Play on or call a foul: testing and extending distributed situation awareness theory through sports officiating

ABSTRACT

The distributed situation awareness (DSA) model was introduced almost a decade ago and outlined six core tenets relating to the nature of situation awareness in sociotechnical systems. Despite the model being at the forefront of situation awareness research, to date, there has been no examination of these six tenets. In this paper, we examine each tenet to determine first whether they apply in the domain of fast ball sports officiating and second, to determine whether they require extension or revision in order to remain appropriate and relevant. Based on data from Australian rules football officiating, we find that four of the six tenets remain relevant. We argue, however, that two of the tenets, require revision and extension. Accordingly, we propose alternate tenets and associated research questions to facilitate extension of the theoretical underpinnings of the DSA model into the future.

KEYWORDS:

• Distributed situation awareness
• sports
• Umpire
• referee
• coupling
• distributed cognition
• Australian rules football

Acknowledgments

This study was conducted with the support of the Australian Football League Umpiring Department. The authors wish to thank Lydia Byrne for her support in the results visualisation.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. The score reviewer sits in a viewing room in the grandstand with a view of the game. The video footage they are provided with is also broadcast to the television audience.

Additional information

Funding

Timothy Neville received funding from the Defence Science and Technology Group and the University of the Sunshine Coast. Paul Salmon received funding from the Australian Research Council.

Notes on contributors

Timothy J. Neville

Timothy Neville is a PhD candidate at the Centre for Human Factors and Sociotechnical Systems at the University of the Sunshine Coast and an operation analyst within the Defence Science and Technology Group. He holds undergraduate qualifications in computer systems engineering and international studies.

Paul M. Salmon

Paul Salmon is a professor of human factors and the director of the Centre for Human Factors and Sociotechnical Systems at the University of the Sunshine Coast. He has over 13 years of experience in applied human factors research across a range of safety critical domains, including road and rail safety, defence, workplace safety, aviation, emergency management, and outdoor education.

Gemma J. M. Read

Gemma Read is a research fellow at the Centre for Human Factors and Sociotechnical Systems at the University of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia. She completed her PhD at Monash University and holds undergraduate qualifications in psychology and law.

Alexander C. Kalloniatis

Alexander Kalloniatis is a senior operations analyst, originally a researcher in theoretical physics (1992–2005), now studies command and control systems in the Australian Defence Force using modelling, simulation and organisational theory. He also analyses the command and control of historical naval battles.