you were to fill out what you like, the results would be different. That doesn't mean I'm mistaken about what gifts women want. It means that you and electricia are different people.

If there was a large and well-diversified sample size this problem would go away, but the sample is clearly not well-diversified. Relying on broad stereotypes, I would expect the women reading a science blog would tend to have more "masculine" sensibilities than the wives/girlfriends/hypothetical lovers of dudes reading a science blog.

[katbaggins]

(Late in replying to this)

I agree with you about the doubtful validity of this "study", but I assume some of the data holds true across the whole population. Like if men reading science blogs (of all people) say they're open to receiving jewelry as a gift, then surely there are other groups of men who feel the same way.

And yeah, I think the author pointed out what you mention - that it's not the same couples taking the test, it's just one half of the pair. That would obviously not be 100% accurate but again, not knowing a lot about this sort of thing, I would think it might equal out in the end. Like if enough guys whose girlfriends/wives approximate "A" fill it out, and a bunch of unrelated women who identify as "A" fill it out, it might even out? Then again, my "knowledge" in this arena comes from one "Research Methods in the Social Sciences" class that I took about five years ago, so I'm definitely not pretending to be an expert.

[boffo]

On a related note, electricia and I reject the entire premise of Valentine's Day. We don't need a special day to demonstrate our love, because we love each other and demonstrate that love every day. Also, in most cases it's silly for people who share the same bank account to give each other gifts. If I buy Elicia flowers, she's paying for them just as much as I am. And since she hasn't gotten whatever gift I'm buying for herself already, that implies she doesn't think it's worth the money.

An exception would be for items she doesn't know exist, or wouldn't think of buying for herself. And for items where the fact that I thought of buying them make them worth more to her than if she had got it for herself. But in those cases, if I find/think of something she would like, I don't need to wait for a special day to get it for her.

On a related note, we're having a party on Saturday for people who aren't going to be having a traditional Valentine's Day. If you and/or your boyfriend are interested, I can send you the evite.

[katbaggins]

That sounds like fun! Of course, I'm totally a dork who's doing the traditional V-day thing, so I don't think we can make it :( I'm not big on buying stuff for V-day (I usually make everything, including the card) or going out, so this year we're just going to make dinner together and eat by candlelight or some such nonsense.

As for gifts, I belong to that strange school of thought where I hate to buy "big" things for myself. I've always felt that spending $40 on a television season is a lot of money (even though when I'm employed it's not really) so I tend to wait for someone to buy things like that for me, and then I get excited about it. But you're right, if you're married and sharing your money, then spending lots of it is just silly.

[boffo]

Well I'll send you the evite, and if you change your plans you'll know where to find us.

[anniefee]

so, katrina.....are you getting sexy lingerie for valentine's day? :)

i don't like that kind of stuff, but i do like chocolate and flowers and a nice meal (home or out) and sweet and pretty things. i don't like stuffed animals (blech) or overly sentimental crap that i feel guilty for not keeping but resentment for not throwing away so it gets shoved into a box somewhere. david doesn't like jewelry (which is good because i think guys who like jewelry are weird...no offense to anyone here, be glad i'm not married to you :), but he likes sweet notes and sweet food. definitely food

[katbaggins]

Good point re: the prevalence of gender roles throughout history, though I wonder if women today feel more masculine than women back then? I guess we have the choice, while they (mostly) didn't.

And yeah, I agree with you about Valentine's Day. I'm definitely sappy enough to want to celebrate it, but I like to appreciate the small things - make something special, find something small but meaningful, etc.