Student competitors in the NYU Abu Dhabi Journal of Social Sciences' Datathon produced original research using data gathered from ADNH Compass. The data set comprised sales and transactions information for all dining sites at NYUAD since the start of fall 2015 as well as suggestions and accolades messages logged since January 2016. Teams were asked to analyze the data and propose changes to the university’s dining policy. Two winning teams were awarded Best Presentation and Best Analysis, respectively.

In this article, we present a selection of findings and visualizations created by the teams that participated in the Datathon, along with the suggestions that emerged from their analyses.

 

Jaehurn Nam and Mina Kim produced descriptive statistics on the amount of money spent per meal swipe. Although most of the meal swipes, equivalent to 30 AED, are used for purchases over 25 AED, their findings suggest that 15 percent of the swipes are used for purchases below that amount. They also found that the distribution of meal swipes and campus dirhams does not reflect student's spending patterns. Nam and Kim recommend that meal swipes be transferred to dining dirhams or that students are able to use meal swipes in the Marketplace.

 

Jihyun Kim and Gabor Csapo explored trends in sales on Saturday nights, when meal swipes expire. When comparing sales throughout the week, they found that, on Saturday nights, there is a considerable increase in the sale of junk food items and water bottles. Their findings led them to suggest that healthier options be provided to students who are burning through their meal swipes on Saturday nights.

Image courtesy of the NYUAD Journal of Social Sciences

They consider this increase in sales to be indicative of the fact that while a number of students have many meal swipes remaining at the end of the week, others find their allowance insufficient. Kim and Csapo suggest that the university or students consider creating a web application similar to one at NYU New York through which students with extra meal swipes can be matched with those who need them.

Image courtesy of the NYUAD Journal of Social Sciences

 

Beatrice Ionascu and Rodrigo Ceballos focused their analysis on the daily popularity of the Global Street counter in the East Dining Hall. They found that Wednesday's Hot Dog offerings showed the lowest percentage of total sales compared to other offers at the Global Street counter. They suggested that this menu be replaced with more popular options.

 

Image courtesy of the NYUAD Journal of Social Sciences