NAME: 1997 University of Iowa Big Ten Basketball Data TYPE: Census SIZE: 18 observations, 4 variables DESCRIPTIVE ABSTRACT: The dataset contains the scores, opponents, and sites of the 18 Big Ten men's basketball games that involved the University of Iowa in 1997. SOURCES: The scores were obtained from http://www.hawkeyesports.com/bball/schedule/1996.htm VARIABLE DESCRIPTIONS: Columns 1 - 14 Iowa's opponent 17 Site of the game (H and A stand for home (Iowa City) and away) 19 - 20 Points scored by Iowa 22 - 23 Points scored by Iowa's opponent (points allowed by Iowa) Values are aligned and delimited by blanks. SPECIAL NOTES: Note that each team played Iowa in exactly one home game and one away game except for Michigan State and Indiana. STORY BEHIND THE DATA: Most students are familiar with the concept of home court advantage in college basketball. From small junior colleges to large universities, basketball teams tend to boast a greater winning percentage in games played on their home floor than in games hosted by the opposition. The University of Iowa Hawkeye's 1997 Big Ten Conference season serves as a fine example of this phenomenon. The Hawks were beaten only once in nine games played in Iowa City's Carver Hawkeye Arena. Their record on opposing teams' courts was much less impressive -- only four road wins to go with five road losses. Since basketball can be considered in two basic phases, offense and defense, it is natural to investigate how these phases are affected by game location. By examining points scored and points allowed, the natural measures of offensive and defensive performance contained in the dataset, a deeper understanding of Iowa's 1997 home court advantage can be gained. Additional information about these data can be found in the "Datasets and Stories" article "Investigating Home Court Advantage" in the _Journal of Statistics Education_ (Nettleton 1998). PEDAGOGICAL NOTES: The data are well suited for use in an applied multivariate statistics course. In particular, they can be used to illustrate the multivariate paired comparison techniques of Section 6.2 in Johnson and Wichern (1992). By focusing on either offensive or defensive performance alone, the data are also appropriate for an elementary statistics course. The univariate paired t-test with corresponding confidence interval and/or the sign test can be used to answer a question like ``Does game location (home or away) affect offensive performance?'' REFERENCE: Johnson, R. A., and Wichern, D. W. (1992), _Applied Multivariate Statistical Analysis_ (3rd ed.), New York: Prentice Hall. SUBMITTED BY: Dan Nettleton 924 Oldfather Hall Department of Mathematics and Statistics University of Nebraska-Lincoln Lincoln, Nebraska 68588-0323 dnettlet@math.unl.edu