The following article was submitted by 10-year-old Noelle Dick, after her visit to CivicScience on Take Your Child to Work Day.


My family is obsessed with the Food Network. We have been forever. I especially like it because I LOVE cooking. My favorite show is The Best Thing I Ever Ate. My dad’s favorite is Diners Drive-Ins and Dives. My sister’s favorite show is Chopped and my mom likes Cake Wars. That means that there is almost always something on the Food Network that somebody wants to watch.

But I wanted to know the opinions of other people. So, while at work with my dad, I was able to ask this poll question to people who watch the Food Network, and here are the results:

What surprised me the most was how much people like Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, which was way more than people who liked my favorite show, The Best Thing I Ever Ate. That must be why Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives is on the Food Network all the time. But why do people like Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives so much?

My dad showed me how to look at the different types of people who liked the shows. People who watched The Best Thing I Ever Ate are more likely than other shows to be women who are 65 or older. People who like Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives were more likely to be men between the age of 45 and 54. That surprised me because the shows are very similar. They both recommend restaurants to the people who are watching because of their great food.

Maybe men like Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives more because most of the restaurants they visit are everyday places and men don’t like to eat at fancy restaurants that are too expensive, unlike on The Best Thing I Ever Ate. Most 45-54 year-old men aren’t retired so they don’t have time to cook. That’s why they need to find quality restaurant that are easy to get into.

I know that in most houses, women like to cook more. Maybe they like The Best Thing I Ever Ate because they want to try to make these meals at home so their families can enjoy quality dinners without having to go out.

Well, going back to my first question. Why do more people like Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives than The Best Thing I Ever Ate? On The Best Thing I Ever Ate, it is usually a celebrity chef’s favorite food, which means it must be a mind-blowingly good restaurant (I’m not sure if blowingly is a word). If it is, that restaurant must be pretty expensive because sooooo many people want to go there. More people might watch Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives for more convenient restaurants that aren’t so expensive and hard to get into.

I think I just answered my own question. But maybe you have a different answer.

Bye,

Noelle Dick