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The Best of Sherlock Holmes

 

Alternative Models for
Ranking the Top Canonical Quotations

 

Many different quantitative models were considered to identify the most famous quotations. These models were based on the descriptive criteria for judging popularity and consensus noted in "Quoting Sherlock Holmes: The Ten Most Famous Canonical Quotations." While each model had certain strengths, the Stock Scale was clearly superior. The results from some alternative models are given in the table below. Descriptions of these alternative models are provided after the table.

 

Results of Alternative Models

 

Notes:

 

Scoring Model Descriptions

These models are based on citations in Familiar Quotations by John Bartlett and in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations. This analysis was done on Canonical passages appearing in the 11th (1937) to 16th (1992) editions of Bartlett and the first four editions (1941-1992) of Oxford. Other variations of Models 2, 3 and 4 were also examined. These variations applied different factors for Bartlett citations of between 50% and 67%. The models shown here reflect the highest (67%) and lowest (50%) weighting factors since these demonstrate the greatest differences.

 

See "Quoting Sherlock Holmes: The Ten Most Famous Canonical Quotations" in The Hounds' Collection volume 9 (2004) for the pros and cons of these models. The Stock Scale was clearly better, and was updated in 2004 to include the latest editions of Bartlett and Oxford.

 

For the calculations shown here, six Bartlett and four Oxford editions were used. In the mathematical notation, "B" and "O" reflect a quotation's appearance in an edition of Bartlett or Oxford. The ".last" terms only apply if the quotation appears in the most recent edition of Bartlett or Oxford.

 

Alternative Model #1

The simplest scoring model merely adds the total number of appearances in Bartlett and Oxford and scales the result. Bartlett thus accounts for 60% of the final score. (Total #B + Total #O)*10

 

Alternative Model #2a

Scores are calculated by adding the percentage of appearances within Bartlett to the percentage of appearances within Oxford and scaling the result. Bartlett and Oxford are thus equally weighted. ((Total #B)/6 + (Total #O)/4)*50

 

Alternative Model #2b

Other percentage models gave additional weight to Bartlett. In this case, it accounts for 67% of the final score. ((Total #B)/6*67) + ((Total #O)/4*33)

 

Alternative Model #3a

This variation on the percentage model includes an extra one-half appearance credit if the quotation appeared in the latest edition of the book. This reflects a preference for current public opinion as well as its predictive value for future public opinion. In this case, Bartlett accounts for 50% of the final score. ((Total #B + 0.5 B.last)/6.5*50) + ((Total #O + 0.5 O.last)/4.5*50)

 

Alternative Model #3b

This model uses the same factors in #3a except that the result is scaled so that Bartlett provides 67% of final score. ((Total #B + 0.5 B.last)/6.5*67) + ((Total #O + 0.5 O.last)/4.5*33)

 

Alternative Model #4a

This percentage appearance calculation for Bartlett was limited to its last five editions to make it more comparable to Oxford's four. It includes the same other factors in #3a and is weighted so that Bartlett accounts for 50% of the final score. ((Total # last 5 B + 0.5 B.last)/5.5*50) + ((Total #O + 0.5 O.last)/4.5*50)

 

Alternative Model #4b

This model uses the same factors in #4a except that the result is scaled so that Bartlett provides 67% of final score. ((Total # last 5 B + 0.5 B.last)/5.5*67) + ((Total #O + 0.5 O.last)/4.5*33)

 

 

More about The Stock Scale

 

Back to The Ten Most Famous Quotations from the Sherlock Holmes Stories

 

 

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