color+preference

I A M A T H

Color Preference Siang

I A M A T H

Introduction

Color preference is mostly asked questions today. It change the way people view

something. For instance, people usually choose to buy the item based on their favorite

when they shop even thought all items are the same. Everyone can tell what is his or her

favorite color, except the blind. It is a part of one’s personality. Today in the U.S., but not

elsewhere and not always, blue is gendered male and pink gendered female. We might

expect, then, that men would internalize a preference for blue and women a preference for

pink. However, according to psychology research, social environment plays a great role on

how we develop our behaviors and personality. From the day that babies are brought home

and cradled in their pink or blue blankets, implications have been made about gender and

color. There are some people who change color preference as they get old but some don’t.

Task statement

The purpose of the study is to investigate whether there is a correlation between gender

and color preference. In order to carry out the investigation, only people with different

gender and age and ask them their favorite question which is “What is your favorite

color?” At least 120 people will be needed in order for the more accuracy and to be

able to come up with a conclusion. Interviewing is the initial critical part for this study

because it not just about asking whoever is coming in the way. If 90 female subjects out

of 120 participants are asked instead of 50 male and 50 female or close, the calculation

may go wrong or the conclusion will be invalid. After the interview part is done, the

information will be digested through the mathematical processes. Some math processes

that will be used include pie chart, bar chart, and contingency tables. After all the

calculation part is done, each task will be analyzed. The analysis made must tie to the

theses.

I A M A T H

Blue Green Red Brown Pink Orange Yellow White Purple Black Gold Others MALE FEMALE AGE

1 * Male 8

2 * Male 15

3 * Male 12

4 * Male 9

5 * Female 17

6 * Female 16

7 * Female 56

8 * Male 30

9 * Female 22

10 * Male 25

11 * Female 19

12 * Male 21

13 * Male 35

14 * Male 60

15 * Male 55

16 * Male 40

17 * Female 36

18 * Female 50

19 * Female 18

20 * Male 50

21 * Male 32

22 * Female 42

23 * Female 16

24 * Female 10

25 * Male 14

26 * Female 23

27 * Male 61

28 * Male 57

29 * Male 30

30 * Female 46

I A M A T H

31 * Female 37

32 * Female 32

33 * Female 27

34 * Male 19

35 * Female 18

36 * Male 38

37 * Female 15

38 * Female 26

39 * Male 51

40 * Male 20

41 * Female 37

42 * Male 9

43 * Male 28

44 * Male 34

45 * Male 16

46 * Female 18

47 * Male 40

48 * Female 17

49 * Male 15

50 * Female 24

51 * Male 21

52 * Female 18

53 * Male 49

54 * Male 70+

55 * Female 50

56 * Male 70+

57 * Male 42

58 * Female 32

59 * Female 17

60 * Female 53

61 * Male 32

62 * Male 21

63 * Male 70+

64 * Male 17

65 * Female 46

66 * Female 26

67 * Male 19

68 * Female 43

69 * Female 17

70 * Female 67

I A M A T H

71 * Female 15

72 * Male 34

73 * Male 70

74 * Male 35

75 * Female 38

76 * Female 44

77 * Male 22

78 * Male 18

79 * Female 25

80 * Male 57

81 * Male 31

82 * Female 15

83 * Male 45

84 * Male 55

85 * Female 17

86 * Male 18

87 * Male 26

88 * Female 49

89 * Male 53

90 * Male 41

91 * Female 17

92 * Male 25

93 * Female 42

94 * Female 26

95 * Male 24

96 * Male 30

97 * Male 22

98 * Female 7

99 * Male 54

100 * Female 34

101 * Female 18

102 * Female 22

103 * Female 43

104 * Female 19

105 * Male 29

106 * Male 16

107 * Female 64

108 * Male 17

109 * Male 42

110 * Female 23

I A M A T H

111 * Male 13

112 * Female 18

113 * Female 19

114 * Male 25

115 * Female 30

116 * Female 25

117 * Male 47

118 * Male 53

119 * Female 67

120 * Male 36

Total 22 19 20 7 12 4 3 4 15 2 3 9 66 54

I A M A T H

Color preferences by Gender

I A M A T H

Color Preference by Age

blue green red Brown

pink orange yellow white purple black Alodine/gold

others

6-30 9 16 11 4 9 2 2 2 6 1 2 2

31-50 6 2 7 3 3 2 1 1 7 1 3

51-70+ 7 1 2 0 0 0 1 2 1 0 4

The total participants = 120

The age from 6 to 30 = 66

Percent =

The age from 31 to 50 = 36

Percent =

The age from 51 to 70 over = 18

Percent =

I A M A T H

I A M A T H

Correlation between gender and color

Mostly chosen color Male Female Total

Blue 16 6 22

Purple 3 12 15

Total 19 18 37

Mostly chosen color

Male Female Total

Blue

19 * 22 ---------------- = 11.3 37

18 * 22 --------------- = 10.7 37

22

Purple

19 * 15 ----------------- = 7.7 37

18 * 15 --------------- = 7.3 37

15

Total

19

18

37

I A M A T H

I A M A T H

Discussion/validity

By looking at the first graph which is color preference in gender, we can see some

see some difference between male and female. If we describe more in details, in some

particular color such as blue, pink, green, and purple, we can see that there is a negative

correlation in which the values of one of the variables increase the values of the second

variable decrease.

In any other researches, it’s true that men usually prefer blue and red while female tend

to prefer green, pink, and purple. But in some case, it could be the opposite. There is the

possibility for men to choose the colors that are more attractive to women. Also, some

other factors such as the environment we live in could play the role too. For example, if a

person live a place where the pink color is popular or considered to be luck color, then

that man is more likely to choose pink.

Although, it’s believe that some people change their color preference as they get

older. That could be possible because nothing is stationary our life; the way we live, our

behavior, our association with other people, we change all of those as we get older. As far

as the color is concerned, it’s as important as something that you care for the most. It is a

part of our identification and it should not be ignored. In this study, I divided different

ages into three groups: 6-30(group one), 31-50(group two), and 51-70(group 3) over.

Group one represents 55%; group two represents 30%; and group three, 15%. Using pie

chart, I present the color preference of each group in a different pie chart. Generally by

observing at the three charts from different age groups we can see that the blue color is

increasing down the group while the green decrease and stay constant at the second and

the third group. Base on that knowledge, we can assume that the more we get older the

more likely we would prefer the blue. And the green color would the one color we chose

in the past or during childhood. On the other hand, the red color pretty much stays the

I A M A T H

same, which mean the people who chose red from the beginning stick to it. When we

were young, we did not have some options to choose. Mostly known colors by children

would be green, blue, and red, pink, and purple. That why the young people of the first

group chose to preferred them. The preference in the pink color is very high on the chart

of the first group; it goes down in the second group and reappears in group three. Even

though, the number of participants in group three is less than other groups, we can still

assume that people are more likely to switch their color preference from pink.

There had been some research done in psychology field on investigation between

gender and color choice. They believe there is a correlation between gender and color

preference. And this is why I chose to conduct this study. Well, to find out if there is the

correlation or not, I used contingency tables method. This is the right method for my

study. In order to know whether the correlation exists, there are six steps to follow. First,

construct the corresponding tables of expected values from the table of observed values;

second, calculate the value of U using its formula; third, calculate the number of degree

of freedom; fourth, decide the level of significance; fifth, look up the critical value, c (1-

α)χ2(υ); and the final step, if U > c(1-α)χ

2(υ), reject H0. After getting done with all of those

steps, U value is 9.92 and the number of degrees of freedom is 2 x 2 because the table has

two rows and two columns. And I used 5% level of significance. If we reject H0, it means

that there is a correlation between gender and color. And because U is greater than 3.841

according to my calculation, there is a relationship between gender and color preference.

I A M A T H

Improvement

I was very confident that my investigation and calculation meet what I was trying to

achieve that there is a correlation between color and gender. But there is a limit that can be

improved upon. I could have interview more people to come up with the more reliable data. Or I

could have asked each group of age equally, like 40 people for each group. In that way, we would

be able to come to a better conclusion. For this kind of study, the more participants we have the

better it is. I could have done, the relationship between color preference and different culture if

would have more data. It would be best if the whole population of the world can be surveyed

through internet or other net-work to see how different cultures, gender and even race play the role

in color preference.

color+preference

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