Jayden Emberton-Gaines

Data Analysis Report

SSS 250 02

11/29/2018

Introduction:

The effect that height has in sports has been studied many times. Research suggests that

the height that you are defines the position that you play. In multiple sports the height that a

person is determines the position they play. For example, in football running backs tend to be

shorter than the quarterback (Roland). There are many advantages and disadvantages to being

both tall as well as short (Roland). For this project the relationship between height and position

in basketball where studied. The relationship is between position and height [C→Q].

Data Collection/Description and Experimental Design:

The data was collected as a part of a study in the NBA describing height, weight, and

position of the 505 players in 2014. The data was broken down into the position that they play

and the height that correlates. The variables were height, the independent, and position, the

dependent. The dependent variable is measured in inches and the independent is labeled by

category (C, F, G).

Methods/Analysis: Describe the Data Analysis Performed:

This is a C→Q relationship examining the relationship between height and position. For

this relationship a series of tests were run to determine the outcome. Position was observed by a

frequency table and shown by a relative frequency as well as a pie chart. The height of each

individual was also examined by computation statistics (means, medians, and standard deviation)
and observed visually by a histogram to interpret the data. The means, medians, and standard

deviation were calculated using PSPP programming but the formula in class was used that as

well was introduced this semester:

The comparison of the data was used by creating side by side boxplots shown in the figures

below. Then an ANOVA test was performed in order to determine if the differences observed

have at least one inequality. The results were not specific and therefore a post hoc test was

performed in order to clarify. ANOVA has the following hypothesis testing structure:

Step 1: Identify Null and Alternative Hypothesis

𝐻𝑜: 𝜇1=𝜇2=𝜇3=𝜇4

𝐻a: 𝑁𝑜𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝜇′𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑙

Step 2: Calculation of Test Statistics and Sample Estimates

̅x1, s1, n1

̅x2, s2, n2

̅x3, s3, n3,

Variation among sample means

F=
Variation within groups

Step 3: Determine the p-value

Step 4: Make Conclusions as to Weather the Data is Supporting or Rejecting the Null
a. If p-value < 0.05 Reject Ho

b. If p-value >0.05 Retain Ho

Results: Present the Results of the Analysis

Figure 2: Distribution of Positions

Table 1: Distribution of Positions

Figure 3: Histogram Showing Distribution of Height

Table 2: Descriptive Summary Statistics Corresponding to Height

Figure 4: Side by side boxplot examining the distribution of height by position

Table 3: ANOVA test results

Table 4: Post hoc test results

Conclusion/Discussion: Interpret the results of the analysis:

In conclusion, the data states that there is a correlation between the height and the

position that the player plays. In average, centers tend to be the tallest and guards the shortest.

Guards have the most range of heights reported out of all three. The pie chart (Figure 2)

describes that guards and forwards are the most common position. The centers appear to be the

less common position. The distribution table (Table 1) verifies that forwards are the most

common with 211, then guards with 202, and lastly centers. The histogram (Figure 3) describes

that the heights have a wide range. The height ranges from 68in to 86in with a mean of 79.07in.

The side by side boxplot (Figure 4) provides evidence that centers have an average height that is

taller than both guards and forwards. Lastly the anova test results (Table 3) provides information

that was used to compare the means of three independent samples, those samples happened to be

Centers, Forwards and Guards. Following that is the post hoc test (Table 4) which is a series of

pairwise comparisons. These comparisons are between each independent sample vs. the other

two remaining independent samples. For example, the center position is compared to the

forward and guard positions in the first row of the table. Through the comparison the table
shows the mean difference between the positions, for the first-row center to forward mean

difference is 2.61 and center to guard mean difference is 7.57.

References

Does Height Affect Ability in Sports? (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.livestrong.com/article/540491-does-height-affect-ability-in-sports/

Miscellaneous Datasets. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://users.stat.ufl.edu/~winner/datasets.html