Comparing searches at the DNC and RNC
▻https://engineeringblog.yelp.com/2016/11/comparing-searches-at-the-dnc-and-rnc.html
Well, we should obviously look at the searches made at the relevant time and place: during each convention, in the area surrounding the corresponding cities (Cleveland for RNC, Philadelphia for DNC). Now, Yelp stores a lot of information on these searches, including which business category (restaurants, bars, home services, etc.) the search was for. Looking at these business categories for these searches seems like a natural thing to do.
But can we merely count the number of searches made in a category? Can we just say, “There were 120 searches for ‘Guns and Ammo’ during the DNC, and 116 during the RNC”?
# of searches during DNC # of searches during RNC
guns_and_ammo 120 116
Of course not. The conventions were held in two different cities, with different populations and levels of Yelp usage. One convention may simply have had more searches due to these factors.