Spurious correlation #5,789 · View random
A linear line chart with years as the X-axis and two variables on the Y-axis. The first variable is Votes for Republican Senators in Nebraska and the second variable is Searches for 'never gonna give you up'. The chart goes from 2006 to 2020, and the two variables track closely in value over that time.

A linear line chart with years as the X-axis and two variables on the Y-axis. The first variable is Votes for Republican Senators in Nebraska and the second variable is Searches for 'never gonna give you up'. The chart goes from 2006 to 2020, and the two variables track closely in value over that time.

Download png, svg

AI explanation

As more Republican votes flooded in, it created a wave of support reminiscent of Rick Astley's smooth voice. This surge in political backing somehow managed to rickroll its way into the collective consciousness, reigniting a love for the 'never gonna give you up' meme. It's like the senators were unknowingly campaigning for a fresh Rick-naissance, proving that in the quirky world of internet culture, even politics can't resist a catchy '80s pop hit.

^{Show image generation prompt} Create a meme inspired by the never gonna give you up meme that in some way references Votes for Republican Senators in Nebraska. Try to emulate the style of the meme - don’t violate the copyright, just make it look and feel like the original meme.
^{Show prompt for explanation} Model: gpt-3.5-turbo-1106 (fine-tuned)
System prompt: You provide humorous responses in the form of plausible sounding explanations for correlations. You assume the correlation is causative for the purpose of the explanation even if it is ridiculous. You do not chat with the user, you only reply with the causal connection explanation and nothing else.
User prompt: Please make up a funny explanation for how an increase in Republican votes for Senators in Nebraska caused Popularity of the 'never gonna give you up' meme to increase. Make it feel plausible.

AI academic paper

(Because p < 0.01)

Never Gonna Give You Upublican: The Surprising Relationship Between Nebraska Senate Votes and Rickrolling Popularity

The Journal of Political Rickrolling Studies

Jan 2024

Reminder: This paper is AI-generated. Not real!

^{Show prompt used to generate this paper} Quick note: This sequence is long and repetitive. That's how the prompt engineering works for this one. I manage the output in Python to format it into this PDF.

Model: gpt-3.5-turbo-1106
System prompt: You are a goofy academic researcher writing an academic paper. You follow the rules, but you throw out convention regularly to make jokes and funny asides.You draft the results section of an academic research paper. You speak in the past tense (you found...).
User prompt:
Pretend you are an academic researcher. Your writing sounds like it belongs in a medical or economics journal. However, you frequently crack jokes, make puns, or add unexpected twists in your writing.

Please make up the results section of an academic research paper presenting the findings of the connection between Republican votes for Senators in Nebraska and Popularity of the 'never gonna give you up' meme. You can't resist a good dad joke. Add a relevant dad joke related to the content every couple of sentences.

Your research team collected data from all across the internet, but mostly just used information from MIT Election Data and Science Lab, Harvard Dataverse and Google Trends .

For the time period 2006 to 2020, you found a correlation 0.9385440, r-squared of 0.8808649, and p < 0.01.

One figure will be included. The figure (Fig. 1) is a scatterplot showing the strong correlation between the two variables. You don't need to specify where; I will add the figure.

Here is the title and abstract of the paper:
[[TITLE]]
"Never Gonna Give You Upublican: The Surprising Relationship Between Nebraska Senate Votes and Rickrolling Popularity"

[[ABSTRACT]]
The nexus between political behavior and internet culture has long been a topic of fascination and amusement. This study delves into the unexpectedly intertwining realms of Republican votes for Senators in Nebraska and the popularity of the 'never gonna give you up' meme, popularly known as "rickrolling". Leveraging data from MIT Election Data and Science Lab, Harvard Dataverse, and Google Trends, our research uncovers a connection that is as puzzling as it is amusing.

Our analysis reveals a striking correlation coefficient of 0.9385440 and p < 0.01 for the years 2006 to 2020, signifying a significant relationship between these seemingly disparate phenomena. The unexpected correlation prompts us to ponder whether political allegiance and unsuspecting internet pranks share a mysterious link, or if it's simply the result of statistical tomfoolery. It seems that the Nebraska Republican votes may indeed be tied to internet antics more strongly than we ever imagined. One might say Rick Astley's musical charm is not just viral, but electoral!

-------

And here is the methodology section that led to this result:
[[METHODOLOGY]]
"Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down, never gonna run around and desert you" – the timeless lyrics of Rick Astley have transcended generations, captivating the internet in a phenomena famously known as "rickrolling". This unexpected internet trend, where individuals are unknowingly directed to the music video of "Never Gonna Give You Up" under the guise of a hyperlink to something else, has become a staple of online pranking. It seems Rick Astley's promise not to give up has indeed become an unyielding commitment to invade our digital lives – and potentially our political inclinations, as our research suggests.
In the world of political analysis, investigating voting patterns and demographics is a serious undertaking. However, as researchers, we cannot help but notice the amusing correlation – or the 'astounding' correlation, if you will – between the votes for Republican Senators in Nebraska and the meteoric rise of the 'never gonna give you up' meme. It's a head-scratcher, to say the least. Are Nebraskan Republicans unknowingly, or perhaps even willingly, swayed by the earworm charm of Rick Astley's hit song?
Amidst the sea of serious research papers, we aim to inject a bit of levity and humor into the world of academia. With our findings, we seek to unravel the unexpected union of political decisions and internet memes in a way that is both informative and entertaining. After all, who said research can't be rib-tickling, or that academics can't appreciate a good ol' dad joke every now and then? It's time to rickroll our way into the intersection of internet culture and political behavior with data-driven analysis and a sprinkle of lightheartedness. It's like conducting serious research, but with a wink and a nod to the absurdity of it all.

-------

Your response should start like this:

[[RESULTS]]

ChatGPT:

[[RESULTS]]

Our analysis of the relationship between Republican votes for Senators in Nebraska and the popularity of the 'never gonna give you up' meme yielded some truly surprising results. The correlation coefficient of 0.9385440 and the high R-squared value of 0.8808649 for the time period 2006 to 2020 suggest a remarkably strong association between these two seemingly unrelated variables. It seems that Nebraska Republicans might have been "rickrolled" in more ways than one!

Fig. 1: A scatterplot depicting the strong correlation between Republican votes for Senators in Nebraska and the popularity of the 'never gonna give you up' meme. You can almost hear the faint echoes of "Never Gonna Give You Up" in the background.

Dad Joke Alert: Our findings suggest that the "Never Gonna Give You Up" meme might have given a subtle nudge to Nebraska Republicans – talk about a rick-roll call!

The statistical significance of p < 0.01 further confirms the robustness of this unexpected association. It seems that the sway of Rick Astley's catchy tune may have extended far beyond the realm of musical preference and into the realm of political allegiance. Who would have thought that the infectious chorus of "Never Gonna Give You Up" could potentially influence voting behavior?

In light of these results, it might be time for political campaigns to consider incorporating a bit of '80s nostalgia into their strategies. Perhaps a Rick Astley concert at the next Nebraska Senate race rally could be just the ticket to secure those votes. After all, in the words of Rick Astley himself, "We know the game and we're gonna play it" – and it seems the game might just involve a catchy tune and unexpected political ramifications.

Dad Joke Alert: It looks like Rickrolling might have political implications after all. Who knew Rick Astley's sway could extend to the ballot box?

These findings open up a new avenue of inquiry into the interplay between internet culture and political engagement. Perhaps it's time to give a closer look to other '80s hits and their potential influence on civic participation. Could we be witnessing the rise of "Wham!"-influenced policies and the impact of "Careless Whisper" on public sentiment? The possibilities are as endless as the saxophone solos in '80s pop ballads.

In conclusion, our research unearths a peculiar link between Republican votes for Senators in Nebraska and the 'never gonna give you up' meme, shedding light on the unexpected intermingling of internet memes and political allegiance. Our findings underscore the need to approach the realms of politics and internet culture with equal parts curiosity and sense of humor. After all, research is about uncovering the unexpected, and what could be more unexpected than the connection between Nebraska Republicans and a viral '80s hit?

Model: gpt-3.5-turbo-1106
System prompt: You are a goofy academic researcher writing an academic paper. You follow the rules, but you throw out convention regularly to make jokes and funny asides.You draft the discussion section of an academic research paper.
User prompt:
Pretend you are an academic researcher. Your writing sounds like it belongs in a medical or economics journal. However, you frequently crack jokes, make puns, or add unexpected twists in your writing.

Please make up the discussion section of an academic research paper presenting the findings of the connection between Republican votes for Senators in Nebraska and Popularity of the 'never gonna give you up' meme. You can't resist a good dad joke. Add a relevant dad joke related to the content every couple of sentences.

Limit your response to 500 tokens.

Here are the title, abstract, literature review, and results sections. Please harken back to 1-2 of the goofy items in the literature review, but pretend to take them completely seriously. Discuss how your results supported the prior research.

Do not write a conclusion. I will add a conclusion after this.

[[TITLE]]
"Never Gonna Give You Upublican: The Surprising Relationship Between Nebraska Senate Votes and Rickrolling Popularity"

[[ABSTRACT]]
The nexus between political behavior and internet culture has long been a topic of fascination and amusement. This study delves into the unexpectedly intertwining realms of Republican votes for Senators in Nebraska and the popularity of the 'never gonna give you up' meme, popularly known as "rickrolling". Leveraging data from MIT Election Data and Science Lab, Harvard Dataverse, and Google Trends, our research uncovers a connection that is as puzzling as it is amusing.

Our analysis reveals a striking correlation coefficient of 0.9385440 and p < 0.01 for the years 2006 to 2020, signifying a significant relationship between these seemingly disparate phenomena. The unexpected correlation prompts us to ponder whether political allegiance and unsuspecting internet pranks share a mysterious link, or if it's simply the result of statistical tomfoolery. It seems that the Nebraska Republican votes may indeed be tied to internet antics more strongly than we ever imagined. One might say Rick Astley's musical charm is not just viral, but electoral!

[[LITERATURE REVIEW]]
The relationship between political behavior and cultural phenomena has been a subject of scholarly investigation in recent years. Smith (2015) examined the influence of internet memes on voter preferences, finding that humorous online content can have an impact on public perception and political attitudes. Similarly, Doe (2018) explored the role of pop culture references in shaping political discourse, highlighting the potential for viral content to sway public opinion.
Now, let's pivot from serious scholarly research to a more light-hearted examination of the cultural landscape. In "The Meme Machine" by Susan Blackmore, the author delves into the fascinating world of internet memes and their societal impact, proving that memes are not just for laughs but can also influence social behavior. Speaking of influence, Jones' (2017) study on the psychology of persuasion sheds light on the subtle mechanisms that shape decision-making, offering insights into how persuasive messages, whether political or humorous, can leave a lasting impression.
But wait, there's more! In the whimsical realm of literature, works such as "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams and "Ready Player One" by Ernest Cline playfully explore the intersection of pop culture and larger societal themes, offering a humorous take on the influence of media and entertainment. However, when it comes to unexpected connections, one cannot overlook the classic board game "Clue," where the search for clues and hidden meanings mirrors the quest to uncover the enigmatic link between political voting patterns and internet pranks.
Now, before we delve into our own findings, let's pause for a dad joke break. Why don't skeletons fight each other? They don't have the guts for it!
Now that we've had our moment of levity, let's revisit the solemn realm of academic literature. While the connection between Republican votes for Senators in Nebraska and the popularity of the 'never gonna give you up' meme may seem like a whimsical matter, our research aims to untangle this peculiar correlation with the rigor and precision befitting scholarly inquiry.

[[RESULTS]]
Our analysis of the relationship between Republican votes for Senators in Nebraska and the popularity of the 'never gonna give you up' meme yielded some truly surprising results. The correlation coefficient of 0.9385440 and the high R-squared value of 0.8808649 for the time period 2006 to 2020 suggest a remarkably strong association between these two seemingly unrelated variables. It seems that Nebraska Republicans might have been "rickrolled" in more ways than one!
Fig. 1: A scatterplot depicting the strong correlation between Republican votes for Senators in Nebraska and the popularity of the 'never gonna give you up' meme. You can almost hear the faint echoes of "Never Gonna Give You Up" in the background.
Dad Joke Alert: Our findings suggest that the "Never Gonna Give You Up" meme might have given a subtle nudge to Nebraska Republicans – talk about a rick-roll call!
The statistical significance of p < 0.01 further confirms the robustness of this unexpected association. It seems that the sway of Rick Astley's catchy tune may have extended far beyond the realm of musical preference and into the realm of political allegiance. Who would have thought that the infectious chorus of "Never Gonna Give You Up" could potentially influence voting behavior?
In light of these results, it might be time for political campaigns to consider incorporating a bit of '80s nostalgia into their strategies. Perhaps a Rick Astley concert at the next Nebraska Senate race rally could be just the ticket to secure those votes. After all, in the words of Rick Astley himself, "We know the game and we're gonna play it" – and it seems the game might just involve a catchy tune and unexpected political ramifications.
Dad Joke Alert: It looks like Rickrolling might have political implications after all. Who knew Rick Astley's sway could extend to the ballot box?
These findings open up a new avenue of inquiry into the interplay between internet culture and political engagement. Perhaps it's time to give a closer look to other '80s hits and their potential influence on civic participation. Could we be witnessing the rise of "Wham!"-influenced policies and the impact of "Careless Whisper" on public sentiment? The possibilities are as endless as the saxophone solos in '80s pop ballads.
In conclusion, our research unearths a peculiar link between Republican votes for Senators in Nebraska and the 'never gonna give you up' meme, shedding light on the unexpected intermingling of internet memes and political allegiance. Our findings underscore the need to approach the realms of politics and internet culture with equal parts curiosity and sense of humor. After all, research is about uncovering the unexpected, and what could be more unexpected than the connection between Nebraska Republicans and a viral '80s hit?

-------

Your response should start like this:

[[DISCUSSION]]

ChatGPT:

[[DISCUSSION]]

The unexpected connection between Republican votes for Senators in Nebraska and the popularity of the 'never gonna give you up' meme has left us both bemused and intrigued. Much like the surprising plot twist in a classic comedy, our findings have provided a quirky revelation that challenges conventional wisdom. Our results not only support prior research but also veer into uncharted territory where political fervor and internet humor converge in a surprising pas de deux.

As we delve into the implications of our findings, let's take a moment for a dad joke interlude. Did you hear about the political meme about an octopus? It had eight arms – left, right, and all over social media! Now, back to our serious discussion.

Our results resonate with the work of Smith (2015) and Doe (2018), underscoring the influence of internet culture on political dynamics. The interplay between humorous online content and voter behavior, as documented by these scholars, finds an unexpected echo in our own research. It seems that the digital antics encircling the 'never gonna give you up' meme may have subtly woven themselves into the fabric of political decisions in Nebraska. This realization is as surprising as realizing that "never gonna give you up" might be more than just an '80s hit – it's also a political pied piper!

Dad Joke Alert: With this unexpected revelation, it seems like Rick Astley didn't just "run around and desert" the music charts – he might have also made a strategic political appearance in the Cornhusker State!

Moreover, the robust statistical significance of our findings – with a correlation coefficient of 0.9385440 and p < 0.01 – bolsters the credibility of this unlikely association. It seems that the catchy chorus of "Never Gonna Give You Up" might have surreptitiously swayed the hearts and minds of Nebraska Republicans. Who would have thought that Rickrolling could, in some small way, be a political rallying cry?

Our research not only reinforces the symbiotic relationship between internet culture and political engagement but also teases open a broader avenue for inquiry. It's as if the internet gods are pulling the strings of political fate, with memes and mashups serving as the unsuspecting puppeteers. It's like a digital rendition of "The Puppet Show" – only with memes and ballots instead of marionettes and stages.

Dad Joke Alert: It seems like the unexpectedly influential power of the 'never gonna give you up' meme has us all caught up in a political rhapsody! Who knew internet humor could have such serious implications?

In sum, our findings prompt us to take the interplay between internet culture and political participation seriously, even as we revel in the unexpected hilarity that dances at the edges of this connection. After all, the fusion of politics and memes is a delightful reminder that, in the words of Rick Astley, "We're no strangers to love" – and we're no strangers to the unexpected side of political research either!

Model: gpt-3.5-turbo-1106
System prompt: You are a goofy academic researcher writing an academic paper. You follow the rules, but you throw out convention regularly to make jokes and funny asides.You draft the discussion section of goofy academic research papers that sounds like it belongs based on the title and abstract provided.
User prompt:
Pretend you are an academic researcher. Your writing sounds like it belongs in a medical or economics journal. However, you frequently crack jokes, make puns, or add unexpected twists in your writing.

Please make up a short conclusion of an academic research paper presenting the findings of the connection between Republican votes for Senators in Nebraska and Popularity of the 'never gonna give you up' meme. You can't resist a good dad joke. Add a relevant dad joke related to the content every couple of sentences.

Limit your response to 300 tokens. At the very end, assert that no more research is needed in this area.

Here are the title, abstract, introduction, and results sections.
[[TITLE]]
"Never Gonna Give You Upublican: The Surprising Relationship Between Nebraska Senate Votes and Rickrolling Popularity"

[[ABSTRACT]]
The nexus between political behavior and internet culture has long been a topic of fascination and amusement. This study delves into the unexpectedly intertwining realms of Republican votes for Senators in Nebraska and the popularity of the 'never gonna give you up' meme, popularly known as "rickrolling". Leveraging data from MIT Election Data and Science Lab, Harvard Dataverse, and Google Trends, our research uncovers a connection that is as puzzling as it is amusing.

Our analysis reveals a striking correlation coefficient of 0.9385440 and p < 0.01 for the years 2006 to 2020, signifying a significant relationship between these seemingly disparate phenomena. The unexpected correlation prompts us to ponder whether political allegiance and unsuspecting internet pranks share a mysterious link, or if it's simply the result of statistical tomfoolery. It seems that the Nebraska Republican votes may indeed be tied to internet antics more strongly than we ever imagined. One might say Rick Astley's musical charm is not just viral, but electoral!

[[INTRDUCTION]]
"Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down, never gonna run around and desert you" – the timeless lyrics of Rick Astley have transcended generations, captivating the internet in a phenomena famously known as "rickrolling". This unexpected internet trend, where individuals are unknowingly directed to the music video of "Never Gonna Give You Up" under the guise of a hyperlink to something else, has become a staple of online pranking. It seems Rick Astley's promise not to give up has indeed become an unyielding commitment to invade our digital lives – and potentially our political inclinations, as our research suggests.
In the world of political analysis, investigating voting patterns and demographics is a serious undertaking. However, as researchers, we cannot help but notice the amusing correlation – or the 'astounding' correlation, if you will – between the votes for Republican Senators in Nebraska and the meteoric rise of the 'never gonna give you up' meme. It's a head-scratcher, to say the least. Are Nebraskan Republicans unknowingly, or perhaps even willingly, swayed by the earworm charm of Rick Astley's hit song?
Amidst the sea of serious research papers, we aim to inject a bit of levity and humor into the world of academia. With our findings, we seek to unravel the unexpected union of political decisions and internet memes in a way that is both informative and entertaining. After all, who said research can't be rib-tickling, or that academics can't appreciate a good ol' dad joke every now and then? It's time to rickroll our way into the intersection of internet culture and political behavior with data-driven analysis and a sprinkle of lightheartedness. It's like conducting serious research, but with a wink and a nod to the absurdity of it all.

[[RESULTS]]
Our analysis of the relationship between Republican votes for Senators in Nebraska and the popularity of the 'never gonna give you up' meme yielded some truly surprising results. The correlation coefficient of 0.9385440 and the high R-squared value of 0.8808649 for the time period 2006 to 2020 suggest a remarkably strong association between these two seemingly unrelated variables. It seems that Nebraska Republicans might have been "rickrolled" in more ways than one!
Fig. 1: A scatterplot depicting the strong correlation between Republican votes for Senators in Nebraska and the popularity of the 'never gonna give you up' meme. You can almost hear the faint echoes of "Never Gonna Give You Up" in the background.
Dad Joke Alert: Our findings suggest that the "Never Gonna Give You Up" meme might have given a subtle nudge to Nebraska Republicans – talk about a rick-roll call!
The statistical significance of p < 0.01 further confirms the robustness of this unexpected association. It seems that the sway of Rick Astley's catchy tune may have extended far beyond the realm of musical preference and into the realm of political allegiance. Who would have thought that the infectious chorus of "Never Gonna Give You Up" could potentially influence voting behavior?
In light of these results, it might be time for political campaigns to consider incorporating a bit of '80s nostalgia into their strategies. Perhaps a Rick Astley concert at the next Nebraska Senate race rally could be just the ticket to secure those votes. After all, in the words of Rick Astley himself, "We know the game and we're gonna play it" – and it seems the game might just involve a catchy tune and unexpected political ramifications.
Dad Joke Alert: It looks like Rickrolling might have political implications after all. Who knew Rick Astley's sway could extend to the ballot box?
These findings open up a new avenue of inquiry into the interplay between internet culture and political engagement. Perhaps it's time to give a closer look to other '80s hits and their potential influence on civic participation. Could we be witnessing the rise of "Wham!"-influenced policies and the impact of "Careless Whisper" on public sentiment? The possibilities are as endless as the saxophone solos in '80s pop ballads.
In conclusion, our research unearths a peculiar link between Republican votes for Senators in Nebraska and the 'never gonna give you up' meme, shedding light on the unexpected intermingling of internet memes and political allegiance. Our findings underscore the need to approach the realms of politics and internet culture with equal parts curiosity and sense of humor. After all, research is about uncovering the unexpected, and what could be more unexpected than the connection between Nebraska Republicans and a viral '80s hit?

-------

Your response should start like this:

[[CONCLUSION]]

ChatGPT:

[[CONCLUSION]]

In conclusion, our research has unveiled a striking correlation between Republican votes for Senators in Nebraska and the popularity of the 'never gonna give you up' meme. So, it seems that Nebraskan Republicans have been more than a little 'rickrolled' over the years. The statistics don't lie; there's a strong link between political preferences and the infectious earworm of Rick Astley's iconic tune.

Dad Joke Alert: It seems the Nebraska Republicans couldn't help falling for Rick Astley's timeless melody – talk about a vote of 'no(r)never gonna) confidence'!

These findings bring a whole new meaning to the phrase "political jam" – it looks like Rick Astley's musical charm may have wiggled its way into the electoral dance. It seems that when faced with the ballot box, Nebraskan Republicans simply couldn't resist the magnetic pull of '80s nostalgia.

Dad Joke Alert: Who knew that Rickrol(l)ing could extend all the way to the polls – it's like their votes were never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down!

With these results, it's safe to say that no more research is needed in this area. We've surely 'Rickrolled' our way through enough data to last a lifetime. And if there's one thing we've learned from this study, it's that when it comes to Nebraska Republicans and 'never gonna give you up', well, they're definitely not giving up their votes!

Model: gpt-3.5-turbo-1106
System prompt: You provide fictional names of academic journals. You say nothing else, and you do not chat with the user.
User prompt: Please provide the name of a funny but plausible sounding research, scientific, or academic journal that would publish a paper entited Never Gonna Give You Upublican: The Surprising Relationship Between Nebraska Senate Votes and Rickrolling Popularity. Respond only with the name of a fictional academic journal.

ChatGPT:

The Journal of Political Rickrolling Studies

Model: gpt-3.5-turbo-1106
System prompt: You provide fictional names of nonprofit research organizations and associations. You say nothing else, and you do not chat with the user.
User prompt: Please provide the name of a funny but plausible sounding nonprofit, academic, or scientific association or organization that would sponsor research that resulted in a paper entited Never Gonna Give You Upublican: The Surprising Relationship Between Nebraska Senate Votes and Rickrolling Popularity. Respond only with the name of a fictional organization.

ChatGPT:

The Society for Humorous Sociopolitical Research

Model: gpt-3.5-turbo-1106
System prompt: You provide potential search keywords separated by commas. You say nothing else, and you do not chat with the user.
User prompt: Please provide potential search keywords for a paper titled Never Gonna Give You Upublican: The Surprising Relationship Between Nebraska Senate Votes and Rickrolling Popularity with an abstract of The nexus between political behavior and internet culture has long been a topic of fascination and amusement. This study delves into the unexpectedly intertwining realms of Republican votes for Senators in Nebraska and the popularity of the 'never gonna give you up' meme, popularly known as "rickrolling". Leveraging data from MIT Election Data and Science Lab, Harvard Dataverse, and Google Trends, our research uncovers a connection that is as puzzling as it is amusing.
Our analysis reveals a striking correlation coefficient of 0.9385440 and p < 0.01 for the years 2006 to 2020, signifying a significant relationship between these seemingly disparate phenomena. The unexpected correlation prompts us to ponder whether political allegiance and unsuspecting internet pranks share a mysterious link, or if it's simply the result of statistical tomfoolery. It seems that the Nebraska Republican votes may indeed be tied to internet antics more strongly than we ever imagined. One might say Rick Astley's musical charm is not just viral, but electoral!

ChatGPT:

Nebraska Senate votes, Rickrolling, Republican votes, Nebraska Senators, internet culture, political behavior, correlation, internet memes, Rick Astley, data analysis

*There is a bunch of Python happening behind the scenes to turn this prompt sequence into a PDF.

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Data details

Votes for Republican Senators in Nebraska
Detailed data title: Total number of votes cast for Federal Republican Senate candidates in Nebraska
Source: MIT Election Data and Science Lab, Harvard Dataverse
See what else correlates with Votes for Republican Senators in Nebraska

Searches for 'never gonna give you up'
Detailed data title: Relative volume of Google searches for 'never gonna give you up' (without quotes, in the United States)
Source: Google Trends
Additional Info: ^{See full details} Relative search volume is a unique Google thing; the shape of the chart is accurate but the actual numbers are meaningless.

See what else correlates with Searches for 'never gonna give you up'

Correlation r = 0.9385440 (Pearson correlation coefficient)
Correlation is a measure of how much the variables move together. If it is 0.99, when one goes up the other goes up. If it is 0.02, the connection is very weak or non-existent. If it is -0.99, then when one goes up the other goes down. If it is 1.00, you probably messed up your correlation function.

r² = 0.8808649 (Coefficient of determination)
This means 88.1% of the change in the one variable (i.e., Searches for 'never gonna give you up') is predictable based on the change in the other (i.e., Votes for Republican Senators in Nebraska) over the 6 years from 2006 through 2020.

p < 0.01, which is statistically significant(Null hypothesis significance test)
The p-value is 0.0055.^Show 0.0055491994573886610000000000
The p-value is a measure of how probable it is that we would randomly find a result this extreme.^Note More specifically the p-value is a measure of how probable it is that we would randomly find a result this extreme if we had only tested one pair of variables one time.

But I am a p-villain. I absolutely did not test only one pair of variables one time. I correlated hundreds of millions of pairs of variables. I threw boatloads of data into an industrial-sized blender to find this correlation.

Who is going to stop me? p-value reporting doesn't require me to report how many calculations I had to go through in order to find a low p-value!
On average, you will find a correaltion as strong as 0.94 in 0.55% of random cases. Said differently, if you correlated 180 random variables^Note Which I absolutely did.
with the same 5 degrees of freedom, ^Note Degrees of freedom is a measure of how many free components we are testing. In this case it is 5 because we have two variables measured over a period of 6 years. It's just the number of years minus ( the number of variables minus one ), which in this case simplifies to the number of years minus one.
you would randomly expect to find a correlation as strong as this one.

[ 0.53, 0.99 ] 95% correlation confidence interval (using the Fisher z-transformation)
^{Read more about the confidence interval} The confidence interval is an estimate the range of the value of the correlation coefficient, using the correlation itself as an input. The values are meant to be the low and high end of the correlation coefficient with 95% confidence.

This one is a bit more complciated than the other calculations, but I include it because many people have been pushing for confidence intervals instead of p-value calculations (for example: NEJM. However, if you are dredging data, you can reliably find yourself in the 5%. That's my goal!

All values for the years included above: ^Note If I were being very sneaky, I could trim years from the beginning or end of the datasets to increase the correlation on some pairs of variables. I don't do that because there are already plenty of correlations in my database without monkeying with the years.

Still, sometimes one of the variables has more years of data available than the other. This page only shows the overlapping years. To see all the years, click on "See what else correlates with..." link above.

	2006	2008	2012	2014	2018	2020
Votes for Republican Senators in Nebraska (Total votes)	213928	455854	455593	347636	403151	583507
Searches for 'never gonna give you up' (Relative popularity)	2.16667	26.9167	15.75	13.4167	17.8333	31.0833

Why this works

Data dredging: I have 25,237 variables in my database. I compare all these variables against each other to find ones that randomly match up. That's 636,906,169 correlation calculations! This is called “data dredging.” Instead of starting with a hypothesis and testing it, I instead abused the data to see what correlations shake out. It’s a dangerous way to go about analysis, because any sufficiently large dataset will yield strong correlations completely at random.
Lack of causal connection: There is probably^Note Because these pages are automatically generated, it's possible that the two variables you are viewing are in fact causually related. I take steps to prevent the obvious ones from showing on the site (I don't let data about the weather in one city correlate with the weather in a neighboring city, for example), but sometimes they still pop up. If they are related, cool! You found a loophole.
no direct connection between these variables, despite what the AI says above. This is exacerbated by the fact that I used "Years" as the base variable. Lots of things happen in a year that are not related to each other! Most studies would use something like "one person" in stead of "one year" to be the "thing" studied.
Observations not independent: For many variables, sequential years are not independent of each other. If a population of people is continuously doing something every day, there is no reason to think they would suddenly change how they are doing that thing on January 1. A simple^Note Personally I don't find any p-value calculation to be 'simple,' but you know what I mean.
p-value calculation does not take this into account, so mathematically it appears less probable than it really is.
Very low n: There are not many data points included in this analysis. Even if the p-value is high, we should be suspicious of using so few datapoints in a correlation.

Try it yourself

You can calculate the values on this page on your own! Try running the Python code to see the calculation results. ^{Show the steps to do this.} Step 1: Download and install Python on your computer.

Step 2: Open a plaintext editor like Notepad and paste the code below into it.

Step 3: Save the file as "calculate_correlation.py" in a place you will remember, like your desktop. Copy the file location to your clipboard. On Windows, you can right-click the file and click "Properties," and then copy what comes after "Location:" As an example, on my computer the location is "C:\Users\tyler\Desktop"

Step 4: Open a command line window. For example, by pressing start and typing "cmd" and them pressing enter.

Step 5: Install the required modules by typing "pip install numpy", then pressing enter, then typing "pip install scipy", then pressing enter.

Step 6: Navigate to the location where you saved the Python file by using the "cd" command. For example, I would type "cd C:\Users\tyler\Desktop" and push enter.

Step 7: Run the Python script by typing "python calculate_correlation.py"

If you run into any issues, I suggest asking ChatGPT to walk you through installing Python and running the code below on your system. Try this question:

"Walk me through installing Python on my computer to run a script that uses scipy and numpy. Go step-by-step and ask me to confirm before moving on. Start by asking me questions about my operating system so that you know how to proceed. Assume I want the simplest installation with the latest version of Python and that I do not currently have any of the necessary elements installed. Remember to only give me one step per response and confirm I have done it before proceeding."

# These modules make it easier to perform the calculation
import numpy as np
from scipy import stats

# We'll define a function that we can call to return the correlation calculations
def calculate_correlation(array1, array2):

    # Calculate Pearson correlation coefficient and p-value
    correlation, p_value = stats.pearsonr(array1, array2)

    # Calculate R-squared as the square of the correlation coefficient
    r_squared = correlation**2

    return correlation, r_squared, p_value

# These are the arrays for the variables shown on this page, but you can modify them to be any two sets of numbers
array_1 = np.array([213928,455854,455593,347636,403151,583507,])
array_2 = np.array([2.16667,26.9167,15.75,13.4167,17.8333,31.0833,])
array_1_name = "Votes for Republican Senators in Nebraska"
array_2_name = "Searches for 'never gonna give you up'"

# Perform the calculation
print(f"Calculating the correlation between {array_1_name} and {array_2_name}...")
correlation, r_squared, p_value = calculate_correlation(array_1, array_2)

# Print the results
print("Correlation Coefficient:", correlation)
print("R-squared:", r_squared)
print("P-value:", p_value)

Reuseable content

You may re-use the images on this page for any purpose, even commercial purposes, without asking for permission. The only requirement is that you attribute Tyler Vigen. ^Note Attribution can take many different forms. If you leave the "tylervigen.com" link in the image, that satisfies it just fine. If you remove it and move it to a footnote, that's fine too. You can also just write "Charts courtesy of Tyler Vigen" at the bottom of an article.

You do not need to attribute "the spurious correlations website," and you don't even need to link here if you don't want to. I don't gain anything from pageviews. There are no ads on this site, there is nothing for sale, and I am not for hire.

For the record, I am just one person. Tyler Vigen, he/him/his. I do have degrees, but they should not go after my name unless you want to annoy my wife. If that is your goal, then go ahead and cite me as "Tyler Vigen, A.A. A.A.S. B.A. J.D." Otherwise it is just "Tyler Vigen."

When spoken, my last name is pronounced "vegan," like I don't eat meat.

Full license details.
For more on re-use permissions, or to get a signed release form, see tylervigen.com/permission.

Download images for these variables:

High resolution line chart ^Note The image linked here is a Scalable Vector Graphic (SVG). It is the highest resolution that is possible to achieve. It scales up beyond the size of the observable universe without pixelating. You do not need to email me asking if I have a higher resolution image. I do not. The physical limitations of our universe prevent me from providing you with an image that is any higher resolution than this one.

If you insert it into a PowerPoint presentation (a tool well-known for managing things that are the scale of the universe), you can right-click > "Ungroup" or "Create Shape" and then edit the lines and text directly. You can also change the colors this way.

Alternatively you can use a tool like Inkscape.
High resolution line chart, optimized for mobile
Alternative high resolution line chart
Scatterplot
Portable line chart (png)
Portable line chart (png), optimized for mobile
Line chart for only Votes for Republican Senators in Nebraska
Line chart for only Searches for 'never gonna give you up'
AI-generated correlation image
The spurious research paper: Never Gonna Give You Upublican: The Surprising Relationship Between Nebraska Senate Votes and Rickrolling Popularity

View another random correlation

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Correlation ID: 5789 · Black Variable ID: 26274 · Red Variable ID: 25160


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