Hi Stephen: What fun you are having with this!
I heard an 'expert' commentary on TV suggesting that the Russians had an overall "gestalt" to their performance, from which an argument could be made that they deserved the gold--they used more of the ice surface in a more fluid fashion, their movements in an out of unison were smoother, and they moved across the ice more quickly. All of these are taken into considerations usually. So keeping in mind the subjective nature of judging, this sort of fudge factor seemed to favor the russians. Also, they used a classic opera piece, which the eastern block judges seem to favor over the movie theme music used by the canucks. I guess when it's so close it's really a hard call :-( There seem to be variables that just don't fit the judging that may influence the judges. Also, figure skating has a history of close calls going the way an audience may not agree with. But I do know that watching on TV you can't see things like speed and how much ice is used :-) So I am willing to buy into that argument at least in part. Of course, I have heard the news about the emotionally fragile judge, yada, yada, yada. I think it's a bigger problem of trying to objectify difficult judging. annette Quoting Stephen Black <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > For immediate release: > > I have been asked by the Olympic Committee to look into the > question of how the use of ordinals to determine rank may have > affected the outcome of the judging of the pairs competition. At > a press conference earlier today I announced my findings. > > It wasn't the ordinals' fault. Using interval data, I calculated > the average combined scores awarded to the Canucks and the > Ruskies. My findings: > > Canucks: 5.833 > Ruskies: 5.817 > > Outcome: Canucks by a hair > > By ordinals awarded: > > 1st for Canada: 4 judges > 1st for Russia: 3 judges > tie: 2 judges > > Outcome: Canucks again > > But the Olympic rules require that ties be broken using the > presentation marks over technical merit. So both ties were broken > in favour of the Ruskies. > > Final outcome: > > 1st for Canada: 4 judges > 1st for Russia: 5 judges > > So what done us in was the tie-breaking rule. And, apparently, a > crooked judge (see today's news). > > -Stephen > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Stephen Black, Ph.D. tel: (819) 822-9600 ext 2470 > Department of Psychology fax: (819) 822-9661 > Bishop's University e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Lennoxville, QC > J1M 1Z7 > Canada Department web page at > http://www.ubishops.ca/ccc/div/soc/psy > Check out TIPS listserv for teachers of psychology at: > http://www.frostburg.edu/dept/psyc/southerly/tips/ > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > --- > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To unsubscribe send a blank email to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Annette Taylor, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Psychology University of San Diego [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
