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Meta-analytics: tools for understanding the statistical properties of sports metrics

Author

Listed:
  • Franks Alexander M.

    (University of Washington - Department of Statistics, Seattle, WA, USA)

  • D’Amour Alexander

    (University of Berkeley - Department of Statistics, Berkeley, CA, USA)

  • Cervone Daniel

    (New York University, New York, NY, USA)

  • Bornn Luke

    (Simon Fraser University - Department of Statistics, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada)

Abstract

In sports, there is a constant effort to improve metrics that assess player ability, but there has been almost no effort to quantify and compare existing metrics. Any individual making a management, coaching, or gambling decision is quickly overwhelmed with hundreds of statistics. We address this problem by proposing a set of “meta-metrics”, which can be used to identify the metrics that provide the most unique and reliable information for decision-makers. Specifically, we develop methods to evaluate metrics based on three criteria: (1) stability: does the metric measure the same thing over time (2) discrimination: does the metric differentiate between players and (3) independence: does the metric provide new information? Our methods are easy to implement and widely applicable so they should be of interest to the broader sports community. We demonstrate our methods in analyses of both NBA and NHL metrics. Our results indicate the most reliable metrics and highlight how they should be used by sports analysts. The meta-metrics also provide useful insights about how to best construct new metrics that provide independent and reliable information about athletes.

Suggested Citation

  • Franks Alexander M. & D’Amour Alexander & Cervone Daniel & Bornn Luke, 2016. "Meta-analytics: tools for understanding the statistical properties of sports metrics," Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports, De Gruyter, vol. 12(4), pages 151-165, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:jqsprt:v:12:y:2016:i:4:p:151-165:n:3
    DOI: 10.1515/jqas-2016-0098
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Bradley Efron, 2015. "Frequentist accuracy of Bayesian estimates," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series B, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 77(3), pages 617-646, June.
    2. Baumer Benjamin S. & Jensen Shane T. & Matthews Gregory J., 2015. "openWAR: An open source system for evaluating overall player performance in major league baseball," Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports, De Gruyter, vol. 11(2), pages 69-84, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Mallepalle Sarah & Yurko Ronald & Pelechrinis Konstantinos & Ventura Samuel L., 2020. "Extracting NFL tracking data from images to evaluate quarterbacks and pass defenses," Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports, De Gruyter, vol. 16(2), pages 95-120, June.
    2. Marco Sandri & Paola Zuccolotto & Marica Manisera, 2020. "Markov switching modelling of shooting performance variability and teammate interactions in basketball," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series C, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 69(5), pages 1337-1356, November.
    3. Yurko Ronald & Ventura Samuel & Horowitz Maksim, 2019. "nflWAR: a reproducible method for offensive player evaluation in football," Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports, De Gruyter, vol. 15(3), pages 163-183, September.

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