This was my independent research project for the Economics degree capstone course. I chose my project topic to be analyzing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on home advantage for NBA and NHL teams in the playoffs. Data from 2017-2020 was collected and analyzed using Stata to determine if there were significant differences in home team outcomes in the pandemic season compared with previous normal seasons. The project was presented to the class and a comprehensive final paper was written as well.
The full paper can be found here: ECON490_FinalPaper_GrahamMP
I learned how to carry out all stages of a research project, from the initial stage coming up with the idea, collecting and analyzing the data, and communicating the final results. This project will be excellent preparation for future independent research work in graduate school or in a professional context.