A Data Exploration of Jeopardy! from 1984 to the Present

Author

Brian S. Hamilton, The Graduate Center, City University of New YorkFollow

Date of Degree

9-2020

Document Type

Capstone Project

Degree Name

M.A.

Program

Liberal Studies

Advisor

Matthew Gold

Subject Categories

Data Science

Keywords

Jeopardy, Topic Modeling, Data Visualization, Data Science, Trivia

Abstract

The gameshow Jeopardy! has been around in its current iteration—hosted by Alex Trebek—since 1984. During this time, it has accumulated data on clues, contestants, and possible strategies on how to win. Using a crowd-sourced archive called J! Archive, this project seeks to find trends in the topics that the game covers and take a deeper look into the performance of its contestants. It employs topic modeling, a text-analysis method, to organize the hundreds of thousands of archived clues and statistical analysis to rate the performance of contestants by gender. Using web-based visualization tools, the data is shown in an interactive and understandable way. The main goal of this project is to take a dive into the data, analyze a series of points, create a robust database for the show, and connect Jeopardy! to a larger cultural, social, and political context. This will allow for further analysis and visualizations to be done in the future.

Comments

Online component: https://jeopardy.brianhamilton.me/

Recommended Citation

Hamilton, Brian S., "A Data Exploration of Jeopardy! from 1984 to the Present" (2020). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/4049