Charles J. Ansorge

International Bias Detected in Judging Gymnastic Competition at the 1984 Olympic Games

Abstract The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not a pattern of bias was shown by mens and womens gymnastics judges at the 1984 Olympic Games. To determine whether judges were biased in favor of gymnasts from their own countries and against gymnasts from countries in close competition with their own, the scores of each individual judge were compared to the mean of the other three judges on the panel Results of six sign test analyses revealed that both male and female judges were biased in their scoring of gymnasts (p<.001). Judges scored gymnasts from their countries higher than the remaining members of the panels. Judges also scored gymnasts on teams both immediately ahead and behind their own lower than other judges on their panels.

Ethics training and decision-making: do computer science programs need help?

A national web-based survey using SurveyMonkey.com was administered to 700 undergraduate computer science programs in the United States as part of a stratified random sample of 797 undergraduate computer science programs. The 251 program responses (36% response rate) regarding social and professional issues (computer ethics) are presented. This article describes the demographics of the respondents, presents results concerning whether programs teach social and professional issues, who teaches, the role of training in these programs, the decision making process as it relates to computer ethics and why some programs are not teaching computer ethics. Additionally, we provide suggestions for computer science programs regarding ethics training and decision-making and we share reasons why schools are not teaching computer ethics.

Bias in Judging Women's Gymnastics Induced by Expectations of Within-Team Order

Abstract The score a gymnast receives for perfoming a gymnastic routine may be influenced by factors other than the quality of the performance. Since gymnastics coaches typically place their gymnastics in rank order from poorest to best for competition in each event, judges may expect that the quality of the gymnastics routines will improve within a team order. This study was conducted to determine if gymnasts are at a scoring disadvantage if they appear first within their team order of competition or at a scoring advantage if they appear last. Ten nationally or regionally certified female gymnastics judges were selected from three locations in the United States and asked to score the routines of the 1977 Region VI AIAW Championships on each of two sets of videotapes, edited from the original tapes, in two judging sessions separated by 48 hours. For the first judging session 20 gymnasts appeared in the first position for their teams and 20 gymnasts appeared in the fifth position for their teams. For the s...

Effects of Naturally Induced Judges' Expectations on the Ratings of Physical Performances.

Abstract Gymnastics coaches typically place their gymnasts in a rank order from poorest to best for competition in each event. The purpose of this investigation was to determine if the scores of nationally certified gymnastics judges were influenced by this expected placement of gymnasts within a team order of competition. The Team Optional Session of the 1973 Big Eight Gymnastics Meet was videotaped. Twelve nationally certified gymnastics judges, randomly selected from within three geographical locations of the United States, scored gymnastics routines on each of two sets of videotapes, edited from the original tapes, in two sessions separated by 48 hr. The videotapes were so edited that within-team orders of competition were reversed in one or the other of the two sets of videotapes for selected teams in each event. In this manner, scores were collected for 40 routines, each of which appeared both first and fourth in the withinteam orders of competition. A 2 × 12 × 2 ANOVA revealed that (1) a gymnast pe...

A Comprehensive Survey on the Status of Social and Professional Issues in United States Undergraduate Computer Science Programs and Recommendations.

A national web-based survey was administered to 700 undergraduate computer science (CS) programs in the United States as part of a stratified random sample of 797 undergraduate CS programs. The 251 program responses (36% response rate) regarding social and professional issues are presented. This article describes the demographics of the respondents, presents results concerning whether programs teach social and professional issues, how social and professional issues are integrated, perceptions of CS faculty regarding the importance of social and professional issues, pedagogies used to teach social and professional issues, and what specific social and professional topics have been included in the CS curriculum. Additionally, we (a) provide suggestions for CS programs regarding the integration of social and professional issues into the CS curriculum, (b) suggest ways to encourage more social and professional coverage in CS programs, pedagogy, and (c) recommend what social and professional topics should be included in future CS curriculum reports.

Effects of Item Arrangement, Sex of the Subject, and Test Anxiety on Cognitive and Self-Perception Scores in a Nonquantitative Content Area

Previous research using an examination with a quantitative emphasis revealed a significant sex effect and an item arrangement x sex interaction for a cognitive variable (number right) and an item arrangement effect for self-perception scores pertaining to difficulty, fairness, and anticipated performance on the test. Scores representing number of items right and self-perceptions were analyzed for nonquantitative examination that was assembled into three forms: easy-hard, spiral cyclical, random. Multivariate ANCOVA revealed no significant effects (α = .05) for the cognitive measure. However, significant (α = .05) sex and sex x order effects were found for perceptions scores which were not parallel to those reported previously for a quantitative examination. Implications for the valid interpretation of test scores also are briefly discussed.