writing assignment

MSA 670

Capstone Seminar in Sports

Administration

Belhaven University

Unit 5

Research Design in Sport Management Part III

1

 Unit 5 focuses on historical research; specifically,

what is involved in researching, analyzing,

interpreting, and writing about sports management

topics.

 Issues addressed in Unit 5 include the importance

and relevance of historical research, the tools and

materials needed to conduct such research, topic

selection, and the process of distinguishing and

analyzing primary/secondary source material.

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Introduction

Introduction, cont.

 Unit 5 will also illustrate how legal research is

utilized to investigate phenomena, policies, and

practices in the sport industry.

 Specific areas examined in this unit include:

 Sources

 Design Strategies

 Writing Techniques

 Academic Perspectives

 Practical Applications

 Historical Writing

 Qualities of Legal Research

 Legal Research Techniques

 Sources of Legal Information

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Unit Topics

 Describe how sport management practitioners can

apply

 Discuss the essential tools and materials needed to

commence a historical research project

 Understand the importance and consideration of

topic selection

 Identify research topics in sport management that

can be studied using legal research methods

 Design a research project using legal research

methods

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Unit Objectives

Historical Research

 The purpose of historical research, according to

McDowell (2002), “is to make sense of a series of

events in a specified timeframe, establish their

authenticity, understand the connection between them,

and interpret their wider significance.”

 Seeks to help you to plan, organize, and complete your

sport management history essay, research paper, or

project.

Historical Research, cont.

 Addresses issues including the importance and

relevance of historical research in sport management,

the tools and materials needed to conduct such

research, topic selection, and distinguishing and

analyzing primary and secondary course materials.

 Types and Process of Historical Research in Sport

Management:

 Topic Selection

 Source Material

 Data Analysis

 Writing

 Sport management is often an applied discipline in

academia with a general tendency to push research

inquiries in that direction.

 Sports management research often involves basic or pure

research (i.e., establishing facts).

 Sports managers and sport management students should

know about and be able to interpret historical developments

in their field or even conduct their own historical research.

 Historical knowledge and research skills are key

components of a well-rounded sport management

education.

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Historical Research: Academic

Perspective

Historical Research Perspectives

 Those who research, study, and read about historical aspects of

sport management generally possess or develop certain

qualities.

 Researchers tend to have a sense of curiosity, inquiry, and

adventure.

 Researchers want to find answers to the who, what, when,

where, how, and why questions related to their subject.

 Typical materials used in historical research range from the

basics.

 (i.e., writing utensils, paper, highlighters, binders, dividers, note

cards, organizers) to the more involved (i.e., photocopier, microfilm

or microfiche reader, scanner, audio recorder, transcription

machine).

 In today’s current cyber age, another important

research tool is a computer with Internet access.

 Sport management historians can use computers to

take and organize research notes, communicate via

email with other historians and scholars, categorize

files, store and retrieve text and data, run statistical

programs (e.g., SPSS) to analyze economic, census

and social data, examine spreadsheets (e.g., Excel),

run research software and find information on stored

CD-ROM, compile bibliographies, display graphics

and present historical data, and locate sources.

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Historical Research Perspectives, cont.

Historical Research: Topic Selection

 In developing a sport management history paper, the

topic should be as follows:

 Intriguing

 Feasible

 Well-defined

 Contributes to the body of knowledge in the field

 Manageable

 A topic that you can research

 If you are able to do these, then you limit your chances

of having to refine the topic.

 The issue of refining a topic generally comes into play when the

researcher selects a topic that is too broad.

Historical Research: Source Material

 The most common type of source evidence used in

sport management history is written communication

and is the type of source most often relied upon by

sport management historians.

 Once you discover a topic, use a variety of sources in

your examination of the topic.

 Your various sources of evidence can be grouped into

two major categories:

 primary

 secondary

Primary Sources

 Raw materials (i.e., relics, remains, eyewitness

testimony, speeches) that often contain the answers

to questions such as what occurred, how and why it

happened, what the context was, what caused it to

happen, and who the principal players were.

 Some examples include:

 Unpublished Manuscripts

 Published Sources

 Oral Evidence

Secondary Sources

 Are historical works written after the fact by scholars and

journalists.

 Most often, they are written documents that historians

produce based on their examination of primary sources.

 Some examples include:

 Books

 Scholarly Articles

 Book Reviews

 Theses and Dissertations

 Conference Papers

Historical Research: Data Analysis

 The pursuit of objectivity should be at the forefront of any sport

management historical inquiry.

 Researchers in sport management should assemble, examine,

and compare as many sources as possible.

 When analyzing data, there are many considerations:

1. The publication’s credibility, accuracy, and origin.

2. The source’s authorship status and genuineness.

3. The motives and truthfulness of the author or interviewee.

4. The personal or public nature of the document.

5. The amount of time between the event and the writing or

recollection of it.

6. The author’s involvement in or proximity to the historical

event.

Historical Research: Writing

 In addition to research skills and investigative acumen,

researchers need to develop strong writing skills in order

to publish and present work effectively.

 Historical sport management studies and findings are

usually disseminated in the form of books, articles, or

conference presentations.

 The two most major categories are the historiographic

essay and the research paper.

 Historiographic Essays

 Research Papers

Historiographic Essays

 Provides the foundation for a research paper by

examining secondary sources (what others have

written about the subject) and preparing the

historian to examine the primary sources.

 Researchers can direct historical inquiry and

develop research questions effectively only when

they know what has already been analyzed and

interpreted and what methodology and sources

have been used.

Research Papers

 Uses both the primary and secondary source

evidence, and involves the application of historical

methodology.

 The quality of your research paper will be determined by

the type, amount, and reliability of the primary source

material you are able to find and examine.

 Understanding the research paper process is valuable as

is noted in Chapter 12 of your textbook. A thorough

review of this section through reading, rereading, and

highlighting is important as it relates to your overall

success in this MSA 670 Course.

Legal Research

 Can take the form of action research with the goal of

problem solving or improving industry practices.

 Legal researchers draw conclusions based on a

statement of the law and extrapolates how a particular

set of facts fits within the confines of existing law.

 Qualitative researchers draw conclusions based on

observed behavior or events.

 Quantitative researchers identify variables and measure

relationships that provide predictive or casual

explanation for a theory or problem.

 These methods alone rarely produce meaningful

understanding of legal issues or outcomes.

Nature of the Law and Legal Research

 Fundamental precepts of the law are based on

predictability and consistency in the law, yet the law

is by nature organic, which means that it is a

derivative and in some sense alive.

 The organic nature of the law shows researchers

that the law can and frequently does change, either

slowly, based on changing economic, cultural,

political, and societal influences, or suddenly, due to

legislative intervention.

Legal Research Techniques

 Two techniques are necessary when presenting

arguments and interpretation of legal authority.

 The first technique is the analogy. Researchers must be able to

analogize how a given case relates to the current issue or

problem.

 The second technique is to distinguish one case from another by

distinguishing precedent.

Sources of Legal Research  Primary Legal Sources- include constitutions, statutes, rules and

regulations, and court decisions.

 Some examples include:

 Case Law

 Constitutions and Statutes

 Regulations

 Legislative History

 Secondary Legal Sources- are the backbone of legal research for

sport managers because they give the researcher a more in-depth

understanding of the legal issues being analyzed.

 Some examples include:

 Legal and Lawyer Dictionaries

 Annotated Law Reports

Design & Implementation in Legal

Research

 The following three phases represent a good approach to designing and conducting legal research in sport management:

1. Identifying the Research Question

1. Identifying Current Issues or Developments

2. Identifying the Legal Issues

3. Writing the Research Question

2. Organizing the Research Plan through the IRAC Method

1. Issue

2. Rule

3. Analysis

4. Conclusion

Design & Implementation in Legal

Research, cont.

3. Writing the paper

 Common Legal Manuscripts and Papers

 Writing the Thesis

 Writing a Legal Dissertation

 Writing Scholarly Publications for Faculty and Practitioners

 Complete reading assignments

 Complete writing assignments

 Answer discussion questions

 Complete unit quiz

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What’s next?

Andrew, D., Pedersen, P., & McEvoy, C. (2011). Research methods

and design in sport management (11th ed.). Champaign, IL:

Human Kinetics.

Mckelvey, S., & Grady, J. (2008). Sponsorship program protection

strategies for special sport events: Are event organizers

outmaneuvering ambush marketers? Journal of Sports

Management, 22, 550-586. Retrieved from

http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/067

/225_McKelvey_Sponsorship_pr1.pdf

Washington, M., & Ventresca, M. (2008). Institutional contradictions

and struggles in the formation of U.S. collegiate basketball,

1880-1938. Journal of Sports Management, 22, 30-49.

Retrieved from

http://www.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/067

/221_Washington_Institutiona.pdf

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References