Understanding the systems that shape sport
We develop independent research into how sport is organised, how decisions are made and how achievement is compared.
DIAS Evidence Observatory brings this work together so it can be published, shared and sustained. We are building towards research reports, comparative datasets and analytical tools that others can examine and use.
The questions behind the work
How can the reasoning behind a decision be examined? What patterns emerge in referee appointments and fixture scheduling? How can the achievements of clubs competing across different sports be compared?
Each question calls for different sources and methods. All require a clear account of the evidence, the choices made in analysing it and the limits of the result.
Our focus is on the institutions, rules, relationships and decisions that shape sport.
Work in progress
Three projects helped give rise to DIAS.
Ayak Oyunu
Research and publication preparation
A research and publishing project examining football's institutional processes, governance relationships and questions of integrity through documents and open sources. Its first research report is being prepared.
Decision consistency
Model development
Research into decision-making processes such as referee and video assistant referee (VAR) appointments, using structured data and statistical methods. It asks which comparisons are meaningful, how patterns should be assessed and what the data can explain. DIAS Arbiter is the working name of the model.
Multi-Sport Clubs Index
Methodology and data development
An index being developed to compare the achievements of multi-sport clubs. The work focuses on defining the scope, sources and assessment rules that make comparisons across sports meaningful.
Making research open to examination
A finding is more useful when people can understand how it was reached.
Our approach is to record sources, document how data is processed and explain the assumptions behind an analysis. Missing information, uncertainty and alternative explanations belong in the account too.
For example, a difference in appointment patterns may warrant closer examination. Explaining why it occurs requires further evidence and analysis.
The research infrastructure we are developing helps connect findings to their sources and supports updates as the work progresses.
Building for the long term
DIAS Evidence Observatory is an independent initiative preparing to incorporate as a not-for-profit company in the United Kingdom. Research is under way and the first public outputs are in preparation.
The aim is to provide continuity, resources and opportunities for collaboration across these projects. Over time, we want to bring different kinds of expertise into the work and make its results useful to researchers, journalists and people who take an interest in sport.
Independent research and publication decisions, disclosure of relevant relationships and support, and openness to methodological criticism are central to this approach.
Working together
We welcome interest from researchers, data specialists, journalists and others whose expertise connects with these questions.
Methodological review, data collaboration and support for the continuity of the research are all areas in which we hope to build relationships.