Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

True Volunteers: Women's Intercollegiate Athletics At The University Of Tennessee, 1903 To 1976, Eric John Kloiber

Masters Theses

This study outlines the history of women's intercollegiate athletics at the University of Tennessee from its founding in 1903 until the creation of the Women's Athletics Department in 1976. This period was chosen for study due to the absence of athletic scholarships and lack of complete records. Through newspaper research, archival research, and interviews, an attempt has been made to reconstruct, insofar as is practicable, the course of events followed by women's intercollegiate athletics at Tennessee during the period. This study aims to serve as a reference work on the history of women's athletics at Tennessee during the period.

Women's …

An Interactionist Perspective On Centrality And Racial Discrimination In Professional Baseball, David S. Czurak

Masters Theses

The structuralist version of centrality has measured racial discrimination in professional baseball for the past two decades. Its reliance on positional groupings, based on location, has resulted in a count of racial occupancy at these locations, often without a comparative racial baseline. The structuralist premise has accused baseball of playing field discrimination, citing it as a black versus white issue while discounting other motivations. From a symbolic interactionist perspective, this structuralist account of centrality is flawed in that it lacked action. Nor has it correctly identified what is central to baseball, and many of its findings have been inconclusive. An …

Biomechanical Analysis Of The Volleyball Overhand Floater Serve, Jian Lu

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate biomechanical factors associated with successful overhand floater serves. Specifically, the study investigated the kinematics of the server at ball-hand contact. Six subjects performed floater serves for this investigation. Subjects served three trials under each of the following conditions: (a) short and long serves and (b) three ball-valve positions at ball-hand contact. Threedimensional cinematographic methods were used to obtain the data. Descriptive statistics were utilized to compare floater and nonfloater serves with respect to distance and ball-valve position. The results showed that (a) more long serves were classified as floater compared to short …

Kinematic Analysis Of Sprinting With And Without The Speed Chute, Douglas Roy West

Masters Theses

The problem under investigation was to determine if kinematic differences existed when sprinting with and without the speed chute. Eight Western Michigan University Track and Field Athletes were filmed at 100 frames per second as they sprinted two trials with and without the speed chute.

Three ANOVAs and descriptive statistics were used to evaluate the effects of sprinting with and without the speed chute. Descriptive statistics provided information for numerous dependent variables. Although statistically significant differences (R < .05) existed between sprinting with and without the speed chute, those differences may not be practical for the coach to use in terms of evaluation of sprinting technique, because the differences would be difficult for the human eye to see. Therefore, the speed chute may be a viable training tool as kinematics were only minimally affected.

Investigation Of Past Performance And Sources Of Motivation On Team And Self-Efficacy Of Collegiate Soccer Players, Kevin P. Demers

Masters Theses

This study investigated the relationship between past performance and sources of motivation on team and self-efficacy of collegiate soccer players. The subjects of this study were 92 male collegiate soccer players who participated in MIAA competition in the fall of 1992. Data were collected from team and self-efficacy questionnaires modified for this study. A sport motivation scale from Butt's (1987) Sport Protocol was also used to collect data. The findings of this study indicated that (a) past performance is the primary variable in predicting team efficacy; (b) the coach's rating of player ability was a stronger source of self-efficacy than …