How statistics may change golf

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Statistics are part of many sports and are often used by managers, coaches, and players to make decisions.

Golf is not yet up to par with others sports (see the Moneyball craze in baseball or the efforts of some NBA teams to analyze games) but that moment might be just around the corner, according to Slate:

We’re in a golden age for golf research because the PGA Tour has opened ShotLink’s books to researchers. Two professors at the Wharton school, for example, looked at 1.6 million tour putts and concluded that professional golfers are risk-averse. They examined putts for par and putts for birdie from the same distances and discovered that pros make the birdie putts less often. They suggest that pros leave these birdie putts short out of fear of making bogey, and then calculate that this bogey terror—and the resultant failure to approach birdie putts in the same way as par putts—costs the average tour player about one stroke per tournament.

It’s insights like this that offer the provoking notion that a Moneyball-type revolution awaits golf.

It would seem like an advantage to players to have this kind of data and analysis in hand as long as they don’t completely overrule their instincts for the game. Just because one has statistics available doesn’t necessarily mean they will be used judiciously.

h/t Instapundit

Using undergraduates in research experiments

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It is common for research experiments to use undergraduates as subjects: they are a convenient and often willing sample pool for researchers. These studies then draw conclusions about human behavior based on undergraduate subjects.

In Newsweek, Sharon Begley writes about a new study that suggests American undergraduates are unlike many people in the world and therefore, it is difficult to make generalizations based on them.

Three psychology researchers have done a systematic search of experiments with subjects other than American undergrads, who made up two thirds of the subjects in all U.S. psych studies. From basics such as visual perception to behaviors and beliefs about fairness, cooperation, and the self, U.S. undergrads are totally unrepresentative, Joseph Henrich of the University of British Columbia and colleagues explain in a paper in Behavioral and Brain Sciences. They share responses with subjects from societies that are also Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic (WEIRD), but not with humanity at large.

One way around such issues is to replicate studies with different people groups. The article describes some of these attempts, such as with the ultimatum game where two people have to negotiate a split of $10. When done with different people, the studies produce different results, suggesting that what we might think is “human nature” is heavily culturally dependent.

Another possible outcome of this study is that researchers may continue to use undergraduates but would have to scale back on their ability to generalize about humanity as a whole.

Finally, this study is a reminder that “typical” behavior in one culture is not guaranteed to be the same in another culture. What we may think of as givens can be quite different with people who do not share our cultural assumptions and practices.

Quick Review: Inception

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I recently saw Inception starring Leonardo DiCaprio and directed by Christopher Nolan. Some thoughts about this movie about dreams which has done well in theaters (according to Box Office Mojo, #6 this year in earnings):

1. I would call it a “science fiction thriller.” Compared to some science fiction films (like Minority Report), this has a much more innovative story line. Within a story line that involves different times happening at the same time, it has some typical thriller scenes including car chases and lots of shooting. It brings together some of the best of both types of movies.

2. Even though the story is confusing in the end, it was remarkably easy to keep track of the various time levels. More and more movies try to play around with the timeline and not all succeed at keeping the audience along for the ride – this one does.

3. The movie has a lot going on but doesn’t provide a lot of explanation or backstory. How did it start that people could get into other people’s dreams? How is being in someone’s mind linked to their memories? How exactly do all these levels of dreams work together? At the same time, the movie doesn’t wallow in explanations at any point – it is briskly paced and the action quickly engages you even if you have questions.

4. Two quick comments on film-making. First, everything seemed very vivid. Movies today really do draw viewers right into the action. Second, I was reminded in this movie that modern films include never-ending music. Every scene seemed to have some music in the background – this is too much.

Overall, an exciting and engaging film. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to think of the twist at the end but I can definitely say I enjoyed the experience.

(The film has been well-received by critics: it was 87% fresh, 220 fresh out of 254 reviews, at RottenTomatoes.com.)

A better life with a mouthguard

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I’ve seen a story or two about this before and Time also explores how an Bite Tech/Under Armour mouthguard might improve your life.

The key, according to the makers, is that the mouthguard prevents clenching of the jaw and therefore improves physical performance and concentration. This mouthguard “moves your lower jaw forward. The combination opens the throat, improving breathing.” According to the article, studies by the maker show the mouthguard does increase performance – but just a bit.

Be prepared to see a cheaper model – $60 – made available to the public early in 2011. Whether this becomes a must-have accessory for many people remains to be seen…

Changing dumpsters into swimming pools

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In New York City, officials are hosting a summer program that includes swimming pools made out of dumpsters.

This is the kind of creative thinking that many cities could benefit from. Of course, it only sounds like there are a few of these pools being run by the city and they are each quite small. However, it is a clever reuse of a common object to bring some joy into summer life in the city. And the designer suggests they are cheap to put together.

Walgreens and food deserts in Chicago

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Chicago Breaking Business reports that Walgreens is about to unveil expanded food offerings in a South Side store in Chicago. The expanded food line at 10 Walgreens stores is part of an effort to help combat the city’s food deserts:

The stores will offer more than 750 new food items such as fresh fruits and vegetables, frozen meat and fish, pasta, rice, beans, eggs and whole-grain cereals. The Deerfield-based drug store chain said it was approached by Mayor Richard Daley last year to bring more healthy food to areas that the city has identified as food deserts, namely neighborhoods that lack supermarkets.

Large American cities often struggle with this issue: low-income neighborhoods that have little or no access to fresh and healthy food. If the only options available are buying food from a convenient store or gas station, it is more expensive and less healthy. In the long run, this has consequences for building wealth and public health.

Stephen Slater and emotional work

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Stephen Slater has become a lightning rod for opinions, particularly in the online realm. The flight attendant for JetBlue has drawn attention for his actions on Monday after dealing with a difficult passenger: he told off the passengers over the intercom and then grabbed several beers and slid down the emergency chute right after the plane had landed on a runway at JFK Airport in New York City.

The firestorm over his actions reminds me of the book The Managed Heart: Commercialization of Human Feeling. In this book, sociologist Arlie Hochschild examined several professions, including flight attendants, where the job involved “emotional work.” Regardless of what a customer might do, flight attendants are required to be cheery and helpful. This can take a lot of work and effort as employees are always “on stage.” Occasionally, as Slater demonstrated, the employees can no longer maintain the emotional facade. These sorts of service jobs are often paid relatively less and are viewed by many people as jobs with less prestige and status.

Indeed, opinions about Slater’s action seem to break down along these lines regarding “emotional work.” Is he as a flight attendant justified in responding in the way he did because of a difficult passenger? Or, since he is being paid to be cheerful and diplomatic, shouldn’t he just have done his job and moved on? According to the New York Times, Slater’s actions have resonated with a number of people who felt similarly at their job.

I’d love to hear the side of the passenger who apparently provoked Slater.

Argument over Title IX ruling

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Two articles at ESPN.com debate the merits of Title IX after a recent court decision regarding the act at Quinnipiac University. While the court case was about the school inflating the number of female athletes in order to show parity in male and female sports programs, Gregg Easterbrook (a journalist/pundit) and Nancy Hogshead-Makar (law professor and “senior director of advocacy for the Women’s Sports Foundation”) debate the necessity of Title IX.

1. Easterbrook argues that the rule allows the government to intervene in situations where it should not. While Title IX was initially necessary to help women’s sports get the recognition they deserved, it is unnecessary today. In the case at hand, the court was left deciding whether playing volleyball was a “civil right” and whether the school could add a competitive cheer team. Easterbrook says, “The issue is whether Title IX has run amok.”

2. Hogshead-Makar argues that Title IX is still necessary as women’s college sports attract smaller “scholarships, budgets, coaching salaries, facilities and competitive opportunities” compared to male sports, male sports are larger at the high school level, schools in addition to Quinnipiac are miscounting female athletes in order to appear compliant, and Title IX has widespread public support (80% according to one poll).

Divergent perspectives on a legal act that affects many college students.

Evangelicals and Mainline Protestants

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Joe Carter at First Things discusses some comments made by sociologist Rodney Stark in a recent interview. Stark suggested that the Mainline denominations, Episcopalians, Congregationalists, Methodists, Presbyterians, and a few others, are now the periphery while Evangelicals are the core.

Carter argues:

No offense to my mainline friends, but I’ve never understood why they continue to be considered mainstream by the the mainstream media. The Southern Baptist Convention has as many members as all mainline denominations combined. Yet the dying denominations get all the attention.

I suspect that within my lifetime the only mainline denominations that will continue to exist will be those that, as Stark notes, are led by clergy who are “generally evangelical in their convictions.”

While Carter may have a point about Mainline denominations receiving an inordinate amount of attention compared to their size, there are still some reasons to consider and track the Mainline:

1. They represent an important historical era of Christianity in the United States and their slow decline is of interest. Once the dominant denominations, they are now in a different position. How their theological beliefs have changed over time is fascinating. Tracing these changes is useful just as tracking how Evangelicalism has changed and will change over time is also useful.

2. Mainline denominations have historically had middle-class and upper-class adherents as opposed to more conservative denominations which had less education and lower incomes. While this gap has narrowed today, these denominations still often represent money, tradition, and influence. These are interesting qualities that are attractive to journalists and others.

Pastors as entertainers vs. helping people grow spiritually

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In an op-ed in the New York Times, G. Jeffrey MacDonald argues that part of the reason clergy are so burned out is that expectations from parishioners have changed:

The pastoral vocation is to help people grow spiritually, resist their lowest impulses and adopt higher, more compassionate ways. But churchgoers increasingly want pastors to soothe and entertain them. It’s apparent in the theater-style seating and giant projection screens in churches and in mission trips that involve more sightseeing than listening to the local people.

As a result, pastors are constantly forced to choose, as they work through congregants’ daily wish lists in their e-mail and voice mail, between paths of personal integrity and those that portend greater job security. As religion becomes a consumer experience, the clergy become more unhappy and unhealthy…

In this transformation, clergy have seen their job descriptions rewritten. They’re no longer expected to offer moral counsel in pastoral care sessions or to deliver sermons that make the comfortable uneasy. Church leaders who continue such ministerial traditions pay dearly.

Even as MacDonald suggests there is a large trend toward more consumerist church experiences, he does not mention how pastors might have fed into this or gone along with this. If he doesn’t think pastors have gone along with this, then perhaps the issue is that congregations have taken more control over local churches and demand things like video screens over protests from clergy. If he does think pastors have gone along with this, why did they do so?

I would be curious to hear how MacDonald would change the situation: should change come from pastors, the congregations, both, somewhere else? Is it a matter of the church giving in to cultural pressures?