[NR] percentages from NORTHERN REGIONAL NAMING SURVEY...math geeking

[Tadhg]

Greetings,

First, my sincere thanks to Cassius for all the data...my inner math geek is beyond pleased.

WARNING:  About to geek on math...but you can jump to the bottom of the page (just past the row of stars ****) for the top 15 (my cut).

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Since EVERY name had a "Dislike" of 30% or greater (and only 2 names had a "Like" greater than 30%), I expect that most people voted "Like" for what they wanted, and "Dislike" for most everything else. So, I'm not going to chop any of them off until the end...all the names go in the hopper. I think its better to let the math work.

If you treat the votes as: Yes (+1), No (-1), and Don't Care (0), then you can score and rank the list...Ignore Neutral.

If you treat the votes as: Yes (+2), No (-2), and Can Live With (1), then you can score and rank a second list...Positive Neutral.

If you assume that Can Live With (+2) is more important than Yes (1) or No (-1), then you can score and rank a third list...Least Contentious. This weighting assumes that "Neutral" equals "Can Live With".

Of course, there is always the "Most Liked" list and the "Least Disliked" list...but a name with a lot of "Likes" AND a lot of "Dislikes" means a lot of disputes.

That's five lists...all different but remarkably similar as it turns out. In fact, the top 15 (28% of the overall list) are the same collection across all five lists with two exceptions: a) Ebenen is #17 in "Most Liked" but top 4 for everything else and b) Moralor is #16 in "Least Disliked" and #21 in "Least Contentious". Overall, the result is rather good from a statistical standpoint.

So, for your consideration (and possibly amusement), I give you the composite rack and stack (sorted by average placement in all 5 lists):
                                                   Most    Least
Name          Avg   (2/1/-2)  (1/0/-1)  (1/2/-1)  Liked  Disliked
Hrithmarc      1       1         1         7        1        2
Hastmark       2       3         2         3        2        3   
Cyrmoden       3       4         3         2        5        4
Ebenen         4       2         4         1       17        1
Midgrens       5       5         5         4       12        5
Quivara        6       7         6         8        9        7
Styringeard    7       6         7         5       14        6
Norchester     8       9         8        11        4        9
Biornrice      9       8         9         6       13        8
Northunor     10      10        10        12       10       10
Reodweald     11      13        11        14        7       13
Morland       12      11        14         9       15       11
Axia          13      12        13        13       11       12
Glomeval      14      14        12        15        8       14
Moralor       15      15        15        21        6       16

Again, I made assumptions when I developed these weighting schemes. Hopefully, I didn't unduly bias the outcome...but that's why I took the average of 5 different ones.  8^)

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For everyone that either skipped the geek-out (or suffered through the explanation), here is an alphabetical list of the top 15, which I recommend for a more formal polling process: 
Axia, Biornrice, Cyrmoden, Ebenen, Glomeval, Hastmark, Hrithmarc, Moralor, Morland, Midgrens, Norchester, Northunor, Quivara, Reodwald, Styringeard.

On a philosophical note, 139 participants is a good cross-section for a winnowing (54 to 15 is dropping 70%); however, it does not seem to me to be sufficient for a final grouping (i.e., less than 10%). I believe the next reduction...and final selection...should both be done by polling.

We can afford some time to involve more people in the selection...this time, in person and by mail. Electronic media is a tool, not a substitute, for personal communication and interaction.

Also, I would like to see Finnacan recite the somewhat shorter list of names at some date in the future. Only two of the top three (Hrithmarc and Cyrmoden) have been performed to date...and hearing these names means so much more than letters on a page.

Regards,
Tadhg
...brick by brick