Sports Studies Commons^™

Sticking With It: A Qualitative Analysis Of The Factors That Motivate Instructors To Teach The Filipino Martial Arts, John Roderick Malmo

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study investigated the motivational factors that influence instructors to teach Filipino martial arts. The study was designed to address teaching from the perspective of the instructors’ experiences, and allowed them to tell their story in their own words. The following research question guided this study:

1. What factors motivate Filipino martial arts instructors to teach the Filipino martial arts?

Eight instructors were selected to participate in this qualitative study. The instructors were interviewed via telephone and Skype. Each instructor was also observed teaching. Additionally, documents pertaining to each instructor and the Filipino martial arts were collected and analyzed. …

Recruiting: An Act Of Trust, Krystal Evette Beachum

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The realization for incoming freshmen to be able to balance education and participate in athletics at the college level takes complete dedication. Participation in athletics has been linked with reports of growth in the individual's personality and leadership skills and with their overall satisfaction with the college experience (Ryan, 1989). Using former student-athletes as participants, the study aims to look at college athletics through the eyes of the student-athletes.

The purpose of this study offers an inside look at former Division I football student-athletes perception of the recruiting process, along with the perception of the financial agreement and the National …

Understanding How The Southeastern Conference Football Teams Use Twitter Through A Content Analysis, Kristin Elise Pearson

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The influence of Social media on intercollegiate athletic departments has been prominent in the past few years. With tight budgets, the departments are forced to find different means of marketing and promoting their brand – through embracing Social media platforms. Research on Social media and intercollegiate athletics is limited; therefore, it is necessary to research how the departments are utilizing Social media. With the agenda setting theory as a foundation, this study explores how the 14 SEC football teams are utilizing Twitter. A total of 3,176 tweets were collected from two constructed weeks. Overall, the findings show that the information …

How The University Of Arkansas’ Change In Conference Affiliation Set Off Realignment In Intercollegiate Athletics, Matthew Jones

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The era of realignment within the conferences that make up the largest football-playing division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association can be traced to one event.

In the 1984 Supreme Court case NCAA v. Board of Regents, the court ruled the NCAA had violated antitrust laws by not allowing individual colleges to negotiate their own TV contracts for football games. The decision nulled and voided existing TV contracts with the NCAA, allowing a free market for colleges. Many programs partnered with the College Football Association to negotiate TV contracts in the 1980s and early ‘90s.

Five years after the Supreme …

Men Who Coach Women, Shannel Blackshear

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Although Title IX helped to shape athletics in educational settings, the legislation also transformed the world of coaching. Due to the growing demand for competitive female athletics at the collegiate level, the need for qualified individuals to coach women’s sports continues to grow. As colleges and universities continue to create women’s athletic opportunities, coaching collegiate female teams has become equally competitive to coaching male athletes in terms of pay, benefits, compensation packages, and national attention (Welch & Sigelman, 2007). Despite the fact that 57% (Pilon, 2015), of female collegiate athletic teams are coached by male coaches, there is a gap …

A Comparison Of Athletic Identity And Career Maturity Of Female Student-Athletes At Different Levels Of Competition, Simeon Hinsey

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This study explored the relationship between the athletic identity and career maturity of women’s basketball student-athletes. Differences in athletic identity and career maturity were also investigated based on a women’s basketball student-athlete’s level of competition, race, year in school, socioeconomic status, and professional athletic career aspirations. In order to examine the relationship between these variables, a convenience sample of 209 women’s basketball student-athletes from NCAA Division I (n = 62), NCAA Division II (n = 40), NCAA Division III (n = 50), and NAIA (n = 57) institutions located in the southeastern region of the United States participated in the …

Outside The Lines Of Gilded Age Baseball: Profits, Beer, And The Origins Of The Brotherhood War, Robert Allan Bauer

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In 1890, members of the Brotherhood of Professional Base Ball Players elected to secede from the National League and form their own organization, which they called the Players League. The players objected to several business practices of the National League, including aspects of the reserve clause in player contracts, the Brush Classification Plan to control their salaries, the buying and selling of players, and fines for various infractions. This dissertation explains how these events combined to produce the revolt by the players at the conclusion of the 1889 season. It also examines various other important aspects of 1880s baseball, including …

A Social Marketing Plan For The Arkansas Miracle League, Abby Stuart

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Miracle League is a baseball league specially designed to allow disabled children, teens, and adults have the same opportunity to play baseball as able-bodied individuals on a field specifically designed to accommodate all disabilities. This thesis offers the Miracle League of Arkansas a specified Social marketing plan. In order to assist Miracle League in the acquisition of new players, volunteers, and donors, research was compiled and conducted to implement a successful Social marketing plan for the spring 2016 Miracle League season. This Social marketing plan gives Miracle League recommendations on how to appeal to parents of potential Miracle League players, …

Intangible Benefits Of Team Identification, And The Factors Which Generate It, Toward Intercollegiate Athletic Programs In Students' College Adjustment, Junmo Sung

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Intercollegiate athletic programs have been used to facilitate Social interactions between students within the complex nature of the college environment. In particular, many researchers have discussed the benefits of intercollegiate athletic programs in higher education, examining positive aspects of team identification such as the enhancing sense of belonging, personal self- esteem, happiness, and decreasing stress, anxiety, depression, and loneliness in Social life. With the benefits of the program, it is important to scrutinize the benefits of intercollegiate athletic programs in students’ college adjustment in higher education. Therefore, the goal of this dissertation was to provide better understanding of the intercollegiate …

The Mediating Effect Of Team Identification On The Relationship Between Social Media Consumption And Intentions, Jaeahm Park

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The purpose of this study was to (a) identify the motivational factor for subscribing to collegiate athletics' social media (b) analyze the effect of subscribing to collegiate athletics' online social media on team identification (c) analyze the effect of subscribing to collegiate athletics' online social media on behavior intentions mediated by team identification. The study also examined the difference across demographic information which can be used for fan segmentation. By analyzing a total of 146 undergraduate students from University of Arkansas Recreation and Sport Management classes, this dissertation found the following.

This study verified seven motives for subscribing to school …

Perceived Impacts Of Hosting A College Baseball Regional Or Super Regional: Student Perspective At Possible Host Institution, Marcus Trent Ozbun

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College athletics is an ever growing industry, particularly the sports of football and basketball. Previous research in college athletics has tended to focus only on these two sports and their economic impacts, disregarding any Social or general negative impacts they may bring with them. The purpose of this study was to develop a deeper understanding of students' perceptions of Social, economic and general negative impacts associated with hosting a NCAA baseball regional or super regional on the host campus and community. Hosting NCAA postseason events on campus is rare for many universities, so it is important to study how students …

Development Of The Cultural Appreciation Of Martial Arts Scale, John Roderick Malmo

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The purpose of this study was to develop a reliable and valid Social sciences instrument designed to measure the construct of Cultural Appreciation of Martial Arts. Data were collected from 114 adult martial arts participants. Study participants represented Taekwondo schools located in Arkansas and Filipino martial arts schools located in Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas. Development of the instrument involved the use of an expert panel, a Q-sort, test-retest reliability test, Exploratory Factor Analysis, and Cronbach's alpha.

The study resulted in a 20-item, 3-factor scale that measures Cultural Knowledge, Cultural Sensitivity, and Cultural Awareness and is named the Cultural Appreciation …

A Profile Of The Characteristics And Professional Development Needs Of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division Ii Athletic Directors, Dustin Smith

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The purpose for conducting the study was to identify the personal, professional, and educational backgrounds of NCAA Division II athletic directors. The study was designed to detail the professional development opportunities that existed among the population, and determine how frequently the NCAA Division II athletic directors took advantage of the opportunities that were available to them. The significance of the study rested on the ability to identify the NCAA Division II athletic director population and describe the qualities and characteristics that comprised the target population. Since little data existed detailing this population, the study provided an opportunity to describe a …

Analytical Research Topics In Sport Management, Gi-Yong Koo

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The field of sport management has grown tremendously as an academic discipline. Researchers have continuously discussed the scope and direction of research and the importance of the diversity of research design. There have been a significant number of studies examining the scope and direction of research over the past few decades such as: the lack of diversity in methodology; the lack of diversity in research focus; the lack of importance of power analysis; and the lack of diversity in topic areas. Embracing a variety of research designs is an absolutely necessary condition for the growth and credibility of sport management …

A Survey Of Women In Sports Media, Holly Sullivan

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Since 1995 (Miller and Miller), women in sports media (WSM) have been citing the difficulties of balancing their careers and their personal lives, specifically the challenges of family life. Previous research has shown that most WSM are leaving their careers between six to ten years on the job and have cited reasons of work conflicting with their careers (Hardin, Shain and Shultz-Poniatowski, 2008). Work-family conflicts has also been cited a reason for lower job satisfaction (Reindary, 2007). This survey is the first survey to compare work-family conflict to variables of job satisfaction.

Campus Recreation Program Involvement, Athletic Identity, Transitional Loss And Life Satisfaction In Former High School Athletes, Katie E. Helms

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Sports participation can result in strong associations with the athlete role for participants. While strong athletic identity can have positive implications, it can also create vulnerability to emotional difficulty following exit from sport (Brewer, 1993). Exit from sport is inevitable, resulting from a wide range of sources such as injury, aging, de-selection, or not qualifying to participate at a certain skill level. Despite a large proportion of high school students who play sports, there is little opportunity for continuation at the college level. This discrepancy often results in significant transitional loss resulting from exhausted athletic eligibility. The current study examines …