The Adelaide Compatibility Study

What is this study?

The Adelaide Compatibility Study is the first structured research initiative to collect pre-formation partner preference data from serious relationship seekers in Adelaide. It is asking a question that existing research cannot answer.

The formal term is "pre-formation" — meaning the data is collected before any relationship has formed. This matters because survivorship bias distorts every study that starts after two people are already a couple. We are studying the full landscape: who is looking, what they want, what they offer, and whether the pool contains anyone for them.

The study is fully exploratory with no predetermined answers. All findings are reported as they emerge from the data.

It is pre-registered on the Open Science Framework (OSF) prior to any data collection. Pre-registration means the research questions, methodology, and analysis plan were locked publicly before a single participant completed the questionnaire. This prevents the study from being adjusted after the fact to produce convenient results — it is standard practice in serious academic research and the OSF timestamp is permanent and independent.

What is Matched by Stars?

Matched by Stars is a private, human-led matchmaking service based in Adelaide. It is not a dating app. It is not a subscription. There is no algorithm choosing your matches from a photo and a paragraph.

MBS works by understanding who you are and who you are genuinely compatible with — and making a considered introduction when the right person is in the pool. The compatibility questionnaire is how that understanding is built. The Adelaide Compatibility Study is the research layer built on top of that data.

You do not need to be a paying client to participate in the study. Registration is free. The questionnaire is free. The voucher is real. If and when MBS makes an introduction for you, that is when the service begins.

What data is collected?

The questionnaire has 35 required questions across three sections. It takes 5–10 minutes to complete.

Section one captures astrological compatibility data — your date, time, and city of birth. This is used to calculate Kundali Ashtakoot scores as part of the study's research into whether astrological compatibility correlates with stated preference compatibility. The analysis is descriptive, not prescriptive — we are measuring correlation, not making claims about fate. Birth details are kept strictly confidential and are never shared individually.

Section two captures your demographic and lifestyle profile — location, religion, children, smoking, drinking, fitness, employment, income, body type, height, tattoos, and health conditions.

Section three captures your stated partner preferences across the same dimensions, your relationship intention, and how actively you are currently searching.

What will I receive?

Two things. One immediately. One when the data is ready.

Second — your personalised Adelaide Compatibility Report, delivered when the study dataset reaches 500 participants. This is not a generic summary. It is a data portrait of your specific position in Adelaide's partner market — built from real responses by real people who are looking for exactly what you are.

The study examines 21 key research questions about Adelaide's partner market. Your report takes those findings and turns them into 7 data points specific to you. Not averages. Not generalisations. Numbers about your actual position in this city's pool.

Your 7 personalised data points

• ✦How many people in Adelaide's pool currently meet your criteria
• ✦How many of those would also choose you — your real mutual match count
• ✦Your high compatibility count — people who meet all or nearly all of what you need
• ✦Which single preference is eliminating the most people from your pool — and by how much
• ✦Whether what you are asking for is consistent with what you yourself offer — your preference-reality gap
• ✦Where you sit in Adelaide's compatibility market — your quadrant position relative to the full pool
• ✦How your dealbreakers compare to others in your gender and age group in Adelaide

As the dataset grows, the report gets sharper. The more people who participate, the more accurate and meaningful your numbers become. That is why your participation matters — not just for you, but for everyone in the pool.

Nobody has ever been able to hand someone in Adelaide a document like this. That is what you are waiting for — and it is worth waiting for.

You will hear from us only at meaningful milestones — when the study reaches 100, 300, 500, 750, or 1,000 participants, and when your report is ready. No newsletters. No promotions. No contact without a genuine reason.

How is my data protected?

Two structurally separate datasets are maintained at the database level.

The commercial dataset is linked to your identity and used by Matched by Stars for matchmaking. It is never shared with academic research partners.

The research dataset contains your questionnaire answers linked only to a participant number — not your name, email, or any direct identifier. There is no database connection between the research record and your account. This is what academic research partners access. They cannot identify you from it.

Published academic findings present aggregated statistics only. No individual participant's data appears in any publication. The research dataset is retained for 10 years from the date of the final academic publication, then permanently deleted.

All data is stored on secured servers. Matched by Stars operates under the Australian Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles. Full details at matchedbystars.com/privacy.

Who runs this study?

The study is designed and operated by Matched by Stars, Adelaide's private matchmaking service. It is pre-registered on OSF prior to any data collection.

Academic co-investigators from a local university partner are being sought to lead the statistical analysis and publications independently. The founder's conflict of interest — as the operator of a commercial matchmaking service — is disclosed in full in the pre-registration and in all academic outputs. Academic partners have full editorial independence. Matched by Stars has no right of approval over any finding or publication.

This study is in the process of being submitted for academic partnership with Adelaide University and for review by an accredited Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC). Updates will be reflected here as the process progresses.