Posted on 05/02/2007 10:21:22 AM PDT by celejrm313
An academic study of NBA officiating found that white referees called fouls at a greater rate against black players than against white players, The New York Times reported in Wednesday's editions.
The study by a University of Pennsylvania assistant professor and Cornell graduate student also found that black officials called fouls more frequently against white players than black, but noted that that tendency was not as pronounced. Justin Wolfers, an assistant professor of business and public policy at Penn's Wharton School, and Joseph Price, a Cornell graduate student in economics, said the difference in calls "is large enough that the probability of a team winning is noticeably affected by the racial composition of the refereeing crew."
The study, conducted over a 13-season span through 2004, found that the racial makeup of a three-man officiating crew affected calls by up to 41/2 percent.
The NBA strongly criticized the study, which was based on information from publicly available box scores, which show only the referees' names and contain no information about which official made a call.
(Excerpt) Read more at sportsillustrated.cnn.com ...
Seriously, how many studies are there that show this?
thanks for the barf alert
Hard to be called for a foul when your sitting on the bench.
90% of NBA teams are anti white and don’t have white players.
Has anyone produced a complementary study showing the estimated number of “actual” fouls committed that were not called, and the corresponding race of the fouler and official?
Or would both sets of data invalidate the result desired, therefore it is not to be pursued, and if pursued, not to be disclosed?
exactly. LOL.....having been a junior ref., I really can’t see how someone could call the game by race, typically you are too involved to tell one player from the other, then again maybe I’m just naive, and all ref’s are racist.....
Dear Mr. & Ms. Taxpayer, you paid for this.
Thank God, our money goes to worthwhile studies...../s
Hard to call fouls on white players when there are no white players......
Is this a study of one group following the rules of the game, while another group chooses to let the rules slide?
Or yet still, one group tends to commit more fouls.
Lots if variables to consider
The NBA rebuttal is valid. The description of referees in the box scores is compared to the number of fouls called on players white or black. It does NOT address which of the referees working the game called which fouls.
It also does not seem to address the number of minutes on the floor of black players and white players. It does not say if Hispanic players are labeled white, or Asian players.
But . . . over that number of years it apparently does find that when there is a referee team working a game that has white referees on it, more fouls are called on black players.
What seems somewhat absurd in this is that their quoted differential is 4.5% over 15 years. If there is a tendency of white referees to call fouls on black players, why would this not be true on every single ball possession?
I think this is a matter of manufactured statistical significance. They need to do a much better job on this. Maybe it’s an age thing and not a race thing. Older referees may prefer or object to a style of execution more typical nowadays than in the past. Also, and if I had to point at any one factor this would be it, the foreign players in the league now come from a far more disciplined “up bringing” in terms of learning the game. They are mostly white. Their disciplined style of play may generate fewer fouls.
Wolfers has published a number of papers on various sporting topics. While it would be best to have data detailing which refs called a given foul, I’d bet that Wolfers’ work will stand up to further scrutiny. And I guarantee that scrutiny will be forthcoming.
I have a side biz that is tangentially related to Wolfers’ published works.
I saw this article and wondered if the researchers are prepared to study the numbers of fouls actually committed and categorize them according to race.
How about stars vs. journeymen? Everyone knows the stars get away with murder.
I put little credence in such studies however even if this is true so what? Maybe just maybe blacks actually commit more fouls? Is that not a possibility? I know heaven forbid you say such in todays PC world. Outcomes must always be the same.
Of course they call more fouls on black players, there are MORE black players...
You've posted this in both threads on this topic so far, and I confess I have absolutely no idea what it's supposed to mean.
Don’t hate da playa, hate the ref?
Well.. duh!
Guess we’ll need all referees to be black and follow the trend for police chiefs in the USA.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.