Data in Dating: From eHarmony to Tinder & further

Big Data is something we are using more and more. It comes with great ideas and solutions but also with uncertainty. The idea behind analyzing data is already quite old. Ian Ayres discusses it already in 2007 in his book Super Crunchers. He discusses how quantitative analysis can be used, in a creative way, to give more insights into all different aspects of life. As data science is way more used nowadays, we will reflect upon a certain case, about eHarmony, in the Super Crunchers book. We will reflect upon the case and compare it critically with recent scientific literature. First, we will give a brief summary of the case, then we will go over the recent literature and critically evaluate the cases.

Apparently, even though the extensive questionnaire indicates a homosexual partner preference, e-Harmony refuses to match same-sex couples

Ayres (2017) discusses in Super Crunchers the case of eHarmony, a modern – this was written in 2007 – dating service that uses hidden variables to find compatible partners. The founder of eHarmony Neil Clark Warren based its business on his late 1990’s study of more than 5000 married couples. He then patented a predictive model – a regression – based on twenty-nine variables allegedly best denoting the perfect relationship: variables on emotional temperament, social style, cognitive mode and relationship skills.

Surprising to Ayres is how eHarmony dared to select the relevant predictors in the form of “hidden variables”, i.e. factors that their own customers were not aware of. As such, it may just happen www.besthookupwebsites.org/cs/hitch-recenze/ that their algorithm will match you with someone you would have never imagined you liked. This effect is exacerbated also by the large volume of input data – the customers would have to fill out a 436-question form upon subscription- and the very secret nature of their predictive model.

This fact does not stop Ayres from being pleased that, although the best paradigm is unknown, dating services are competing on finding out whether their algorithm got it right as well (“validation” in modern jargon), beyond just on their matching algorithm

The competitors of eHarmony use a different paradigm in finding couples. (suite…)

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