The Examination of Research-Related Anxiety of Students Taking Master and Doctorate Degree in the Field of Physical Education and Sports

By U.S. Sports Academy in Commentary, Sports Studies and Sports Psychology

Authors: Ender SENEL (1), Mevlut YILDIZ (1), Mehmet ULAs (2), Hasan SAHAN
(1) Mugla Sitki Kocman University, Faculty of Sports Sciences, Turkey.
(2) Mehmet Akif Ersoy University, School of Physical Education and Sport, Turkey.
(3) Akdeniz University, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Turkey.

Corresponding Author:
Ender SENEL
Mugla Sitki Kocman University, Faculty of Sports Sciences
Kotekli/Mugla, 48000
endersenel@gmail.com
002522111951

(1) Ender SENEL is a research assistant in Physical Education and Sport Teacher Education Department at the Mugla Sitki Kocman University studying teaching and learning approaches in physical education and sport.

The Examination of Research-Related Anxiety of Students Taking Master and Doctorate Degree in the Field of Physical Education and Sports

ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to examine research-related anxiety of students taking master and doctorate degree in the field of physical education and sports. 204 master and doctorate students in the field of physical education and sports participated in the study. 49% of participants were female and 51% were male. While 51.5% of the students were carrying on master program, 48.5% were taking doctorate. Anxiety Related to Research Scale, developed by Buyukozturk (1997) was used to collect data. Independent t-test, pearson correlation and one-way ANOVA in SPSS was used to analyze collected data. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to find out if the scale was fit to use in this sample. Statistically significant difference was found between female and male students, graduate programs, master and doctorate students in terms of research-related anxiety. Consequently, it can be said that research-related anxiety levels of students taking master and doctorate degrees in the field of physical education and sport were not too high. It is required that students graduated from faculties of sport sciences and schools of physical education and sport that educate teachers, coaches, managers and recreation specialist should have scientific contribution on physical education and sport. Accordingly, precautions should be taken to reduce research-related anxiety of physical education and sport students.

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Tennis Anyone? A Content Analysis of the Written and Pictorial Coverage of Tennis Magazine

By U.S. Sports Academy in Sports Studies and Sports Psychology

Authors:
Tywan G. Martin, University of Miami
Sanghak Lee, Korea Aerospace University
Erin L. McNary, Indiana University
Daniel Totani, University of Miami

Corresponding author:
Tywan G. Martin, Ph.D.
Department of Kinesiology & Sport Sciences
P.O. Box 248065
Coral Gables, FL 33124
Phone: (305) 284-1168
E-mail: t.martin@miami.edu

Tennis Anyone? A Content Analysis of the Written and Pictorial Coverage of Tennis Magazine
 
ABSTRACT
This investigation measured the coverage given to female and male athletes in a single sport focused print publication Tennis magazine from 2007 to 2012. The examined timeframe was selected based on the updated Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rules that required both female and male athletes to compete at many of the same high profile events during the professional tennis season. Given the restructured rules, the perceived femininity associated with female tennis players, and the media coverage female athletes in individual sports tended to generate, it was important to determine the amount of media attention female professional tennis players received on the pages of a tennis magazine. The study’s results revealed that female tennis players did receive some prominent coverage and their total amount of coverage was similar to the percentage of female readers of the magazine. However, enthusiasm over the progress should be tempered as female competitors’ total exposure was less than their male counterparts and more coverage was garnered to female athletes in poses not related to tennis.

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The Home Court Advantage: Evidence from Men’s College Basketball

By U.S. Sports Academy in Sports Studies and Sports Psychology

Author: David T. Yi

Corresponding Author:
David T. Yi
Department of Economics
Xavier University
3800 Victory Parkway
Cincinnati, Ohio 45207
Email: yid@xavier.edu
Phone: 513-745-2933.

David Yi is Chair and Associate Professor of Economics at Xavier University in Cincinnati Ohio.

The Home Court Advantage: Evidence from Men’s College Basketball

ABSTRACT
The home court advantage in team sports is a well-established phenomenon whose true causes are not yet fully known despite the varying range of theories. In this paper, the researcher employs a stochastic production frontier model and explains the home court advantage phenomenon as an efficiency-enhancing phenomenon. Home teams, when supported by the home team’s crowd, play better with enhanced game efficiency. It is not simply playing aggressively at home or the familiarity of the home court that gives the home teams advantage over visiting teams, but rather the home court atmosphere enhances the home teams to play up to their potential.

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The Role of Emotions for 4 Athletes in Nordic Combined in Ski Jumping Competitions in World Cup

By U.S. Sports Academy in Sports Studies and Sports Psychology

Authors: F. Moen, J. Vitsøe, V. Rasdal, K. Myhre and Ø. Sandbakk

Corresponding Author:
Frode Moen
E-mail address: frmoe@online.no, Tel. : +47 932 487 50
Postal address: Department of Education and Lifelong learning, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, N-7491 Trondheim, Norway

Frode Moen is currently the head manager of the Olympic Athlete program in central Norway, where he also has a position as a coach / mental trainer for elite athletes and coaches. He also is an associate professor at the Department of Education at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. He previously has worked as a teacher in high school where sport was his major subject, and he has been a coach for the national team in Nordic combined in Norway for several years. Frode received his Ph. D. in coaching and performance psychology from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. His research focuses mainly on coaching in business, coaching in sport, communication, performance psychology and relationship issues.

ABSTRACT
This study looks at how emotions were associated with ski jumping competitions in world cup for four athletes representing the Norwegian national team in Nordic combined. The athletes documented their emotional experiences during competition rounds (trial-, and competition rounds) and non-competitive episodes (the period just after the competition round). The results in this study show that there is no clear relationship between emotions and performance between- and within the different episodes among the athletes. However, both hedonic emotions and eudaimonic emotions were experienced at high levels across all the measured episodes. Eudaimonic emotions were significantly higher during competing episodes (trial- and competition round) compared with non-competing episodes. Anger and sadness were higher after both trial jumps and competing jumps, whereas the opposite pattern was found for fear: more fear was experienced during jumps than after jumps. The results are discussed in regard of applied implications and possible future research.

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Ethics, Integrity and Well-Being in Elite Sport: A Systematic Review

By U.S. Sports Academy in Sports Studies and Sports Psychology

Authors: Deborah Agnew, Philippa Henderson and Carl Woods

Corresponding Author:
Deb Agnew, PhD
GPO Box 2100
Adelaide, South Australia, Australia 5001
deb.agnew@flinders.edu.au
+61 8 8201 3456

Dr. Deborah Agnew: is a lecturer in the School of Education at Flinders University in South Australia. Her research interests include Australian football, masculinity, sports retirement and men’s health. She is a member of the Flinders SHAPE (Sport, Health and Physical Education) Research Centre and teaches in the Bachelor of Sport, Health and Physical Activity.

Ms. Philippa Henderson: has a Masters degree in public health and teaches across a wide variety of health topics in the School of Education and the School of Health Sciences at Flinders University in South Australia. Her research interests include sport, physical activity and well-being as well as the health and well-being of children.

Dr. Carl Woods: is a lecturer of Skill Acquisition and Motor Learning in the Discipline of Sport and Exercise Science at James Cook University. His research primarily focuses on talent identification, talent development and coaching in junior team sports; with a particular interest in Australian football. He currently provides research support to Australian football State Academy programs; with this being oriented around different aspects of performance analysis, skill acquisition and coach education.
 
Ethics, integrity and well-being in elite sport: A systematic review
 
ABSTRACT
Background: Athletes are expected to be good role models, compete fairly and allow the public insight into their personal lives away from sport.
Objective: The purpose of this paper was to conduct a systematic review on integrity, ethics and well-being in elite level sport.
Methods: A systematic search of SPORTDiscus, ScienceDirect, Taylor & Francis and Informit was conducted. The selection criteria were; published between 2006-2016, full-text availability, peer reviewed and English language. Twenty-three articles met the criteria for inclusion in this review and were analysed through an inductive thematic synthesis approach.
Results: Three themes emerged through the inductive thematic synthesis approach; sportspersonship and ethics, scandal and well-being. The concept of sportspersonship extends beyond the rules of sport and is strongly linked to the character of athletes. Sports environments are a key factor in the well-being of athletes and contribute to the expectations placed on athletes, particularly with regard to winning.
Conclusions: Ethics, integrity, sportspersonship and well-being are interrelated concepts in elite sport. Expectations placed on athletes may be unrealistic and may have negative consequences on well-being. It is important to understand the factors contributing to athlete well-being in order to develop strategies to minimize the adversities faced by athletes.

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