Mathematics · Level 3 · Advanced
How does spectator presence affect football? Home advantage remains in European top-class football matches played without spectators during the COVID-19 pandemic
Wunderlich F, Weigelt M, Rein R, et al. (2021). PLOS ONE. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0248590 · CC BY 4.0
Step 1 of 2Read the paper
Do crowds create home advantage in football? Using matches played in empty stadiums during the 2020 pandemic as a natural experiment, the authors compared over 37,000 professional matches with and without spectators (plus amateur games) on fouls, cards, shots, betting-odds expectations, goals and points, using regression models that control for league and season.
How to read it
- End of the Introduction: list the four hypotheses and the measure used for each.
- Methods: note why shots and betting odds are used, and the two model variants in "Statistical analysis".
- Tables 2 and 3: read "Constant" as the estimate without spectators and "Spectator" as the change crowds make.
- Discussion: weigh the limitations section and the critique of a rival study before judging the claims.
Step 2 of 2Take the test
15 questions · about 50 minutes including reading · pick an answer to see straight away if it’s right. Nothing is saved.
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Paper: Wunderlich F, Weigelt M, Rein R, et al., PLOS ONE (2021), licensed CC BY 4.0. Summary and questions are Research Nest’s own; read the original for the full study.