Grades found to be positively correlated to the first letter of your name
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
As far as statistical analysis go, this one brings hope or distress depending on which side of the fence you are.
Researches have found that the names of some students were positively correlated with the type of grades they were getting in school. In other words, if your name starts with the letter "A," you are more likely to get As for your grades. Similarly, if your name starts with the letter "D" or "F," your grades will be lower. This sounds crazy, but if you have read the book "Freakonomics" it may actually sound plausible. (BTW, some economists may not like me referencing this book as 100% factual, but it is an entertaining read, nonetheless.)
It's an interesting find, but there may be other reasons for the surprising result. For example, maybe the students in the study were more likable and the teachers gave them better grades; or maybe the teachers marked papers/tests in alphabetical order (from A to Z) and had more energy and a better attitude for the first 2 hours of grading; or somehow it's not the students that do better because of their name, but it's the teachers who get overwhelmed by that first magical letter.
Who knows what's going on here. I really don't know what to say: my last name is "Sandoval," but grading letters go up to "F" and I don't recall getting a "P" or an "R" for grades. Furthermore, in the Ontario educational system grades are awarded by number or percentage: a 50 is 50%, and a 100 is 100% (this may vary, but the secondary and post secondary schools I attended awarded grades by percentages). So in this case we should be looking for names that start with the letter "H" for "hundred," as in "Ho-se." Where is my grant money? I need to find out.
Until further, more exhaustive analysis is completed, I will hold changing Gabriel's name to "AAA AAAAA AAAAAA," short name "AA," nickname "A." I'm quite certain he'll be fine with the grade-unfriendly name of Gabriel Salvador Sandoval.
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