Study shows shorter referees call more fouls

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

So? What's your sign good looking?

Mine is Scorpio.

MTD, Sr.

Originally Posted by Bad Zebra

I find it to be another excuse/reason to attack officials. Any coach (at any level) that happens to see the study/article might come tothe conclusion that taller refs are going to give them a better game. Hogwash.

Just seems like a silly waste of time to me.

I would hope coaches are not reading the Journal of Sports Economics. We have enough on our plate dispelling rules myths, we shouldn't have to deal with this BS too.

On the other hand, one man's silly waste of time is another man's masters thesis.

[HokiePaul]

Originally Posted by Bad Zebra

I find it to be another excuse/reason to attack officials. Any coach (at any level) that happens to see the study/article might come tothe conclusion that taller refs are going to give them a better game. Hogwash.

It causes me to wonder why the variable (height) was chosen. Why not skin color? Baldness? Birthdate? Weight? Just seems like a silly waste of time to me.

I didn't see anything that suggested that the calls were incorrect. People can draw whatever conclusion they want, but the study/article doesn't imply that more fouls is a bad thing. I've heard "That was a foul" on a no-call just as much as I've heard "He didn't touch him" on a called foul. Any coach might also come to the conclusion that shorter refs are going to give them a better game.

I'd actually be curious to see a study on other factors too. Officials aren't robots and certainly aren't all the same. If heavier officials for example, had a slightly different rate of foul calls than skinnier officials, that would be interesting too.

[Rob1968]

Originally Posted by AremRed

I would hope coaches are not reading the Journal of Sports Economics. We have enough on our plate dispelling rules myths, we shouldn't have to deal with this BS too.

On the other hand, one man's silly waste of time is another man's masters thesis.

Ahh, so true!

[rockyroad]

If this was a study on the number of calls calls made by officials based on the officials height, why would they have to adjust the study based on race and experience???

[HokiePaul]

Originally Posted by rockyroad

If this was a study on the number of calls calls made by officials based on the officials height, why would they have to adjust the study based on race and experience???

I'm sure there are others with more statistics background who can give a better answer ... but basically, in order to make a claim that is statistically significant, they need to eliminate other potential causes as not significant.

[Mark Padgett]

I saw a study that stated left-handed officials with blue eyes call more fouls on players with even numbered jerseys and nose hair in games held on weekends!

I hope the league gets this straightened out. It's not fair to favor teams whose players wear only odd numbered jerseys and trim their nose hair during warm-ups.

[Freddy]

Correlation does not imply causation.

[rockyroad]

Originally Posted by HokiePaul

I'm sure there are others with more statistics background who can give a better answer ... but basically, in order to make a claim that is statistically significant, they need to eliminate other potential causes as not significant.

So they only included short Hispanic officials with less than 5 years experience in this study????

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by Bad Zebra

I find it to be another excuse/reason to attack officials. Any coach (at any level) that happens to see the study/article might come tothe conclusion that taller refs are going to give them a better game. Hogwash.

It causes me to wonder why the variable (height) was chosen. Why not skin color? Baldness? Birthdate? Weight? Just seems like a silly waste of time to me.

I totally agree with you. I think if you are going to use height, you better look at other factors or classifications.

Also so what if they call more fouls, what does that have to do with calling a better game?

Peace

[Adam]

Originally Posted by rockyroad

So they only included short Hispanic officials with less than 5 years experience in this study????

I think there are a couple of ways to do this, but the easiest would be to put the officials in comparative categories and look at the results within those categories.

But I've only taken enough statistics to get myself into trouble.

[rockyroad]

Originally Posted by Adam

But I've only taken enough statistics to get myself into trouble.

Pretty much the same classes as the guys who wrote this study!

[Dakota]

Referees with OCD call more fouls on players with uneven socks.

[bob jenkins]

Originally Posted by Dakota

Referees with OCD call more fouls on players with uneven socks.

Since most players wear 2 (or 4 if they double up, or 6 ...) socks, I wouldn't think there would be enough players with uneven socks to have a valid study.

[HokiePaul]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

I totally agree with you. I think if you are going to use height, you better look at other factors or classifications.

Also so what if they call more fouls, what does that have to do with calling a better game?

Peace

Keep in mind that this study was not done with the purpose of evaluating officials. Read the abstract from the study. The NBA simply provides one mechanism/set of data for testing a theory about bias in the workplace (any workplace).

If the purpose of the study was to help officials become more consistent, then they certainly would have looked at other factors/classifications.


Abstract

Given the vast number of observations in a transparent environment, the interaction between players and referees in the National Basketball Association (NBA) provides a real-world laboratory that allows for observation and testing of implicit height-based biases (the so-called “Napoleon Complex”). Controlling for a plethora of referee-specific characteristics and including 4,463 regular season games from 2008 to 2012, we find that (i) more personal fouls are called when a relatively shorter three-person officiating crew is working and (ii) no more or fewer fouls are called when games involve relatively taller players. Such biases are probably not large enough to impact game outcomes but could affect gambling markets. Our findings support the conclusion that relatively shorter NBA referees officiate basketball games differently than their taller peers. The analysis spotlights an oft-suggested but rarely studied bias in a workplace where employees are heavily scrutinized and monitored.