Levitt,+B


 * __Investigating the National Football League: __**


vs. Team Winning Percentages
 * __Player Salaries

Culminating Task Stage 1__** a) **Brainstorming** Possible Topics: I. Unemployment rate vs. Movie box office sales -Do movie sales increase as a way for people to find entertainment during difficult times? II. Nutrition in school cafeterias vs. Childhood Obesity -Do more unhealthy options result in higher levels of obesity? III. Revenue of Canadian Starbucks vs. Revenue of Tim Hortons -Which is more successful in Canada? IV. Drug Use vs. High School Drop Out rates -Do drug uses relate to High School Drop outs? V. NFL Player Salaries vs. Overall team success (winning percentage, playoff appearances, superbowl victories etc.) -More money=more success? VI. Employment rate vs. Auto Industry revenue -Do levels of employment alter the success of the Auto industry?

b) **Question** //Do higher player salaries in the National Football League in the years 2000-2008 result in a more successful team?// There is a timeless saying that money can't buy you happiness. However, many people think that in professional sports, money can certainly buy success. So, using these variables: I will be able to come to a conclusion if money spent is a major factor in a teams success in the National Football League.
 * Player Salaries (years 2000-2008)
 * Win percentages and postseason victories (years 2000-2008)

= ?

//In the world of sports,// few leagues are more competitive than the National Football League. In the United States, 32 organizations compete annually to play (and win) in the NFL's championship game: The Superbowl. While there are countless factors for every teams success, a mystery still remains: What factor is most important for a teams success? Through this presentation, I will conclude whether or not the amount of money a teams players earn is the number 1 factor for a teams success.

c) **Hypothesis** I believe the evidence will reveal a moderate positive correlation between salaries and success. I think that the results will show the more money spent on players will result in a greater amount of success. While there are many factors involved with a teams success, money is one of the greatest motivators, and many players have cash incentives to accomplish certain goals throughout the season, giving them more drive to succeed.

d) **Raw Data [|USA Today NFL Salary Database] [|Yahoo! Sports NFL Player and Team Statistics] [|NFL History 2001-]**

__**Sampling Techniques:**__ Because of the data used, there is no real "sampling technique". All of the information collected for this assignment are statistics recorded from National Football League games or salaries reported by professional football organizations. There was no random sampling or surveys as these numbers have simply been taken from their original sources.

__**Bias**__ Due to the fact that all of these statistics are from actual NFL games and all the salaries have been officially reported by the National Football League, the information has not been altered in any way. Therefore, there is no bias present. While there is bias in one of my sources (in which the author ranks the teams in his opinion of which teams have had more success throughout the decade), I am only considering the raw data represented in the article and ignoring the opinions of the author.

__**One Variable Statistics:**__ I will be looking at the following variables: Mean: 2.64 Median: 2.62 Mode: No Mode
 * //Overall Team Payrolls for the years 2000-2008//**

//**Average Salary (in Millions) for all 32 NFL teams for the years 2000-2008**// //**Win Percentage**// Mean: .489 Median: .493 Mode: .493
 * //Overall regular season winning percentages for all 32 NFL teams for the years 2000-2008//**

//**NFL Team Salaries**// Mean: 83.23 Median: 83.5 Mode: No Mode

**Superbowl victories**
Mean: 14.88 Median: 13 Mode: No Mode
 * Superbowl Winners Salary Position:**

//Looking at the salary information for 2009// and applying it to the Superbowl winners from 2000-2008, the Superbowl Champion of the 2009 season would be the:
__Baltimore Ravens__

__**Two-Variable Statistics:**__

> > > = **-0.13 > = Negative Weak Correlation** > >
 * Overall winning percentage (regular season) of the NFL teams (2000-2008) vs. their team payrolls (2000-2008)
 * **FINDING THE CORRELATION COEFFICIENT**
 * Overall winning percentage (post season) of the NFL teams (2000-2008) vs. their team payrolls (2000-2008)
 * **FINDING THE CORRELATION COEFFICIENT**
 * **r= 0.32**
 * **= Positive Weak Correlation**

__**Conclusion**__
Through the research I am able to conclude that my hypothesis was indeed wrong. I originally hypothesized that there would be a strong relation between a teams spending and a teams success. However, the negative weak correlation shows that there is very little relation between a teams spending and a teams success. I believe there is a negative weak correlation because there are far too many factors in each individual football game (weather, injuries, home field advantage etc.) to use a single factor such as salary to determine the effect on a teams overall success. Although there is a very limited relation to salary and success in the regular season, results show a greater correlation in the post season. The positive weak correlation in the post season reveals that player salaries play a larger factor in a teams success in the playoffs. However, as with the regular season results, there are simply too many factors in each football game that the relation between salaries and winning is still far too insignificant to call a number 1 factor. In conclusion, it is clear that player salaries are not a key factor in a teams success.
 * Regular Season**
 * Post Season**
 * So...**


 * Bibliography:**

Banks, D. (2009, June 3). //NFL team of the decade: 2000s//. Retrieved December 6, 2009, from http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/don_banks/06/01/decade/index.html

//NFL History By Decade//. (2009). Retrieved November 7, 2009, from http://www.nfl.com/history/chronology/2001-

//NFL Statistics//. (2009, November). Retrieved November 7, 2009, from http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/stats/byposition?pos=QB&conference=NFL&year=season_2001&timeframe=All&sort=626&old_category=QB

//USA Today Salaries Databases//. (2009). Retrieved November 7, 2009, from http://content.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/salaries/default.aspx?Loc=Vanity