Name
Session 2, Speaker 1: Ben Baumer, Professor of Statistical & Data Sciences, Smith College
Date & Time
Saturday, April 12, 2025, 3:30 PM - 3:50 PM
Description
One active thread of sports analytics research proposes mechanisms for awarding points, dollars, or other rewards that are more "fair". However, we don't always articulate a shared understanding of what constitutes fairness. In recent years, analysis of various statistical criteria for non-discrimination in the machine learning community has yielded some fascinating incompatibility results. Namely, Kleinberg, et al. (2016) prove that in all but the most trivial of cases, an algorithm cannot be unbiased across all reasonable definitions (of fairness). We apply this lens to sports, and explore how various existing reward systems embody different notions of fairness.
Location Name
1401
Full Address
Kline Tower
219 Prospect St
13th and 14th Floors, Registration Table in Room 1401
New Haven, CT 06511
United States
219 Prospect St
13th and 14th Floors, Registration Table in Room 1401
New Haven, CT 06511
United States
Session Type
Lecture
Title
What Does 'Fairness' Mean in Sports Analytics?
Abstract
One active thread of sports analytics research proposes mechanisms for awarding points, dollars, or other rewards that are more "fair". However, we don't always articulate a shared understanding of what constitutes fairness. In recent years, analysis of various statistical criteria for non-discrimination in the machine learning community has yielded some fascinating incompatibility results. Namely, Kleinberg, et al. (2016) prove that in all but the most trivial of cases, an algorithm cannot be unbiased across all reasonable definitions (of fairness). We apply this lens to sports, and explore how various existing reward systems embody different notions of fairness.
Speaker Bio
Benjamin S. Baumer is a professor in the Statistical & Data Sciences program at Smith College. Ben is a co-author of The Sabermetric Revolution, Modern Data Science with R, and the second and third editions of Analyzing Baseball Data with R. Ben has received the Waller Education Award from the ASA Section on Statistics and Data Science Education, the Significant Contributor Award from the ASA Section on Statistics in Sports, and the Contemporary Baseball Analysis Award from the Society for American Baseball Research. His research interests include sports analytics, data science, statistics and data science education, statistical computing, and network science.
Speaker Headshot
