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Does Taylor Make Travis Better? An Exercise in Testing Popular Assumptions
A football on the football field
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Keywords

statistics
popular culture
classroom activity

How to Cite

Traylor, Frederic. 2024. “Does Taylor Make Travis Better? An Exercise in Testing Popular Assumptions”. TRAILS: Teaching Resources and Innovations Library for Sociology, September. Washington DC: American Sociological Association. https://trails.asanet.org/article/view/does-taylor-make-travis-better.

Abstract

Throughout the 2023-24 NFL season, it had been claimed that Taylor Swift’s attendance at her boyfriend Travis Kelce’s games has made him play better. This short classroom activity (25 minutes) tasks students with computing, analyzing, and arguing for or against the existence of such an effect. Though this activity, students will also learn how sample...

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Details

Subject Area(s):
Cultural Sociology, Research Methods, Statistics
Resource Type(s):
Assignment, Class Activity
Class Level(s):
College 200, College 300, College 400
Class Size(s):
Any

Usage Notes


  1. This activity was inspired by blog posts by Michael Tesler (2023, 2024), where statistical analysis was used to argue against the possibility of an effect.
  2. This activity was used in a recitation section of Introduction to Statistics in Sociology. The class has 50 students who meet twice a week...

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Learning Goals and Assessments

Learning Goal(s):

  1. Students practice carrying out an empirical analysis of a widely held assumption.
  2. Students perform a two-sample t-test on the data provided.
  3. Students learn how sample size and confidence level can affect test results.
  4. Students learn how operationalization and potential spuriousness can affect substantive results.
  5. Students practice communicating their test and its result to various fictitious audiences.

Goal Assessment(s):

  1. Whether student can calculate the required test statistic.
  2. Whether student makes the appropriate decision (reject or fail to reject the null hypothesis) based on their test statistic.
  3. Student verbal and/or written explanation of how sample size and confidence level affect test results.
  4. Student verbal and/or written evaluation of how operationalization and potential spuriousness can affect substantive results.
  5. How well student can communicate their test and its result.

When using resources from TRAILS, please include a clear and legible citation.

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