My good friend Paul did further analysis of my Halloween costume data. Enjoy.

The librarian in me couldn’t help but to try and breakdown your list a bit.

I tried to use the least number of categories as possible: Character tv/movie, Role/Occupation (stereotype/category), Monster (including undead), Animal (including insect), Spirit, and Famous Person. To be honest, I didn’t know what some of those were, and I left “Nothing” blank, but thought about classifying it as Spirit.

Only factoring the occurance of the costume once, not accounting for frequency, here is what is breaks down to.

Animal – 13
Character tv/movie – 31
Famous person – 13 (this was a stretch. I assumed some names were of famous people.)
Monster – 14
Role/Occupation – 45
Spirit – 4

I think if you factor in the instances of just the top two, it looks like Character tv/movie and Role/Occupation are pretty close. But purely based on variety, Role/Occupation is the clear winner.

10 Scream Mask Character tv/movie
7 Spiderman Character tv/movie
6 Princess Role/Occupation
5 Witch monster
4 Devil monster
4 Ninja Role/Occupation
3 Cheerleader Role/Occupation
3 Doctor Role/Occupation
3 Fairy Spirit
3 Pirate Role/Occupation
3 Power Ranger Character tv/movie
3 Skeleton monster
2 "Nothing"
2 Angel Spirit
2 Ariel Character tv/movie
2 Asian Role/Occupation
2 Darth Vader Character tv/movie
2 Dracula monster
2 Fireman Role/Occupation
2 Freddy Krueger Character tv/movie
2 Gorilla Animal
2 Ladybug Animal
2 Maid Role/Occupation
2 Minnie Mouse Character tv/movie
2 Mummy monster
2 Old Man Role/Occupation
2 Optimus Prime Character tv/movie
2 Referee Role/Occupation
2 Snow White Character tv/movie
2 Soccer Player Role/Occupation
2 Soldier Role/Occupation
2 Tiger Animal
2 Zorro Character tv/movie
1 "Saul" Famous Person
1 50s Girl Role/Occupation
1 70s Hippie Role/Occupation
1 Alice in Wonderland Character tv/movie
1 Amy Winehouse Famous Person
1 Ballerina Role/Occupation
1 Basketball Player Role/Occupation
1 Bat Animal
1 Bee Animal
1 Biff Ninja Cow Animal
1 Britney Spears Famous Person
1 Bumblebee Animal
1 Buzz Lightyear Character tv/movie
1 Can Can Dancer Role/Occupation
1 Cinderella Character tv/movie
1 Clone Trooper Role/Occupation
1 Dad Role/Occupation
1 Dancer Role/Occupation
1 Daniel Famous Person
1 Dead Zombie (as opposed to the live ones) monster
1 Death monster
1 Demon Hunter monster
1 Devil Bride monster
1 Dinosaur Animal
1 Dionysus Spirit
1 Elmo Character tv/movie
1 FOB (Fresh Off the Boat)
1 Football Player Role/Occupation
1 Friendly Dude Role/Occupation
1 George Bush's Secret Daughter
1 Ghost Buster Character tv/movie
1 Goddess Spirit
1 Goth Role/Occupation
1 Grim Reaper monster
1 Gypsy (where the child didn't leave the stroller) Role/Occupation
1 Harlequinn Role/Occupation
1 Harry Potter Character tv/movie
1 Hawaiian Princess Role/Occupation
1 High School Musical Character tv/movie
1 Hula Girl Role/Occupation
1 Indian Role/Occupation
1 Jack Skellington Character tv/movie
1 Jason Vorhees Famous Person
1 Joe Ripper Famous Person
1 Karate Man Role/Occupation
1 Laura Wilder Famous Person
1 Leopard Cat Animal
1 Lion Animal
1 Little Red Riding Hood Character tv/movie
1 Mad Hatter Character tv/movie
1 Metal Skull Biker monster
1 Michael Myers Famous Person
1 Mickey Mouse Character tv/movie
1 Midnight Princess Role/Occupation
1 Mom Role/Occupation
1 Motorcycle Racer Role/Occupation
1 Mulan Character tv/movie
1 Picasso Famous Person
1 Pilot Role/Occupation
1 Pimp Role/Occupation
1 Policeman Role/Occupation
1 Pop Star Role/Occupation
1 Power Ranger Character tv/movie
1 Queen Role/Occupation
1 Quidditch Player Character tv/movie
1 Robber Role/Occupation
1 Robin Animal
1 Rock & Roller Role/Occupation
1 Rock Star Role/Occupation
1 Scary Clown (all clowns are scary) monster
1 Shark Animal
1 Sheriff Role/Occupation
1 Silverman Famous Person
1 Sixth Hokage of the Leaf Village
1 Slash (guitarist) Famous Person
1 Spider Animal
1 Supergirl Character tv/movie
1 Superman Character tv/movie
1 Taylor Famous Person
1 The Hulk Character tv/movie
1 Tigger Character tv/movie
1 Tinkerbell Character tv/movie
1 Tourist Role/Occupation
1 Trojan Fan Role/Occupation
1 Waitress Role/Occupation
1 Werewolf monster
1 Wonder Woman Character tv/movie
1 Yankee Role/Occupation
1 Yoda Character tv/movie
1 Yosagi Yojimbo Famous Person
1 Zombie Doctor monster

Pretty good eh? Paul might need to watch more horror movies since he didn't recognize Jason Voorhees as a character in the Friday the 13th horror movie series or Michael Myers from the Halloween movie series.

Perhaps I need to pull all the data from the last three years together for a data intensive review.