Parsons-Smith, Renee (2010) Home is Where the Advantage is: A Meta-Analysis of the Home Advantage Phenomenon. Honours thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
Previous research has documented that competitors in numerous sport domains have a propensity to perform better on home ground. This increased probability of winning is otherwise known as the home advantage. The aim of the present study was to replicate and extend the only previous objective summary of the home advantage phenomenon, and provide the most comprehensive analysis of the home advantage to date. The present study employed meta-analytic techniques to examine past and current literature on the home advantage, with a particular focus on potential moderator variables thought to influence its magnitude. A total of 73 studies that had quantified the home advantage as a percentage (the inclusion criteria) were analysed, which yielded 1,551 effect sizes, drawn from a total of 1,558,274 games. Given that „real-world‟ data does not conform to the assumptions underlying a fixed-effects model of meta-analysis, a random-effects model was chosen a priori for the present study to ensure generalisation of results. A series of independent samples t tests and one-way analyses of variance were conducted on unweighted mean proportion indices according to the levels within each moderator variable: (a) type of sport, (b) sport description, (c) level of competition, (d) season type, (e) season length, (f) era, (g) country, and (h) gender. An overall significant home advantage of 60.6% was identified, and the home advantage was found to be moderated by the variables of sport description, F(12, 1515) = 44.157, p < .001; season length, F(2, 1207) = 129.459, p < .001; and country, F(3, 1465) = 112.248, p < .001. Additionally, further analysis revealed that the home advantage was moderated by decisive and non-decisive games within the championship/playoff seasons, t(152) = 6.492, p = .012. Overall, results showed the home advantage to be a robust phenomenon that is generalisable across different types of sport, levels of competition, seasons, countries, gender, and time. Notably, a limitation of the literature was that the majority of previous archival studies focused on team sports played at the professional level by male competitors. This impacted the number of effect sizes obtained for some levels of analyses involving the moderator variables of sport description, level of competition, and gender. Results of the present research provide an extensive summary of the home advantage phenomenon, and contribute to the descriptive phase of enquiry which is not yet complete. Additionally, the present research highlights gaps in the previous literature on the home advantage, providing substance to the directions of future research.
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| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Honours) |
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| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Current UniSQ staff and students can request access to this thesis. Please email research.repository@unisq.edu.au with a subject line of SEAR thesis request and provide: Name of the thesis requested and Your name and UniSQ email address |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Historic - Faculty of Sciences - Department of Psychology (Up to 30 Jun 2013) |
| Supervisors: | Terry, Peter |
| Qualification: | Bachelor of Science (Honours) (Psychology) |
| Date Deposited: | 16 Mar 2026 01:26 |
| Last Modified: | 16 Mar 2026 01:26 |
| Fields of Research (2008): | 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1799 Other Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 179999 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences not elsewhere classified |
| Fields of Research (2020): | 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5299 Other psychology > 529999 Other psychology not elsewhere classified |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/52653 |
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