Okay, well, that took way longer than I thought it would. I finally have the results, all compiled in nice graphs. I'll post the graphs, complete with some information and then my personal take on what the data says in yellow. Sorry I couldn't get the graphs to actually be shown in my post.
1. So, first, I got the final numbers - this graph shows who actually responded in the thread. Like I promised, anyone who didn't respond, their vote was not counted. But you can see that this graph and the raw one above are pretty much telling the same story. Pearlshipping got many more responses.
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http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y114/Encyclopika/Capture.png~~~~~
So, even among the most popular ships, there are still some much more popular than the others. Most notable, Pearlshipping is in the lead, with Wishfulshipping, Pokeshipping, Contestshipping, and Negaishipping falling seconds and thirds. How peculiar. Now, if we were to assume that ship popularity stems from how recent it is (whether or not it's still airing in the series) then Wishful, Negai, and Rocket shippings should have been most popular. And for this, we had a study. What is it about these in particular that make them last for years after they end?
2. This graph shows how people answered the first question - what is it about the ship(s) that makes you like it so much?
--"Romantic Hints" - was anything said that fell under actual events in the anime.
--"Chemistry" - stems from anything said that suggests the user likes the way the characters intermingled with each other, how their personalities blended together, etc. Very subtle hints fell under this category as well.
--"Friendship/Bond" - if the user mentioned how much they liked the friendship of the characters, or if the user mentioned any friendly acts (anything stemming from "support" "trust" and "fun together".
--"Aesthetics" - checked off whenever a user said the pairing was "cute" or "looked good together".
--"Fanart" - comes from any time a member mentioned how fanart or fanfiction attracted them to the ship.
--"Canon" - anytime a user mentioned that they could see the ship happening, or claiming that it actually was canon. Very strict use of the word "canon" was implemented.
--"N/A"- the user did not give a clear answer, didn't answer this question, or whose answer did not fit the other criteria.
The first picture is for each shipping on its own. The second picture is an average of how many people talked about each ship characteristic.
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http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y114/Encyclopika/Capture2.png~~~~~
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http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y114/Encyclopika/Capture1.png~~~~~
We can see from both graphs that the most important aspects of a ship is that the characters involved have good "chemistry" and that "Romantic Hints" back up this notion. How fascinating! This means that when most people pick a ship, they do it by intuition, and solidify it was actual hints, if they ever come by. The friendship or bond between characters is even less important, but still pretty important in a few notable ships, particularly any that had to do with Ash in particular.
The best part about the first graph is that you can see what is important to each ship's followers. For instance, "Romantic Hints" is THE most important thing to Contestshippers, while Pearlshippers gushed about their pair's "Chemistry" and "Friendship". Wishfulshippers cared most about "Chemistry" as well, whereas Advanceshippers cared most about Chemistry, but also "Aesthetics".
We also see in the second graph that canonity was really the least important thing.
3. This next graph is to the answers to the second question - when did you start shipping it? I didn't read everyone's explanations, since I was just looking for "During" or "After".
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http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y114/Encyclopika/Capture3.png~~~~
We see here that most people who ship these ships started shipping it as it aired. Which leads me to guess that part of the longevity stems from the initial enjoyment and then the nostalgia that occurs after it ends. Where the nostalgia comes from would require another study, but from my own experiences, it comes from the persisting fanart and fanfiction and friends. It works in a loop. As people become nostalgic, they write/draw more of the ship, which then causes others to do the same or comment, which then gets back to the original writer/artist, making the love for the ship persist long after the initial spark is gone.
4. This next one is to the answers to the third question - if people were likely to continue liking the ship. "Maybe" came from any answers that were not definitive. "N/A" came from outright "I don't know"s and no answers.
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http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y114/Encyclopika/Capture4.png~~~~
What we see here is that the vast majority of people who answered for their ship said they would continue to love it for a long time or forever. This is just more proof that these ships have "Staying Power" or the ability to keep fans interested. What needs to be kept in mind, though, is that some of these ships are already on their retirement - meaning that their longevity is obvious, where others are newer. Wishful and Negai are still airing, and so their actual longevity is in question. From this graph, we can see that Wishful can more staying power, however, another survey like this will need to be done to truly test it.
5. This last set of graphs pertains to the last question - what hints make the ship canon or most plausible to you. I tried my best to categorize the types of hints people were talking about. These answers not only came from this question, but also the first question, since a lot of you burnt yourselves out gushing about your ships on the first go. XD I'm confident this is an accurate representation of the answers.
--"Savior" - comes from any user mentioning a character saving another's life. Though I personally don't find this to be a romantic hint, it's up for debate.
--"Opposites Attract" - comes from any user mentioning this fiction-plot-device to make a pairing interesting. It's something authors use all the time to get the sexual tension going, so it can be considered a hint.
--"Bickering" - comes from any event mentioned that had to do with teasing, fighting, or apologizing for such events between characters.
--"Friendship" - comes from any event that can be seen as platonic - any rooting for the other character, helping, supporting, having fun together, etc.
--"Romantic Implications" - any miscellaneous or subtle romantic hints, such as deep staring, stalking, carefulness, etc.
--"Chemistry" - any place in which the user uses their intuition to make a claim about the pairing without any evidence, or saying their personalities blend well, or that they have a lot in common.
--"Jealousy" - any instance where one character gets jealous their partner is receiving attention from another character.
--"Items" - when a user mentions a certain trinket that signifies the relationship.
--"Other Character Opinion" - any mention where another character hints that the pair in an actual pair.
--"Blushing" - when the pair or one of the pair has blushed about the other.
--"No Comment" - came from any answer that did not mention an actual hint.
--"N/A" - the user didn't answer the question.
The first graph is for all the ships and the second is an average on how important each category was.
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http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y114/Encyclopika/Capture6.png~~~~
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As we can see from the first graph, most ships depend on there to be "Romantic Implication" or something out of the ordinary to the viewer, as well as "Chemistry". Like the second graph in this study, it's fun to see what each ship on its own runs on.
For instance, Pearlshipping runs completely on small hints and a strong friendship. Contestshipping runs on a fair few major events, like blushing and romantic tokens. Pokeshipping also has a fair few major events, such as the opinion of other characters, blushing, and becoming jealous over the other. In fact, I find it very peculiar how older ships depend on large, obvious events, where as newer ships stand strong on a friendship, chemistry base, and have a fair few minor hints in trade. Very interesting.
If we look back at the staying power of these ships, we can see that they all had the majority of their answering fans say they would continue to love the ship. However, the missing piece of the puzzle here is time. Whereas our largest answering group was from Pearl, it isn't that old a ship. It hasn't been retired as long as Contest, Advance, and especially Poke. A second study a few years down the line will reveal if a ship based on friendship and minor events can stand the test of time as well as ships that stand on hard evidence.
For this, we can look at Advanceshipping for a clue. Back in the day, Advanceshipping was extremely popular, and it still has the fanfiction numbers and the fan thread to get it on this list. But look - its popularity has taken a nosedive. Only 5 people bothered to respond about it. We then look at the hints list, and we see that the ship floats on the evidence of an item, but after that, it is the same as it is for Pearlshipping and Wishfulshipping - Romantic Implication, Friendship, and Chemistry. From these patterns, I'm going to predict that Pearlshipping and eventually Wishfulshipping's popularity will die down.
I believe now that the longevity of a ship falls heavily on its ability to not only recruit new members, but to keep the old ones around for a long time. It appears that the longest lived ships have stood the test of time because of hard evidence afforded to them by the writers. The most popular ship in this study - Pearlshipping - does not stand on hard romantic evidence, but on the foundation of the pair's friendship and a few swaying hints, and because the fans take pride in that, it stands the test of time. Wishfulshipping is the next one to be tested. It is still on the air, so not much can be said for it. Negaishipping as well. In a few years time, ships like Comashipping, Ikarishipping, and Palletshipping will fall out of favor even more, if this survey has any foot in reality. Advanceshipping and Rocketshipping may not make it either.
So it's obvious - another study needs to be conducted next year. I hope to see you all there!
I support Iris and Dento because despite their arguments about science vs. nature, I think they make a pretty interesting couple. Dento being a gentleman and all, Iris might like guys who won't be so rough with her and because Iris is not like the girls from the Sanyou gym, Dento might feel Iris is a breath of fresh air for being different than most girls.
