Data detours: Women and children? Back of the line!

I come across a lot of interesting data. But not all of it is worthy of a full Not-Ship dispatch. So, this week I'm going to try something a little different. These are data detours: Little bits of data that I found fascinating all on their own. I think you will, too.

💙 Amanda

Every man for himself

When a ship goes down, there's a classic maritime rule for the lifeboats: women and children first. But if you thought this directive led to any survival advantage, you'd be wrong.

This so-called 'law of the sea' was exemplified by the Titanic; as it slipped below the icy waters, women and children were given priority on lifeboats. Seventy-three percent of women survived the disaster, while only 19% of men did.

But researchers say this is an exception. An analysis of 18 shipwrecks shows that women have a distinct survival disadvantage.

Men and women don't survive shipwrecks at the same rate

The portion of male and female passengers that survived each maritime disaster.

Let me make it a bit easier for you to grasp the significant disparity. I've circled the groups so you can see where greater percentages of women and men were saved.

In most shipwrecks, men had a survival advantage

The portion of male and female passengers that survived each maritime disaster.

This research was done in 2012, but I only discovered it recently. The paper is worth a read: it considers various hypotheses for the lower survival rate of women. But it ultimately concludes: "Taken together, our findings show that human behaviour in life-and-death situations is best captured by the expression “every man for himself.”

Capitalism is fine, I guess?

Positive sentiment towards capitalism is as high as it has ever been. That's according to an analysis of over 400,000 newspaper articles since the 1940s.

Good feels about capitalism are holding steady

The portion of references that were identified as positive, in a set of more than 400,000 articles.

Since there are no long-running surveys that track people's feelings towards these 'isms, business professors Jay L. Zagorsky and H. Sami Karaca from Boston University got creative. They used artificial intelligence to analyze sentiment in over 400,000 newspaper articles and divided these feelings into positive, negative, and neutral.

Of course, a steady positive sentiment of 34% means that the majority of feelings about capitalism are still negative or neutral. However, anti-capitalism sentiment doesn't prevail. Negative media mentions have been slowly declining since the 1940s. At 34% and 37% respectively, positive and negative feelings towards capitalism today are nearly equal.

Next year's hot toy: Health and Safety Coordinator Barbie

Barbie is failing our girls. Sure the plastic toys model a variety of STEM careers — doctors, dentists, nurses, scientists — but you know what they don't do? They don't strictly adhere to clinical and laboratory safety standards.

This very real study was published in The BMJ 2023 Christmas edition. Once a year, the highly respected medical journal loosens its tie — just a bit. The BMJ's annual holiday issue is known for publishing work that applies serious research techniques to less-than-serious topics. I'll be honest, I included this data mostly because I wanted to introduce you to this yearly joy.

More dolls are doctors, scientists and nurses

Data includes Barbies as well as other dolls.

Of all the dolls analyzed, most had clothing and hairstyles that directly hindered their safety and job performance. Only a quarter of Barbies had their legs covered; of those with lab coats, only half had sleeves down to their wrists; more than two thirds didn't tie back their hair; more than half wore heels; and none of the medical dolls included gloves.

The researcher concluded the seminal work by highlighting its value: "This study fills a questionably important gap in the scientific literature and asks questions that few other scientists have entertained, let alone lost sleep over."

At the risk of being too serious about an unserious study, I do wish they had gone a little further in their data collection. For one, not all STEM fields are covered — marine biologist Barbie and paleontologist Barbie were outside the scope! I also want to know what percentage these STEM dolls are of all Barbies ever made.

This study is just one of the many delights that come from the annual BMJ Christmas edition. Past issues explored the sex differences in idiotic behaviour, identified the hidden health risks of being a Disney princess, questioned the physical activity of 'armchair socialists', and analyzed James Bond's preference for shaken drinks. Is it due to alcohol-induced tremor?

DOING THE MATH

Things that cost (at least) $9 a month:

🏦 The monthly fee your bank charges for the privilege of holding your money.
🚗 Parking once, downtown, anywhere.
📦 The delivery charge on that one item that's just $2 away from free shipping.

Thing that's worth $9 a month:

🟦 Not-Ship's weekly dispatch.

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FROM NOT-SHIP

This is where I usually put a list of links I found interesting, important or delightful this week. But I'm going to be honest — I didn't see much that I felt needed to be shared. Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention; who else finds the first week in January to be a bit of a slog?

Instead, here are a few earlier dispatches from Not-Ship you may have missed.