Post # 1
Member
1268 posts
Bumble bee
Using the amazing skills I have been learning in my sociology clases, I have made some observations about weddingbee and the ladies who choose to be a part of it.
First of all, after looking at posts that focus on carat weight, I discovered that the carat weight of my ring was in the lowest 20% of all the posts. At first, that was shocking to me, and I felt sort of “inferior.” I was always thought that a .8 center diamond was average. Well, after closer analysis this is what I came up with. I don’t think that the average diamond size out there is 1.5 carats. I just think that when someone FEELS that their ring is smaller than everyone else’s, they will be less likely to post on the thread.
For example, even though the average size center diamond in the United States is under .5 carat, a woman with that size diamond might feel uncomfortable posting because everyone seems to be posting large sizes. This is not a true reflection of average sizes. It’s just that women with larger diamonds will be MORE likely to post, and women with smaller ones will be LESS likely to post.
Same with the car thing. When parousing the thread that asked everyone to state the kind of car they drove, I was shocked. About 90% of them were nice–some even luxury–cars. It seemed crazy to me, because I know a lot of the bees are still in college, are single moms, or are struggling paying off school debt, etc. I was kinda weirded out posting my car, because it seemed like the worst out of the THOUSANDS of women on the weddingbee. However, the same thing is true for this situation. I think women with nicer cars are more likely to post, and girls who might be embarrassed about the “crappy” car they drive would not want to post. Therefor, the “average” is severely scewed.
I don’t really know the point of this post…I guess that’s all I have to say? haha don’t feel like you need to respond…..
Post # 3
Member
610 posts
Busy bee
Not only is this a sociology issue…it’s a statistics issue, and as a Stats instructor it makes me very happy. It really shows how samples can vary and other underlying issues that can skew your data.
Post # 4
Member
631 posts
Busy bee
I think these are very accurate observations. I think it’s often called “reporting bias.” You only want to “report” your status if that status is considered “acceptable” or “praiseworthy” by the group.
Post # 5
Member
443 posts
Helper bee
I was just thinking that – woah stats! As a population science researcher I got nerdily excited about that 🙂
And I fall into the crappy car category, which actually made me LOL while reading @heatherrobyn’s post. I wouldn’t put it on here, but that’s just because it’s an 8-year old Subaru. Not exactly awe-inspiring lol. I get your point though!
Post # 6
Member
1882 posts
Buzzing bee
If I had a busted car and a busted ring I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t post about it. lol.
Post # 7
Member
786 posts
Busy bee
Good observation! This is also true when it comes to posting salaries and what you do for a living. I was surprised at the salarys!
Post # 8
Member
443 posts
Helper bee
or the post about how much you have in savings! I voted in the poll then ran the hell away from that post *hangs head in shame*
Post # 9
Member
7172 posts
Busy Beekeeper
Exactly right – that’s why percentages are often tweaked in favor of a certain outcome. The only way to get real results is to have every bee post on every topic… which will never be done. I don’t think I avoid topics that ask for personal input – the topics you mentioned (carat size or what kind of car) don’t interest me in the least… so I tend not to post at all on those.
Post # 10
Member
2738 posts
Sugar bee
I should have posted on the blog. I’m too broke to have a car. Metrocard all the way ladies! If I had a car in NYC, I’d have to be paying for parking and ish like that. Not to mention insurance and well, my nabe ain’t so great for cars 🙂
Post # 11
Member
610 posts
Busy bee
@allisonc: I think Subaru’s are the only car that acutally get cooler the older they are! Fiance has a 12 year old subaru. My parent’s have an ’87 subaru (while it’s not their primary car) it still runs! Fiance thinks that is soooo awesome, I can’t wait to join the subaru club!
Post # 12
Member
1391 posts
Bumble bee
I should have posted on the car thread. I have a ’98 powder blue Ford TaurASS (it’s my joke to make me feel better about my car haha) 🙂
Post # 13
Member
711 posts
Busy bee
LOL too funny – thats how I felt when planning my wedding – a lot of the time I would see something that interested me and go to post my ideas for my wedding or what we were doing but about 15 other brides would have already said that they were tacky lol. So I read a lot more than I posted lol We definitely had a small budget for our wedding – but it was a blast!
Post # 14
Member
443 posts
Helper bee
@divergirl, you’re funny 🙂 and right! An ’87 one IS cool! I don’t think mine will last that long, sadly, as Subarus go, I got a dud! But knowing how great they usually are, when I have the cashmoney, I’d probably buy another one. Then post its shiny newness on the ‘bee lol.
Post # 15
Member
2392 posts
Buzzing bee
@heatherrobyn: just like divergirl said, it’s a stats issue. I also suspect that when you posted about feeling uncomfortable with your body, the people most likely to chime in with specific measurements were those skinnier than average. 😉
Though I think it’s the opposite on budgets – there was a budget post recently, and everyone was posting about having a 5k or 10k or 20k budget whereas I was too embarassed to post that mine is higher.
Oh, social norms and statistics. Note to self – living with a social science/stats PhD student makes you overanalytical about *everything* and no fun to anyone. 😛
Post # 16
Member
2857 posts
Sugar bee
- Wedding: May 2011 - Bartram's Garden
This reminds me of about 8 years ago when I went to my ten-year HS reunion. I was really curious to see how everyone would look and was suprised to see that everyone looked GREAT. I was talking to my mom the next day and told her this and she said, “Well, yeah. Anyone who got really fat, went bald, or lost all their teeth probably didn’t go to the reunion.”