7A- Testing the Hypothesis Part 1

1)  The opportunity that I would like to pursue is the mistakes by referees in NFL games that change the outcome of the game.

2)  The Who:  Referees, coaches, players, and fans
      The What: Missed/incorrect calls during NFL games
      The Why: NFL rules are sometimes left up to the interpretation of the referee; It is difficult to              make a call while watching the play live

3) Everybody in the current who shares the need.  However, the feeling that occurs from the missed calls differs for each "who".  The referees suffer heavy criticism from the fans, coaches, players, and the league itself.  The coaches and players are denied the opportunity to advance to certain games, which can cost them their jobs.  The fans are upset by the their teams suffering.  The boundaries of the need is that not all missed or incorrect calls determine the outcome of a game.  Some people believe that they "why" occurs because of favoritism showed by the referees.  For example, in the New Orleans Saints vs Los Angeles Rams game, it was found that four of the referees were from southern California.  Others believe that the "why" is due to misinterpretation of rules. 

4)
Interview #1: The first person that I interviewed was a middle-aged man.  He is an avid sports fan and agrees that there is a need to eliminate missed/incorrect calls.  He said that he was lucky in that his team had not suffered from a call that determined their future.  The man believes that most missed calls are due to misinterpretation of rules or human error.  He ruled out the fact that missed calls are based on favoritism because they are professional referees and know how to eliminate bias from their jobs.

Interview #2:  The second person that I interviewed was a middle-aged woman.  She occasionally follows sports, but her life does not revolve around it.  The woman had her of some missed calls, but could not name specific incidences, even though one occurred very recently.  She believes that the referees are under a tremendous amount of pressure and have a difficult task at their hand, so they should not be faulted for missed/incorrect calls.

Interview #3:  The third person that I interviewed was a man in his early twenties.  He followed sports very closely and happen to be a fan of the team that suffered from the recent missed call.  The man was furious that his team missed their chance at a Super Bowl because of a blatant missed call.  He agreed with the theory regarding favoritism, citing the four referees that originated from southern California.

Interview #4:  The fourth person that I interviewed was another man in his early twenties.  He is an avid sports fan and is familiar with the recent missed call that cost the Saints the Super Bowl.  Even though he was not a fan of either team, he admitted that he felt sorry for the Saints because of the missed call.  The man stated that their should be some kind of protocol in place to address issues such as these.  The man believes that the cause of this missed call was due to the difficulty and pressure associated with calling a football game of this magnitude.

Interview #5:  The fifth person that I interviewed was a woman in her early twenties.  Much like the other woman, she occasionally followed sports but was not familiar with the recent incident.  Once I explained to her what happened, she based the missed call on human error and believed that the referees should not be faulted for it.

Summary:
What I found in the interview that I did not know was that the theory of favoritism was actually taken seriously by some fans.  I knew the theory existed, but assumed that most people knew that at that level of sports, bias is most likely eliminated.  I also learned that women are more likely to contribute a missed call to human error, rather than outright blaming the referees.