University Dissertation Assistance

[NYResearch]

Hi NYCFC supporters. I am a UK University student (MCFC fan), currently in my final year of study.

I am in the process of writing my dissertation on soccer and its popularity in America, primarily how marketing has made an impact on it.

If you could spare five minutes to fill out a quick survey on this topic, that would be greatly appreciated.

https://goo.gl/forms/JvrvUWzjr0Qq5Yh92

Thank you in advance.

 

[Tom in Fairfield CT]

You'll want to get in touch with our educational director, CP_Scouse

 

[LionNYC]

You'll want to get in touch with our educational director, CP_Scouse

I believe his name is Chancellor CP Scouse

 

[JGarrettLieb]

You're going to have serious problems with selection bias with this study. People who consume soccer media or go on forums in the US are probably already in the hardcore section of the fan base.

The average casual soccer fan is going to likely treat it as more of a substitute good as for the broader category of sporting events, since soccer is comparatively cheap to other US sports. It might behoove you to find the marginal rate of substitution for sports in general and hardcore fans in particular for the broader US market and adjust your findings based on that. After you find the percentage of fans that can be considered hardcore across sports markets.

There's a lot of other factors to consider but it is your thesis

 

[Midas Mulligan]

You're going to have serious problems with selection bias with this study. People who consume soccer media or go on forums in the US are probably already in the hardcore section of the fan base.

The average casual soccer fan is going to likely treat it as more of a substitute good as for the broader category of sporting events, since soccer is comparatively cheap to other US sports. It might behoove you to find the marginal rate of substitution for sports in general and hardcore fans in particular for the broader US market and adjust your findings based on that. After you find the percentage of fans that can be considered hardcore across sports markets.

There's a lot of other factors to consider but it is your thesis

What a dick reply. I like it.

 

[NYResearch]

You're going to have serious problems with selection bias with this study. People who consume soccer media or go on forums in the US are probably already in the hardcore section of the fan base.

The average casual soccer fan is going to likely treat it as more of a substitute good as for the broader category of sporting events, since soccer is comparatively cheap to other US sports. It might behoove you to find the marginal rate of substitution for sports in general and hardcore fans in particular for the broader US market and adjust your findings based on that. After you find the percentage of fans that can be considered hardcore across sports markets.

There's a lot of other factors to consider but it is your thesis

I do agree in some regard to the points you have raised. However, my study at its core is looking at how soccer fans have developed this 'hardcore' fandom. It all came from somewhere, so understanding how it developed is still important to me. I have also reached out to non-hardcore fans, who have provided me further qualitative data.

Perhaps I have missed the point you are making here, if so, please let me know, any help I receive is greatly appreciated.

 

[JGarrettLieb]

What a dick reply. I like it.

More or less of a dick then the guys on the other side of his thesis defense? Less by a mile.

I do agree in some regard to the points you have raised. However, my study at its core is looking at how soccer fans have developed this 'hardcore' fandom. It all came from somewhere, so understanding how it developed is still important to me. I have also reached out to non-hardcore fans, who have provided me further qualitative data.

Perhaps I have missed the point you are making here, if so, please let me know, any help I receive is greatly appreciated.

Ok so your a Uni student, which over here means I'm in college. Which means your education may or may not have included an advanced statistics course, if it hasn't already I suggest taking one; a solid grasp of statistics is really the most useful academic knowledge you can get out of Uni.

1. I probably wouldn't have commented if you were up front about the desire to target specifically hardcore fans.

2. I probably would have commented after you said you had reached out to non hardcore fans.

My actual point, if the guys on the other side of your thesis dissertation are at all competent, is you will be grilled on your data. How you acquired it, were the statistical analysis you preformed appropriate, can you state with certainty that the data are in any meaningful way randomly selected. Ectera ectera ectera.

I was pointing out flaws in your data gathering methodology, based on the premise that this was part of a broader gathering of data.

But lets break that down a bit, because you're an undergrad and straight up might not know better. Right now I'm detecting serious flaws in the way you're collecting your data, regardless of whether you know how to find a P value or can perfectly perform a chi square test. The following list may be incomplete.

1. Under coverage bias (Hello US presidential election)
2. Non response bias
3. Voluntary response bias
4. My name is a type 1 error and I am viciously present as a possibility in your data set.
5. My name is a type 2 error and I am viciously present as a possibility in your data set.

Four and five exist because I do not think your data can adequately support a valid H0 or Ha, your data are going to be out of whack from the population. Sure you can run the tests, hell even do it at a = 1% I just doubt the basic data you're working off of. (NYCFC_Dan dude you know what we're like can we get some Greek lettering support for the forums?)

I'm not sure how it works on the more social science side of things, but I'd goddamn savage you for the way you went about gathering your data if this was economics.

Plus side, well designed survey. No really quite top notch for the subject. Maybe a little lacking in the options and its going to be a bitch to analyze on your end at the end of it, but good work there, really neutral.

Big picture. NYCFC has the most active forums of all the teams.

Have you gone to every team's forums and submitted this?
Have you attempted to contact any of the teams or supporters groups about this?
Have you coordinated with any of the various MLS media in an attempt to reach a broader hardcore fanbase?
What is your definition of hardcore fan?

But for me here is the really big shit.

What are the basic differences between a hardcore fan in the US and UK? What do they look like, and what does their support look like. How is their support expressed, what are some uniquely UK expressions of support, what are some uniquely American expressions of support. These questions and their answers should be in your first few paragraphs somewhere.

Edit: I just reread this and its rambling in a way I would be ashamed of in a rough draft at work. But its 11pm, and I'm on an internet forum so tough luck there.

 

[Midas Mulligan]

More or less of a dick then the guys on the other side of his thesis defense? Less by a mile.




Ok so your a Uni student, which over here means I'm in college. Which means your education may or may not have included an advanced statistics course, if it hasn't already I suggest taking one; a solid grasp of statistics is really the most useful academic knowledge you can get out of Uni.

1. I probably wouldn't have commented if you were up front about the desire to target specifically hardcore fans.

2. I probably would have commented after you said you had reached out to non hardcore fans.

My actual point, if the guys on the other side of your thesis dissertation are at all competent, is you will be grilled on your data. How you acquired it, were the statistical analysis you preformed appropriate, can you state with certainty that the data are in any meaningful way randomly selected. Ectera ectera ectera.

I was pointing out flaws in your data gathering methodology, based on the premise that this was part of a broader gathering of data.

But lets break that down a bit, because you're an undergrad and straight up might not know better. Right now I'm detecting serious flaws in the way you're collecting your data, regardless of whether you know how to find a P value or can perfectly perform a chi square test. The following list may be incomplete.

1. Under coverage bias (Hello US presidential election)
2. Non response bias
3. Voluntary response bias
4. My name is a type 1 error and I am viciously present as a possibility in your data set.
5. My name is a type 2 error and I am viciously present as a possibility in your data set.

Four and five exist because I do not think your data can adequately support a valid H0 or Ha, your data are going to be out of whack from the population. Sure you can run the tests, hell even do it at a = 1% I just doubt the basic data you're working off of. (NYCFC_Dan dude you know what we're like can we get some Greek lettering support for the forums?)

I'm not sure how it works on the more social science side of things, but I'd goddamn savage you for the way you went about gathering your data if this was economics.

Plus side, well designed survey. No really quite top notch for the subject. Maybe a little lacking in the options and its going to be a bitch to analyze on your end at the end of it, but good work there, really neutral.

Big picture. NYCFC has the most active forums of all the teams.

Have you gone to every team's forums and submitted this?
Have you attempted to contact any of the teams or supporters groups about this?
Have you coordinated with any of the various MLS media in an attempt to reach a broader hardcore fanbase?
What is your definition of hardcore fan?

But for me here is the really big shit.

What are the basic differences between a hardcore fan in the US and UK? What do they look like, and what does their support look like. How is their support expressed, what are some uniquely UK expressions of support, what are some uniquely American expressions of support. These questions and their answers should be in your first few paragraphs somewhere.

Edit: I just reread this and its rambling in a way I would be ashamed of in a rough draft at work. But its 11pm, and I'm on an internet forum so tough luck there.

Are you an analyst at a consulting firm or fin ins?

 

[NYResearch]

More or less of a dick then the guys on the other side of his thesis defense? Less by a mile.




Ok so your a Uni student, which over here means I'm in college. Which means your education may or may not have included an advanced statistics course, if it hasn't already I suggest taking one; a solid grasp of statistics is really the most useful academic knowledge you can get out of Uni.

1. I probably wouldn't have commented if you were up front about the desire to target specifically hardcore fans.

2. I probably would have commented after you said you had reached out to non hardcore fans.

My actual point, if the guys on the other side of your thesis dissertation are at all competent, is you will be grilled on your data. How you acquired it, were the statistical analysis you preformed appropriate, can you state with certainty that the data are in any meaningful way randomly selected. Ectera ectera ectera.

I was pointing out flaws in your data gathering methodology, based on the premise that this was part of a broader gathering of data.

But lets break that down a bit, because you're an undergrad and straight up might not know better. Right now I'm detecting serious flaws in the way you're collecting your data, regardless of whether you know how to find a P value or can perfectly perform a chi square test. The following list may be incomplete.

1. Under coverage bias (Hello US presidential election)
2. Non response bias
3. Voluntary response bias
4. My name is a type 1 error and I am viciously present as a possibility in your data set.
5. My name is a type 2 error and I am viciously present as a possibility in your data set.

Four and five exist because I do not think your data can adequately support a valid H0 or Ha, your data are going to be out of whack from the population. Sure you can run the tests, hell even do it at a = 1% I just doubt the basic data you're working off of. (NYCFC_Dan dude you know what we're like can we get some Greek lettering support for the forums?)

I'm not sure how it works on the more social science side of things, but I'd goddamn savage you for the way you went about gathering your data if this was economics.

Plus side, well designed survey. No really quite top notch for the subject. Maybe a little lacking in the options and its going to be a bitch to analyze on your end at the end of it, but good work there, really neutral.

Big picture. NYCFC has the most active forums of all the teams.

Have you gone to every team's forums and submitted this?
Have you attempted to contact any of the teams or supporters groups about this?
Have you coordinated with any of the various MLS media in an attempt to reach a broader hardcore fanbase?
What is your definition of hardcore fan?

But for me here is the really big shit.

What are the basic differences between a hardcore fan in the US and UK? What do they look like, and what does their support look like. How is their support expressed, what are some uniquely UK expressions of support, what are some uniquely American expressions of support. These questions and their answers should be in your first few paragraphs somewhere.

Edit: I just reread this and its rambling in a way I would be ashamed of in a rough draft at work. But its 11pm, and I'm on an internet forum so tough luck there.

Thank you for your response, it was very well described and extremely helpful.

Fortunately, this aspect of my dissertation only covers a very small area of the project overall, therefore, I may only end up using one/two pieces of data collected. Having points to criticise the way in which the data was collected is a bonus, UK marking would rather I made these error and draw attention to them, rather than not at all.

They are quite obvious flaws and ones I do realise exist, but in the position I am in, being based in the UK, it is very hard for myself to collect data on this topic. If I can simply generate 100 responses from soccer fans in the US as to whether watching MLS has made them partake in soccer more often, I'll be happy.

This research is primarily being done to compliment secondary research into existing literature on the topic, hence why its a bit 'patchy'. I have spent the majority of my time reading journal articles on the topic and using those for the basis of my argument.

I have made contact with most of the channels you have suggested, but primarily I am using twitter to contact supporters clubs and ask for responses that way. Your final point into the differences between UK hardcore fans and US hardcore fans is one I would like to investigate, but my degree course is business related. Therefore I have to ensure there is a clear business link in my question (Marketing>Fans pay to watch>Profit).

I have taken some basic stats courses but not to the depth you have talked about. This is one area I am certainly inexperienced in, so the comments you have made are very useful indeed.

 

[FootyLovin]

More or less of a dick then the guys on the other side of his thesis defense? Less by a mile.




Ok so your a Uni student, which over here means I'm in college. Which means your education may or may not have included an advanced statistics course, if it hasn't already I suggest taking one; a solid grasp of statistics is really the most useful academic knowledge you can get out of Uni.

1. I probably wouldn't have commented if you were up front about the desire to target specifically hardcore fans.

2. I probably would have commented after you said you had reached out to non hardcore fans.

My actual point, if the guys on the other side of your thesis dissertation are at all competent, is you will be grilled on your data. How you acquired it, were the statistical analysis you preformed appropriate, can you state with certainty that the data are in any meaningful way randomly selected. Ectera ectera ectera.

I was pointing out flaws in your data gathering methodology, based on the premise that this was part of a broader gathering of data.

But lets break that down a bit, because you're an undergrad and straight up might not know better. Right now I'm detecting serious flaws in the way you're collecting your data, regardless of whether you know how to find a P value or can perfectly perform a chi square test. The following list may be incomplete.

1. Under coverage bias (Hello US presidential election)
2. Non response bias
3. Voluntary response bias
4. My name is a type 1 error and I am viciously present as a possibility in your data set.
5. My name is a type 2 error and I am viciously present as a possibility in your data set.

Four and five exist because I do not think your data can adequately support a valid H0 or Ha, your data are going to be out of whack from the population. Sure you can run the tests, hell even do it at a = 1% I just doubt the basic data you're working off of. (NYCFC_Dan dude you know what we're like can we get some Greek lettering support for the forums?)

I'm not sure how it works on the more social science side of things, but I'd goddamn savage you for the way you went about gathering your data if this was economics.

Plus side, well designed survey. No really quite top notch for the subject. Maybe a little lacking in the options and its going to be a bitch to analyze on your end at the end of it, but good work there, really neutral.

Big picture. NYCFC has the most active forums of all the teams.

Have you gone to every team's forums and submitted this?
Have you attempted to contact any of the teams or supporters groups about this?
Have you coordinated with any of the various MLS media in an attempt to reach a broader hardcore fanbase?
What is your definition of hardcore fan?

But for me here is the really big shit.

What are the basic differences between a hardcore fan in the US and UK? What do they look like, and what does their support look like. How is their support expressed, what are some uniquely UK expressions of support, what are some uniquely American expressions of support. These questions and their answers should be in your first few paragraphs somewhere.

Edit: I just reread this and its rambling in a way I would be ashamed of in a rough draft at work. But its 11pm, and I'm on an internet forum so tough luck there.

If today was a game day, I'd buy you a beer. mgarbowski, are you getting all of this? There's a new statistician in town ...

ETA: N NYResearch you should know that in US "dissertation" is not an undergrad paper but rather is the culmination of a PhD degree. It is grueling and expected to be polished to the highest degree. Less is expected of an undergrad thesis or even Master's thesis.

 

[FootyLovin]

One other point having taken the survey. Your terminology of "participating in soccer" seems to be about playing the game. But it could be misinterpreted to include spectating, forum activities, reading articles, listening to podcasts, etc.

 

[JayH]

 

[NYResearch]

One other point having taken the survey. Your terminology of "participating in soccer" seems to be about playing the game. But it could be misinterpreted to include spectating, forum activities, reading articles, listening to podcasts, etc.

Thank you for this, I have reworded the question.

 

[NYResearch]

If today was a game day, I'd buy you a beer. mgarbowski, are you getting all of this? There's a new statistician in town ...

ETA: N NYResearch you should know that in US "dissertation" is not an undergrad paper but rather is the culmination of a PhD degree. It is grueling and expected to be polished to the highest degree. Less is expected of an undergrad thesis or even Master's thesis.

Thanks for this information, I am an undergraduate so will make sure to be more clear in future.

 

[JGarrettLieb]

Are you an analyst at a consulting firm or fin ins?

Am I really that transparent? OTOH by the way you write and argue there is no way you aren't a lawyer or trained as one.

Though technically my current title is full time MBA student. There is a pretty good ceiling in the financial services sector past which you really do need letters after your name to progress.

 

[Gotham Gator]

I would say that I think the marketing around NYC has been excellent. They've taken an attractive position - that this is the one true team of New York City - and run with it. They have played upon the pride that New Yorkers feel towards their city and mixed it with the condescension those living in the City feel for those across the bridges and tunnels. They've taken that strong premise and executed on it very well.

 

[Falastur]

More or less of a dick then the guys on the other side of his thesis defense? Less by a mile.




Ok so your a Uni student, which over here means I'm in college. Which means your education may or may not have included an advanced statistics course, if it hasn't already I suggest taking one; a solid grasp of statistics is really the most useful academic knowledge you can get out of Uni.

1. I probably wouldn't have commented if you were up front about the desire to target specifically hardcore fans.

2. I probably would have commented after you said you had reached out to non hardcore fans.

My actual point, if the guys on the other side of your thesis dissertation are at all competent, is you will be grilled on your data. How you acquired it, were the statistical analysis you preformed appropriate, can you state with certainty that the data are in any meaningful way randomly selected. Ectera ectera ectera.

I was pointing out flaws in your data gathering methodology, based on the premise that this was part of a broader gathering of data.

But lets break that down a bit, because you're an undergrad and straight up might not know better. Right now I'm detecting serious flaws in the way you're collecting your data, regardless of whether you know how to find a P value or can perfectly perform a chi square test. The following list may be incomplete.

1. Under coverage bias (Hello US presidential election)
2. Non response bias
3. Voluntary response bias
4. My name is a type 1 error and I am viciously present as a possibility in your data set.
5. My name is a type 2 error and I am viciously present as a possibility in your data set.

Four and five exist because I do not think your data can adequately support a valid H0 or Ha, your data are going to be out of whack from the population. Sure you can run the tests, hell even do it at a = 1% I just doubt the basic data you're working off of. (NYCFC_Dan dude you know what we're like can we get some Greek lettering support for the forums?)

I'm not sure how it works on the more social science side of things, but I'd goddamn savage you for the way you went about gathering your data if this was economics.

Plus side, well designed survey. No really quite top notch for the subject. Maybe a little lacking in the options and its going to be a bitch to analyze on your end at the end of it, but good work there, really neutral.

Big picture. NYCFC has the most active forums of all the teams.

Have you gone to every team's forums and submitted this?
Have you attempted to contact any of the teams or supporters groups about this?
Have you coordinated with any of the various MLS media in an attempt to reach a broader hardcore fanbase?
What is your definition of hardcore fan?

But for me here is the really big shit.

What are the basic differences between a hardcore fan in the US and UK? What do they look like, and what does their support look like. How is their support expressed, what are some uniquely UK expressions of support, what are some uniquely American expressions of support. These questions and their answers should be in your first few paragraphs somewhere.

Edit: I just reread this and its rambling in a way I would be ashamed of in a rough draft at work. But its 11pm, and I'm on an internet forum so tough luck there.

In fairness to him, as someone who's degree involved sitting those statistics courses you refer to, and at a British university, most of the stuff you refer to is second year stuff, and not something a business student would generally be able to sit in on. Also bear in mind that British uni courses are not as broad as US ones but are far deeper in their scope, and they expect you to focus entirely on modules run by the department. You aren't really given the time to attend lectures by other departments, you're too busy attending business seminars (or whatever you're studying).

The stuff you're referring to would really be brought in at Masters level.