Author Archives: Eric Loken

Learning analytics in college: Predicting the grades you’ll get…that is… earn

Posted on March 30, 2012 by Eric Loken

Everyone wants to compare themselves to Netflix, whose data-driven, personally tailored movie suggestions improve customer satisfaction and retention.  Among the latest domains to see this trend: “learning analytics” in higher education. The basic idea is to use institutional data to … Continue reading →

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Facebook Profiles as Predictors of Job Performance? Maybe…but not yet.

Posted on February 24, 2012 by Eric Loken

Some newspapers and radio stations recently picked up a story that Facebook profiles can be revealing, and can yield information more predictive of job performance than typical self-report personality questionnaires or even an IQ test. So first off, this is … Continue reading →

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Last Place is Second Best? Ridiculous Advice From a Dating Website

Posted on January 20, 2011 by Eric Loken

Okay, first an upfront explanation of why we are even blogging about this. We are a web-based business that generates vast amounts of data. We continuously monitor and analyze our data, and even sometimes blog about what we find. So … Continue reading →

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The NFL Draft as a Predictor of Success (Round 3)

Posted on September 8, 2010 by Eric Loken

We made a few posts last year about the NFL and whether or not draft order is related to productivity. The core issue for us was a claim Malcolm Gladwell repeatedly asserted that the draft order of NFL quarterbacks (QBs) … Continue reading →

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Gladwell vs Pinker

Posted on November 24, 2009 by Eric Loken

I’ll admit I’m in a curmudgeonly mood because I feel like I’m wasting time writing about something so obvious. But we’ve been implicated in a strange argument that erupted in the blogosphere last week, so I’m compelled to write a … Continue reading →

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Pre-Employment Testing Activity and Unemployment Claims

Posted on October 13, 2009 by Eric Loken

Last Thursday morning there was a bump in the futures markets as the latest weekly numbers for initial unemployment insurance claims were released. The numbers were apparently better than expected, and the futures markets reacted positively. Jobs data are, now … Continue reading →

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The Obama Effect?

Posted on January 28, 2009 by Eric Loken

Last week the New York Times published an article on a possible Obama effect on test scores of black test takers. It was unusual for a major newspaper to publish a story on a social science study before that study … Continue reading →

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Personality Traits By State: A Recent Study

Posted on September 20, 2008 by Eric Loken

The Wall Street Journal last week ran an interesting article that summarizes a study that aggregates personality data on a state by state basis. The research is based on a Five Factor approach to studying personality (Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Neuroticism/Stability, … Continue reading →

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Introversion Reconsidered

Posted on August 13, 2008 by Eric Loken

We found this article on introversion and extraversion to be interesting. (Another article on the same topic by the same author is found here.) We agree that certain personality dimensions tend to be valued with a one-way function, (e.g. the … Continue reading →

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Is the “Ultimate Test” in Golf Unreliable?

Posted on June 11, 2008 by Eric Loken

The US Open golf tournament is often called the “ultimate test” in championship golf and its goal is to crown the US champion.  That got us thinking about viewing golf tournaments as a selection process.  In a typical tournament, players … Continue reading →

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