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Announcements

  • Isabel Pantle '23 presents QSS research project on Analysis of Holding Penalties in the NFL

    Date: 01/24/2023

    In November 2022, Isabel Pantle '23 presented a statistical analysis of holding penalties in the National Football League (NFL).  Every undergraduate majoring in Quantitative Social Science (QSS) at Dartmouth College must complete a research project as part of the program's curriculum, and Isabel's project was carried out this past fall quarter. Isabel's research used data from the NFL data bowl, a national contest sponsored by the league. The topic of this year's data bowl was offensive lineman and holding penalties, and the winners of the contest receive a cash prize and the opportunity to present their work at the NFL Scouting Combine. 

    Isabel found that time between ball snap and throw, whether a defender was outside of his block, and whether a defender was double-teamed significantly increased the likelihood of a holding penalty being called against an offensive lineman. Isabel also uncovered some limited evidence that differences in the rates at which offensive and defensive lineman accelerated when a play began affect the probability of a holding penalty. Isabel presented her findings in November to peers and QSS faculty at Dartmouth College as well as to members of the analytics department at the Baltimore Ravens.

     

    For more information, read the full article here.

  • Michael Herron on typographical errors in election administration and allegations of vote manipulation

    Date: 11/29/2022

    Michael Herron, the Remsen 1943 Professor of Quantitative Social Science and Chair of the Program in Quantitative Social Science, recently spoke with AFP Fact Check about election misinformation in New Hampshire.  A typographical error in reporting vote returns in the town of Columbia, New Hampshire, led to unfounded rumors that more votes were cast in this town than there are people who live there.  The New Hampshire Secretary of State explained that the rumors were false, and Professor Herron pointed out to AFP Fact Check that errors in election administration happen from time to time and are not evidence of illicit voter manipulation.  Herron noted as well that, "There's no evidence that errors favor one party or another."

  • Prof. Nyhan on American electoral institutions

    Date: 11/15/2022

    In a November 11, 2022 article in The New Yorker, Professor of Government Brendan Nyhan is quoted on the 2022 midterm elections:  "We had another round of free and fair elections, and the major institutions of state haven't been taken over by election deniers."  Professor Nyhan serves on the Steering Committee of the Program in Quantitative Social Science and is a co-director of Bright Line Watch, an organization of scholars that brings together academics whose research engages modern democratic practices.

  • John Cho '22, QSS and Government double major, wins 2022 Rintels Prize

    Date: 11/2/2022

    The Program in Quantitative Social Science congratulates John Cho '22 on winning the Jonathan B. Rintels 1927 Prize for the best honors thesis in the Arts and Humanities & Social Sciences. John was a double major in QSS and Government. Both John's advisors, Yusaku Horiuchi and Mia Costa, are on the QSS Steering Committee. 

     

    See what the Government Department had to say about John's recent prize.

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