Study shows shorter referees call more fouls

[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.

[Texas Aggie]

I would hope coaches are not reading the Journal of Sports Economics

No need to worry; no one reads it. At least not people that are not economic profs who need SOMETHING to research and publish. Even then, the only readers of this article are those who want to try and refute it.

As someone with a degree in economics, this is somewhat interesting. I say somewhat since there isn't much economic here -- its mainly statistics.

I haven't read the study, but I'd bet money its flawed for one huge reason: if I, a 6 foot nothing (with the emphasis on nothing) official would be on many games with what is characterized as short, medium, AND tall crews. My height, I'd say about average or maybe slightly below given the height of basketball officials, would not skew the crew average of many games. If I worked with 2 short guys, or 1 short and one average like me, we'd be short. Likewise, if I worked with 2 talls or one tall and one average, we'd probably be a tall crew. I could be the one calling all the fouls -- or to give sufficient weight to the findings of the study, several average guys, all factored in the results could be the ones calling all the fouls. If it can be shown that there are more average guys than short guys, then the average guys, not the short ones, could be the ones causing the skewed numbers.

We don't know who on the crew is calling the fouls if they take it from a per game basis. Tall guys could conceivably call more fouls if they're working with exclusively shorter partners, or could call fewer fouls if they're working with guys of similar heights.

The bottom line is I don't think the author understands how basketball is officiated.