Sports Studies and Sports Psychology – Page 56

A Review of Service Quality in Corporate and Recreational Sport/Fitness Programs

Submitted by: Chia-Ming Chang, Chin-Tsu Chen and Chin-Hsien Hsu, Tajen Institute of Technology, Taiwan, Republic of China

Abstract

This article is a review of the literature related to the study of service quality in corporate and recreational sport and fitness programs. It considers earlier discussions of conceptualization and operationalization aspects of consumers’ perceptions of service quality. It reviews several models used by researchers in the past, as well as more recent approaches to understanding the constructs of service and service quality and the various means used to measure them.

Quality of service has been studied within the discipline of business management for years, because the market is increasingly competitive and marketing management has transferred its focus from internal performance (such as production) to external interests like customer satisfaction and customers’ perceptions of service quality (Gronroos, 1992). However, the concept of service quality has only recently—over the last two decades—gained attention from sport and recreation providers and those who study them (Yong, 2000). The service-quality framework known as SERVQUAL comprises a traditional disconfirmatory model and was the first measurement tool to operationalize service quality. Although it made a contribution to the field of service quality and was very popular among service-quality researchers in many areas, SERVQUAL proved insufficient due to conceptual weaknesses in the disconfirmatory paradigm and to its empirical inappropriateness.

Later service-quality frameworks included a greater number of dimensions than SERVQUAL offered. Most recent models, such as Brady’s (1997) hierarchical multidimensional model, have synthesized prior approaches and suggest the complexity of service-quality perception as a construct. Because of this complexity, despite numerous efforts in both business management and the sport/fitness field, the study of service quality is still in a state of confusion. No consensus has been reached on its conceptualization or its operationalization of consumers’ perceptions of service quality.

Service and Service Quality

Service quality has long been studied by researchers in the field of business management. However, they have reached no consensus concerning how the service quality construct is best conceptualized or operationalized. In presenting the literature that reflects this lack of consensus, it is first necessary to focus on the definitions and characteristics of service and service quality. The concept of service comes from business literature. Many scholars have offered various definitions of service. For example, Ramaswamy (1996) described service as “the business transactions that take place between a donor (service provider) and receiver (customer) in order to produce an outcome that satisfies the customer”(p. 3). Zeithaml and Bitner (1996) defined service as “deeds, processes, and performances” (p. 5). According to Gronroos (1990),

A service is an activity or series of activities of more or less
intangible nature that normally, but not necessarily, take place in
interactions between the customer and service employees and /or
systems of the service provider, which are provided as solutions
to customer problems. (p. 27)

Some researchers have viewed service from within a system-thinking paradigm (Lakhe & Mohanty, 1995), defining service as

a production system where various inputs are processed, transformed
and value added to produce some outputs which have utility to the service
seekers, not merely in an economic sense but from supporting the life of the
human system in general, even maybe for the sake of pleasure. (p. 140)

Yong (2000) reviewed definitions of service and noted the following features of service that are important to an understanding of the concept. First, service is a performance. It happens through interaction between consumers and service providers (Deighton, 1992; Gronroos, 1990; Ramaswamy, 1996; Sasser, Olsen, & Wyckoff, 1978; Zeithaml & Bitner, 1996). Second, factors such as physical resources and environments play an important mediating role in the process of service production and consumption (American Marketing Association, 1960; Collier, 1994; Gronnroos, 1990). Third, service is a requirement in terms of providing certain functions to consumers, for example problem solving (Gronroos, 1990; Ramaswamy, 1996). From these points Yong (2000) concluded that “a service, combined with goods products, is experienced and evaluated by customers who have particular goals and motivations for consumers for consuming the service.” (p. 43)

Among researchers generally, there is no consensus about the characteristics of service. According to Yong (2000), their various conceptualizations fall into two groups. First, there are those researchers who view the concept from the perspective of service itself. They pay attention to the discrepancy between marketing strategies for service and goods, in an approach that differentiates service (intangibles) from goods (tangibles). The suggestion is that distinct marketing strategies are appropriate for the two concepts. Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry (1985) as well as Zeithaml and Bitner (1996) identified the following features of service that distinguish it from goods: Service is intangible, heterogeneous, simultaneous, simultaneous in production and consumption, and perishable.

Pointing out the unique features of service advances understanding of the concept, but it has drawn criticism, for example because the identified features are not universal across service sectors. As Wright (1995) noted, first, a service industry depends more on tangible equipment to satisfy customers’ demands, while some customers do not care whether or not goods are tangible. Second, some service businesses are well standardized; an example is franchise industries (Wright, 1995). In addition, some customers value equality and fairness in the service provided. Third, many services are not simultaneously produced and consumed (Wright, 1995). Fourth, highly technological and equipment-based services could be standardized. Critics other than Wright (Wyckham, Fitzroy, & Mandry, 1975) have argued that the four-point approach to service ignores the role of customers.

The second group of researchers conceptualizing service comprises those who view service from the perspective of service customers. These researchers focus on the utility and total value that a service provides for a consumer. This approach points out that service combines tangible and intangible aspects in order to satisfy customers during business transactions (Gronroos. 1990; Ramaswamy, 1996). The approach implies that because consumers evaluate service quality in terms of their own experiences, customers’ subjective perceptions have great impact upon service businesses’ success or failure (Shostack, 1997).

Conceptualization and Operationalization of Service Quality

Although researchers have studied the concept of service for several decades, there is no consensus on how to conceptualize service quality (Cronin & Taylor, 1992; Rust & Oliver, 1994), in part because different researchers have focused on different aspects of service quality. Reeves and Bednar (1994) noted that “there is no universal, parsimonious, or all-encompassing definition or model of quality” (p. 436). The most common definition of service quality, nevertheless, is the traditional notion, in which quality is viewed as the customer’s perception of service excellence. That is to say, quality is defined by the customer’s impression of the service provided (Berry, Parasuraman, & Zeithaml, 1988; Parasuraman, Zeithaml, & Berry, 1985). This definition assumes that customers form a perception of service quality according to the service performance they experience and in light of prior experiences of service performance. It is therefore the customer’s perception that categorizes service quality. Many researchers accept this approach. For example, Bitner and Hubbert (1994) defined quality as “the consumer’s overall impression of the relative inferiority/superiority of the organization and its services” (p. 77). But their definition of service quality differs from that of the traditional approach, which locates service quality perception within the contrast between consumer expectation and actual service performance (Gronroos, 1984; Lewis & Booms, 1983; Parasuraman, Zeithaml, & Berry, 1985; Parasuraman, Zeithaml, & Berry, 1990).

Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry (1985) viewed quality as “the degree and direction of discrepancy between customers’ service perception and expectations.” According to this approach, services are different from goods because they are intangible and heterogeneous and are simultaneously produced and consumed. Additionally, according to the disconfirmation paradigm, service quality is a comparison between consumers’ expectations and their perceptions of service actually received. Based on the traditional definition of service quality, Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry (1985) developed their gap model of perceived service quality. The model incorporates five gaps: (a) the gap between management’s perceptions of consumer expectations and expected service, (b) the gap between management’s perceptions of consumers’ expectations and the translation of those perceptions into service-quality specification, (c) the gap between translation of perceptions of service-quality specification and service delivery, (d) the gap between service delivery and external communications to consumers, and (e) the gap between the level of service consumers expect and actual service performance. This disconfirmation paradigm conceptualizes the perception of service quality as a difference between expected level of service and actual service performance. The developers of the gap model proposed 10 second-order dimensions consumers in a broad variety of service sectors use to assess service quality. The 10 are tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, competence, courtesy, credibility, security, access, communication, and understanding (Parasuraman et al., 1985).

Using these 10 dimensions, Parasuraman et al. (1988) made the first effort to operationalize the concept of service quality. They developed an instrument to assess service quality that empirically relied on the difference in scores between expectations and perceived performance. Their instrument consisted of 22 items, divided along the 10 second-order dimensions, with a seven-point answer scale accompanying each statement to test the strength of relations. The 22 items were used to represent 5 dimensions, ultimately: reliability, responsiveness, tangibles, assurance, and empathy. Yong (2000) described the five as follows:

Reliability refers to the ability to perform the promised service
dependently and accurately. Responsiveness reflects the willingness
to help a customer and provide prompt service. Tangible refers
to the appearance of the physical facilities, equipment, personnel and
communication material. Empathy refers to caring, individualized
attention the firm provides its customer. (p. 66)

In their seminal study, Parasuraman and colleagues used SERVQUAL to measure service quality as the gap between expectation and perception in several venues: an appliance repair and maintenance firm, retail banks, a long-distance telephone provider, a securities broker, and credit card companies (Parasuraman et al., 1985). The study provided a comprehensive conceptualization of service quality, and it marked the first time, in service-quality research, that an instrument for measuring perceived service quality was used. It became very well known among service-quality researchers.

However, numerous researchers challenged the usefulness of the SERVQUAL scale as a measure of service quality (e.g., Babakus & Boller, 1992; Brown, Churchill, & Peter, 1993; Carmen, 1990; Cronin & Taylor, 1992; Dabholkar, Thorpe, & Rentz, 1996). Carmen (1990) selected four service settings that were quite different from those in the original test and found that in some situations, SERVQUAL must be customized (items added or edited), despite its introduction as a generic instrument measuring service quality in any sector. In addition, Carmen suggested that SERVQUAL’s five dimensions are insufficient to meet service-quality measurement needs, and that measurement of expectation using SERVQUAL is problematic.
Finn and Lamb (1991) argued that “the SERVQUAL measurement model is not appropriate in a retail setting” (p. 487). Furthermore, they argued, “retailers and consumer researchers should not treat SERVQUAL as an ‘off the shelf’ measure of perceived quality. Much refinement is needed for specific companies and industries” (p. 489). According to Brown, Churchill, & Peter (1993) SERVQUAL’s use of difference between scores causes a number of problems in such areas as reliability, discriminate validity, spurious correlations, and variance restriction. Finally, Cronin and Taylor (1992) argued that the disconfirmation paradigm applied by SERVQUAL was inappropriate for measuring perceived service quality. The paradigm measures customer satisfaction, not service quality, and Cronin and Taylor’s study employing solely the performance scale SERVPERF showed SERVPERF to outperform SERVQUAL.

SERVQUAL’s shortcomings result from the weakness of the traditional disconfirmatory definition of service quality which it incorporates. Yong (2000) notes several problems in this traditional definition of service quality. First, customers’ needs are not always easy to identify, and incorrectly identified needs result in measuring conformance to a specification that is improper. Schneider and Bowen (1995) pointed out that

[C]ustomers bring a complex and multidimensional set of expectations to the service encounter. Customers come with expectations for more than a smile and handshake. Their expectations include conformance to at least ten service quality attributes (i.e., Parasuraman et al.’s 10 dimensions—reliability, responsiveness, competence, access, courtesy, communication, credibility, security, understanding, and tangible).” (p. 29)

Second, the traditional definition fails to provide a way to measure customers’ expectations, and expectations determine the level of service quality. Because customer expectations may fluctuate greatly over time (Reeves & Bednar, 1994), a definition of quality based on expectation cannot be parsimonious. It is invalid, empirically speaking, to use the disparity of scores for expectation and scores for perceived service quality to measure service quality.

Oliver (1997) is another researcher who pointed out the traditional model’s difficulty distinguishing service quality from satisfaction. While perception of quality may come from external mediation rather than experience of service, consumers must experience satisfaction in person. In addition, judgments and standards of quality are based on ideals or perceptions of excellence, while judgments concerning satisfaction involve predictive expectations, needs, product category norms, and even expectations of service quality. Moreover, while judgments concerning quality are mainly cognitive, satisfaction is an affective experience (Bitner & Hubbert, 1994; Oliver, 1994). Service quality is influenced by a very few variables (e.g, external cues like price, reputation, and various communication sources); satisfaction, in contrast, is vulnerable to cognitive and affective processes (e.g., equity, attribution, and emotion). Quality is primarily long-term, while satisfaction is primarily short-term.

Discussing various analyses in terms of their definitions of service quality, Yong (2000) pointed out that service quality should not be defined using a disconfirmation paradigm (i.e., by comparing expectation and perceived quality). Indeed, since service quality may not necessarily involve customer experience and consumption, the disconfirmation paradigm does not clarify service quality (Yong, 2000). Furthermore, it is easier to measure service quality if judgment occurs primarily at the attribute-based cognitive level. Yong (2000) stated as well that customer perception of quality to date has been the main focus of service-quality research; consumers’ overall impressions determine service quality. Yong (2000) argues that what constitutes service changes from one service sector to another, so each sector’s consumers may perceive service quality differently, and that service quality is multidimensional or multifaceted. Finally, according to Yong (2000), service quality must be clearly differentiated from customer satisfaction.

Several researchers have approached service quality from perspectives quite different from that of Parasuraman et al. (1988). On the one hand, some scholars argue for multidimensional models of service quality. At first, Gronroos (1984) used a two-dimensional model to study service quality. Its first dimension was technical quality, meaning the outcome of service performance. Its second dimension was functional quality, meaning subjective perceptions of how service is delivered. Functional quality reflects consumers’ perceptions of their interactions with service providers. Gronroos’s model compares the two dimensions of service performance to customer expectation, and eventually each customer has an individual perception of service quality. McDougall and Levesque (1994) later added to Gronroos’s model a third dimension, physical environment, proposing their three-factor model of service quality. This later model consists of service outcome, service process (Gronroos, 1984), and physical environment. McDougall and Levesque (1994) tested the model with confirmatory factor analysis, using the dimensions of the SERVQUAL scale (which provided empirical support for the three-factor model). The three components from the above models, together with Rust and Oliver’s (1994) service product, represent one important aspect of services. All of them contribute to consumers’ perception of service quality (Yong, 2000).

On the other hand, Dabholkar, Thorpe, and Tentz (1996) proposed a hierarchical model of service quality that describes service quality as a level, multidimensional construct. That construct includes (a) overall consumer perception of service quality; (b) a dimension level that consists of physical aspects, reliability, personal interaction, problem solving, and policy; and (c) a subdimension level that recognizes the multifaceted nature of the service-quality dimensions. Dabholkar and colleagues found that quality of service is directly influenced by perceptions of performance levels. In addition, customers’ personal characteristics are important in assessing value, but not in assessing quality.

The two lines of thought on the modeling of service quality were combined by Brady (1997). He developed a hierarchical and multidimensional model of perceived service quality by combining Dabholkar, Thorpe, and Tentz’s (1996) hierarchical model and McDougall and Levesque’s (1994) three-factor model (Brady, 1997). Brady’s model incorporates three dimensions, interaction quality, outcome quality, and physical environment quality. Each dimension consists of three subdimensions. The interaction quality dimension comprises attitude, behavior, and expertise subdimensions. The outcome quality dimension comprises waiting time, tangibles, and valence. Finally, the physical environment quality dimension comprises ambient conditions, design, and social factors. Brady’s hierarchical and multidimensional approach is believed to explain the complexity of human perceptions better than earlier conceptualizations in the literature did (Dabholkar, Thorpe, & Rentz, 1996; Brady, 1997). Furthermore, empirical testing of Brady’s model shows the model to be psychometrically sound.

In a study of service quality in recreational sport, Yong (2000) further developed Brady’s (1997) model, proposing that perception of service quality occurs in four dimensions. The first is program quality: the range of activity programs, operating time, and secondary services. The second is interaction quality, or outcome quality. The third is environment quality. Yong tested his model with a two-step approach of structural equation modeling, and he supported multidimensional conceptualization of service-quality perception.

Conclusion

Perception of service quality is quite a controversial topic; to date no consensus has been reached on how to conceptualize or operationalize this construct. In its summarization of the existing literature about service quality, this article explored the concepts of service, service quality, consumer perception of service quality, and the conceptualization and operationalization of the service-quality concept. It covered several models of service quality, the earliest one of which was SERVQUAL. An application of the traditional disconfirmatory model, SERVQUAL represents the first effort to operationalize service quality. Although it made a great contribution to the field and was very popular among service-quality researchers in many areas, SERVQUAL is now thought to be insufficient because of conceptual weaknesses inherent in the disconfirmatory paradigm and also because of its empirical inappropriateness. Service-quality researchers working after SERVQUAL’s introduction proposed models containing additional dimensions. Brady developed a hierarchical and multidimensional model of perceived service quality by combining the ideas of earlier researchers. The relatively recent approaches like Brady’s (1997) utilize ideas seen in earlier models, yet more fully represent the complexity of the concept of service-quality perception.

References

American Marketing Association (1960). Dynamic Marketing for a Changing World. Chicago, IL: AMA.

Babakus, E., & Boller, G. W. (1992). An empirical assessment of the SERVQUAL scale. Journal of Business Reaearch, 24, 253-268.

Berry, L. L., Parasuraman, A., & Zeithaml, V. A. (1988). The service-quality puzzle. Business Horizon, 31(5), 35-43.

Bitner, M. J., & Hubbert, A. R. (1994). Encounter Satisfaction versus Overall Satisfaction versus Quality: The Customer’s Voice. In Rust, R.T., & Oliver, R.L. (Eds.). Service Quality: New Directions in Theory and Practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 72-94.

Brady, M. K. (1997). Re-Conceptualizing Perceived Service Quality: Hierarchical Model. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, The Florida State University.

Brown, T. J., Churchill, G. A. & Peter, J. P. (1993). Improving the measurement of service quality. Journal of Retailing, 69(1), 127-139.

Carmen, J. M. (1990). Consumer perceptions of service quality: An assessment of the SERVQUAL dimensions. Journal of Retailing, 66(1), 33-55.

Collier. D. A. (1994). The Service /Quality Solution: Using Service Management to Gain Competitive Advantage. Milwaukee, WI: ASQC Quality Press.

Cronin, J. J., & Taylor, S. A. (1992). Measuring service quality: A reexamination and extension. Journal of Marketing, 56(July). 55-68.

Dabholkar, P., Thorpe, D. I., & Rentz, J. Q. (1996). A measure of service quality for retail stores. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. 24(Winter). 3-16.

Deighton, J. (1992). The consumption of performance. Journal of Consumer Research, 19(December), 362-372.

Gronroos, C. (1984). A service quality model and its marketing implications. European Journal of Marketing, 18, 36-44.

Gronroos, C. (1990). Service Management and Marketing: Managing the Moment of Truth in Service Competition. Lexington, MASS: Lexington Books.

Gronroos, C. (1992). Service Management: A Management Focus for Service Competition. IN Lovelock, C.H. Managing Services: Marketing, Operations, and Human Resources (Eds.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 9-16.

Lakhe, R. R., & Mohanty, R. P. (1995). Understanding TQM in service system. International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management,12(9), 139-153.

Lewis. R. C., & Booms, B. H. (1983). The Marketing Aspects of Service Quality. In Berry, L., Shostack, G., & Upah, G. (Eds.). Emerging Perspectives on Service Marketing. Chicago, IL: American Marketing, 99-107.

McDougall, G. H. G., & Levesque, T. J. (1994). A revised view of service quality dimensions: An empirical investigation. Journal of Professional Service Marketing, 11(1), 189-209.

Oliver, R. L. (1994). Conceptual Issues in the Structural Analysis of Consumption Emotion. Satisfaction, and Quality: Evidence in a Service Setting. In Allen, C.T., & John, D.R. (Eds.). Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 21. Association for Consumer Research. Provo. UT, 16-22.

Oliver, R. L. (1997). Satisfaction: A Behavioral Perspective on the Consumer. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V. A., & Berry, L. L. (1985). A conceptual model of service quality and its implications for future research, Journal of Marketing, 49(Fall), 41-50.

Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V. A., & Berry, L. L. (1990). Moving Forward in Service Quality Research: Measuring Different Customer Expectation Levels, Comparing Alternative Scales, and Examining the Performance-Behavioral Intentions Link. MSI Report # 94-114.

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U.S. Sports Academy2015-10-24T01:32:33-05:00February 15th, 2008|Sports Facilities, Sports Studies and Sports Psychology|Comments Off

The Exploration of the Effect of Taekwondo Training on Personality Traits

Submitted by: Dr. Richard C. Bell, United States Sports Academy and Chia-Ming Chang, Tajen Institute of Technology, Taiwan, Republic of China

Abstract

In
this paper, the authors analyze the effects of Taekwondo training
on personality. The authors found that Taekwondo participants
realize, that in addition to the physical training, Taekwondo
emphasizes concentration, self-control and self-discipline.
Other researchers suggest that Taekwondo training has many
psychological benefits, such as enhanced self-esteem, self-concept,
reduced aggressiveness, decreased anxiety, increase in personal
independence, and ability to take a leadership role. Taekwondo
training might be used as a therapeutic program.

Introduction

Although
the relationship between certain aspects of self-concept and
performance in activities such as aerobic dance, soccer, volleyball,
and handball has been reported (Plummer & Koh, 1987; Harter,
1978; Olszewskal, 1982; Scanlan & Passer, 1979), little
evidence exists regarding the psychological value of the martial
arts. Miller (1989) states that self-concept may be enhanced
through the acquisition or mastery of a new skill. Novices
are most likely to gain self-concept through participation
in physical activities. Finkenberg (1990) studied the effect
of participation in Taekwondo on college women’s self-concept
and found significant differences on total self-concept and
on subscale scores in physical, personal, social identity,
and satisfaction. Therefore, the authors believe that the
Taekwondo training is of great psychological value to participants.

The
Background of Taekwondo

Taekwondo
has been under constant evolution for over several thousand
years. However, it was not until the 1950s that Taekwondo
was standardized and organized by Gen Choi Hong Hi and the
sport was brought outside the Korean borders, at first to
Vietnam and the US, and later to the rest of the world. Today,
Taekwondo is organized in three international federations:
the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF), with headquarters in
Seoul, Korea; the International Taekwondo Federation (ITF),
with headquarters in Austria; and the Global Taekwondo Federation
(GTF) with headquarters in Korea. Taekwondo has recently been
declared an official Olympic sport with the first competitions
held during the Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, in 2000
(Lucas, 1992).

According
to Skelton (1991), one may benefit from the study of Taekwondo
regardless of age, size, or athletic ability. Taekwondo training
can increase strength and muscle tone, reduce body fat, improve
cardiovascular conditioning and endurance, improve balance
and coordination, reduce stress, improve concentration and
focus, improve performance in one’s job, school, or sports,
provide a structured program of advancement with achievable
goals, and improve self discipline and self confidence.

Effects
of Taekwondo Training on Personality

Finkenberg
(1990) studied the effects of participation in Taekwondo on
college women’s self-concept. The experimental group contained
51 women enrolled in Taekwondo classes, and the control group
contained 49 women enrolled in 4 sections of general health
courses. Pretests and posttests were administered in the first
week of a semester and the last week of the semester. The
Tennessee Self-Concept Scale (Roid and Fitts, 1989) measuring
self-concept was used as the instrument in this study. The
questionnaire was used to assess perceptions of physical self,
moral-ethical self, personal self, family self, social self,
identity, self-satisfaction, and behavior. Roid and Fitts
(1989) support the test’s reliability and validity. An analysis
of Covariance was used to control statistically for initial
differences in self-concept among subjects with the pretest
scores as the covariant. The results indicated that significant
differences were found on total self-concept and on sub-scale
scores in physical, personal, social, identity, and satisfaction.
Insignificant differences were found on moral-ethical, family,
behavior and self-criticism scales. The authors concluded
that the total self-concept and certain sub-scales were influenced
by participation in an 8-weeks course in Taekwondo. This study
supports the findings of Duthie, et al. (1978) who showed
that students of martial arts were more self-confident than
those without training. It also supports the conclusion that
“it could be assumed that one or two months of karate
training is sufficient to improve the typical student’s level
of general self-esteem” (Richman & Rehberg, 1986).

In
a study addressing aggressive behavior as a function of Taekwondo
ranking, Skelton, et al. (1991) investigated the relationship
between aggressive behavior and advancement through the belt
ranks among children in the American Taekwondo Association
(ATA). The sample consisted of 68 children, from the ages
6 to 11 years old, who were enrolled in 10 ATA schools located
in Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, and Illinois. The parents of the
students answered the survey form. One-way Analysis of Variance
indicated a significant inverse relationship between the children’s
belt rank and their aggression. A trend analysis was performed
to help clarify the nature of the relationship between the
two variables (belt rank and aggressive score). Results suggested
that there was a significant trend towards reduced aggression
with advanced ATA group rank. The authors suggested that further
research should include longitudinal reassessments of aggression
of the children beginning at the lower ranks and continuing
as they progress through the higher Taekwondo ranks to confirm
the conclusion.

Kurian
et al. (1994) studied the relationship between personality
factors and ATA Taekwondo training in a sample of younger
students. The subjects were 72 boys attending two ATA schools
in the southwestern United States. Subjects completed the
1973 Form A of the Children’s Personality Questionnaire following
a regular training session. The questionnaire contains 14
bipolar primary factors. Correlation analysis for the test
factors with age, training time, and belt rank of the sample
was conducted. Factor A (reserved versus outgoing) correlated
significantly with age. Training time was significantly related
to Factor N (naive versus socially perceptive), suggesting
that longer times in Taekwondo training are associated with
more socially perceptive behavior. Belt rank was significantly
correlated with Factors D (+), F (+), I (-), and N (+). These
correlations indicate that attainment of higher belt rank
is associated with scores indicating more demanding, enthusiastic
and optimistic, self-reliant, and socially perceptive personality
traits. The author concluded, ” These results suggest
that ATA belt rank is associated with a pattern of enthusiastic
optimism and self-reliance. This personality pattern is socially
positive and suggests that Taekwondo training may be beneficial
for younger male students”.

In
a study on personality characteristics and duration of ATA
Taekwondo training, Kurian et al. (1993) compared personality
characteristics of two groups having participated in Taekwondo
for different lengths of time. The subjects were 30 adults
attending two American Taekwondo Association schools in the
southwestern United States. They averaged 2.6 years of Taekwondo
training (range of 17 to 44 years old). Form C of the 16 Personality
Factor Questionnaire (Cattell, 1980) containing 105 items
distributed across 16 bipolar primary factor scales was used
as the instrument. The groups with shorter time (less than
1.4 years) and longer time (more than 1.5 years) in Taekwondo
training were compared using a t-Test for the mean scores
of Anxiety, Independence and Leadership. The results indicated
that the length of Taekwondo participation was associated
with lower scores on Anxiety and with higher scores on Independence.
The authors suggested that lower scores on Anxiety and higher
scores on Independence often accompany improved mental health,
suggesting that participation in Taekwondo training may be
useful as part of therapeutic programs.

Summary

This
study was expected to contribute to an understanding of the
psychological value of Taekwondo. The study was also expected
to provide more insight into the beneficial effects of Taekwondo
training for both physical educators and Taekwondo trainees.
Research suggests that Taekwondo training may have many psychological
benefits, such as enhanced self-esteem, self-concept (Columbus
& Rice, 1991, cited from Kurian et al., 1993 ; Finkenberg,
1990), and reducing aggressiveness (Skelton, 1991). In the
study of Kurian et al. (1993), it was indicated that Taekwondo
training could decrease scores on anxiety and increase scores
on personal independence and ability to take a leadership
role. Furthermore, Kurian et al. (1993) concluded that participation
of Taekwondo training might be used as a therapeutic program.
Finkenberg (1990) found that Taekwondo training was helpful
for college women to build self-concept.

REFERENCES

Cattell, R. B., Eber, H. W., & Tatsuoka, M. M. (1980).
Handbook for the 16 PF. Champaign, IL: Institute for
Personality and Ability Testing.

Duthie,
R. B., Hope, L. & Berker D. G. (1978). Selected personality
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Finkenberg,
M. E. (1990). Effect of participation in Taekwondo on college
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Kurian
M., Caterino L., C., & Kulhavy R. W. (1993). Personality
characteristics and duration of ATA Taekwondo training. Perceptual
and Motor Skills, 76, 363-366.

Kurian,
M., Verdi, M. P., Caterino, L. C., & Kulhavy R. W. (1994).
Relating scales on the children personality questionnaire
to training time and belt rank in ATA Taekwondo. Perceptual
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J. (1992). Taekwondo, Pelote Basque/jai-alai, and roller hockey-three
unusual Olympic demonstration sports, The Journal of Physical
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R. (1989). Effects of sports instruction in children self-concept.
Perceptual and Motor Skills, 68, 239-242.

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G. (1982). The relation of self-image, self-estimation and
a tendency to dominate or submit to the effectiveness of team
players. International Journal of Sport Psychology,
13, 107-113.

Plummer,
V. K., & Koh, Y. O. (1987). Effect of erobics” on
self-concepts of college women. Perceptual and Motor Skills,
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C. L., & Rehberg, H. (1986). The development of self-esteem
through the martial arts. International Journal of Sport
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U.S. Sports Academy2013-11-26T21:30:54-06:00February 15th, 2008|Sports Exercise Science, Sports Studies and Sports Psychology|Comments Off

The Effect of Physical Exercise on Anxiety

Submitted by: Dr. Mevhibe Akandere and Ali Tekin

Abstract

In this study, the effects of physical exercise to eliminate the anxiety in university youth was investigated. The study covered 311 students who had never involved in physical exercise or any form of physical exercise. They were from 7 different departments of Education Faculty of Konya Selçuk University. State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) by Spielberger was applied to the students. The first 60 who had the highest anxiety scores were determined. Half of 60(30 student) participated in physical exercise while the other 30 were accepted as the control group. Pre, mid and post–test were administered to both the test and control group. Results were estimated by ANOVA. As a result ; the anxiety level of female students was found to be higher comparison to males’ depending upon the gender. In addition, the results also showed that participation physical exercise and physical activities decreased the anxiety level of both sexes. According to the age, a similar level of anxiety was seen at the beginning. It appeared that these activities had a reduction in anxiety levels of all age categories. The reduction mentioned above was found highest in 19–20 age group. According to fields, the physical exercise activities played a very important role in minimizing the anxiety. This effect was the most reliable on the students of music department. As a result, it has been concluded that physical exercise activities played a very notable role to eliminate anxiety of the university youth.

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U.S. Sports Academy2016-10-14T13:06:26-05:00February 14th, 2008|Sports Exercise Science, Sports Studies and Sports Psychology|Comments Off

Upon Further Review: An Examination of Sporting Event Economic Impact Studies

Submitted by: Victor A. Matheson

As pointed out by Soonhwan Lee (2001) in a recent issue of The Sport Journal, there exists a great deal of debate about the validity of economic impact studies of sporting events. Economists widely believe that studies sponsored by leagues and events exaggerate the economic impact that professional franchises and large sporting events make on local communities. Such overstatement results from several factors.

First, the studies often ignore the substitution effect. To the extent that attendees at a sporting event spend their money on that event instead of on other activities in the local economy, the sporting event simply results in reallocation of expenditures in the economy, rather than in real net increases in economic activity. Next, the studies usually ignore the crowd out effect. Many large sporting events are staged in communities that are already popular destinations for tourists. If hotels and restaurants in a host city normally tend to be at or near capacity during the period in which a competition takes place, that contest may simply supplant, not supplement, the regular tourist economy. Third, the studies may fail to address whether money spent at a sporting event stays within the local economy. Much of the money spent by out-of-town visitors pays for hotel rooms, rental cars, and restaurants. To the extent that hotels, car rental agencies, and restaurants are national chains, their profits associated with a sporting event do not further the welfare of the local citizens, but rather accrue to stockholders around the country. Similarly, revenue from ticket sales is often paid to a league or to a sport’s ruling body instead of local organizers. Fourth, sporting events’ non-economic costs—traffic congestion, vandalism, environmental degradation, disruption of residents’ lifestyle, and so on—are rarely reported (Lee, 2001). Finally, since economic impact studies are often used by sports boosters to justify public expenditures on sports infrastructure, the ultimate question for anyone reading such studies is whether analysis conducted by agents with a vested interest in the research outcome can ever be considered an objective examination of events’ true economic impacts.

Empirical Analyses of Economic Impact Statements

It is one thing to point out bias that could potentially be introduced in impact studies. It is another thing altogether to examine whether actual economic impact studies are, in practice, truly flawed. One tool that can be used to determine the accuracy of economic impact studies is ex post comparisons of predicted economic gains to actual economic performance of cities hosting sporting events. Empirical studies have been conducted on the observed economic impacts of large sporting events as well as on the construction of new sport facilities.

On the sport facility side, numerous researchers have examined the relationship between new facilities and economic growth in metropolitan areas (Baade & Dye, 1990; Rosentraub, 1994; Baade, 1996; Noll & Zimbalist, 1997; Coates & Humphreys, 1999). In every case, independent analysis of economic impacts made by newly built stadiums and arenas has uniformly found no statistically significant positive correlation between sport facility construction and economic development (Siegfried & Zimbalist, 2000). This stands in stark contrast to the claims of teams and leagues, who assert that the large economic benefits of professional franchises merit considerable public expenditures on stadiums and arenas.

On the events side, nearly every national or international sporting event elicits claims of huge benefits accruing to the host city. For example, the National Football League typically claims an economic impact from the Super Bowl of around $400 million (National Football League, 1999), Major League Baseball attaches a $75 million benefit to the All-Star Game (Selig et al., 1999), and the NCAA Final Four in Men’s Basketball is estimated to generate from $30 million to $110 million (Mensheha, 1998; Anderson, 2001). Multi-day events such as the Olympics or soccer World Cup produce even larger figures. The pre-Olympics estimates for Atlanta’s Games in 1996 suggested the event would generate $5.1 billion in direct and indirect economic activity and 77,000 new jobs in Georgia (Humphreys & Plummer, 1995).

In many cases, variation in the estimates of benefits alone raises questions about the validity of studies. A series of economic impact studies of the NBA All-Star game produced numbers ranging from a $3 million windfall for the 1992 game in Orlando to a $35 million bonanza for the game three years earlier in Houston (Houck, 2000). The ten-fold disparity in the estimated impact of the event in different years serves to illustrate the ad hoc nature of these studies. Similarly, ahead of the 1997 NCAA Women’s Basketball Final Four, an economic impact of $7 million was estimated for the local economy in Cincinnati, while the same event two years later was predicted to produce a $32 million impact on the San Jose economy (Knight Ridder News Service, 1999). Such increases cannot be explained by changes in general price levels or growth in the popularity of the tournament. Instead, they are explained by the fact that economic impact studies are highly subjective and vulnerable to significant error as well as manipulation.

In further cases, the size of an estimate can strain credulity. The Sports Management Research Institute estimated the direct economic benefit of the U. S. Open tennis tournament in Flushing Meadows, NY, to be $420 million for the tri-state area, more than any other sporting or entertainment event in any city in the United States; this sum represents 3% of the total annual direct economic impact of tourism for New York (United States Tennis Association, 2001). It is simply impossible to believe that 1 in 30 tourists to New York City in any given year are visiting the city solely to attend the U. S. Open. Similarly, the projected $6 billion impact of a proposed World Cup in South Africa in 2006 would suggest that soccer games and their ancillary activities would represent over 4% of the entire gross domestic product of the country in that year (South Africa Football Association, 2000).

As in the case of sports facilities, independent work on the economic impact of mega–sporting events has routinely found the effect of these events on host communities to be either insignificant or an order of magnitude less than the figures espoused by the sports promoters. In a study of six Super Bowls dating back to 1979, Porter (1999) found no increase in taxable sales in the host community compared to previous years without the game. Similarly, Baade and Matheson (2000) found that hosting the Super Bowl was associated with an increase in employment in host cities of 537 jobs, for a total impact of approximately $32 million, less than one-tenth the figure trumpeted by the NFL. In a study of 25 Major League Baseball all-star games held between 1973 and 1997, Baade and Matheson (2001) found that, in the case of three all-star games in California (1987, 1989, 1992), the events were correlated with worse-than-expected employment growth in host cities and were furthermore associated with an average reduction in taxable sales of nearly $30 million. Finally, Baade and Matheson’s examination (1999) of the Olympic Games held in Los Angeles in 1984 and Atlanta in 1996 found total observed increases in economic activity of $100 million and of $440 million to $1.7 billion, respectively. While the range of the economic impact for Atlanta exhibits a great deal of uncertainty, even the most favorable figure is only one-third of the amount claimed by the host committee.

Discussion and Recommendation

There are theoretical reasons to believe that economic impact studies of large sporting events may overstate those events’ true impact. In addition, evidence suggests that in practice the ex ante estimates of economic benefits far exceed the ex post observed economic development of communities that host mega–sporting events or stadium construction. The best recommendation is simply for cities to view with extreme caution any economic impact estimates provided by sports franchises, sponsoring leagues, or event-organizing committees.

References

Anderson, T. (2001, January 19). St. Louis ready to raise NCAA flag if Atlanta can’t. St. Louis Business Journal.

Baade, R. A. (1996). Professional sports as a catalyst for metropolitan economic development. Journal of Urban Affairs, 18(1), 1–17.

Baade, R. A., & Dye, R. (1990). The impact of stadiums and professional sports on metropolitan area development. Growth and Change, 21(2), 1–14.

Baade, R. A., & Matheson, V. A. (2000). An assessment of the economic impact of American football, Reflets et Perspectives, 34(2–3), 35–46.

Baade, R. A., & Matheson, V. A. (2001). Home run or wild pitch? Assessing the economic impact of Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game. Journal of Sports Economics, 2(4), 307–327.

Baade, R. A., & Matheson, V. A. (in press). Assessing the economic impact of the summer Olympic Games: The experience of Los Angeles and Atlanta. Proceedings of the 1999 International Conference on the Economic Impact of Sports, Athens, Greece.

Coates, D., & Humphreys, B. (1999). The growth effects of sports franchises, stadia, and arenas. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 14(4), 601–624.

Enquirer Sports Coverage. (1999, March 25). Final Four’s financial impact hard to gauge. Retrieved August 30, 2001, from http://www.enquirer.com/editions/1999/02/25/spt_final_fours.html.

Houck, J. (2000, January 21). High-stake courtship. FoxSportsBiz.com. Retrieved September 14, 2000, from http://www.foxsports.com/business/trends/z000120allstar1.sml.

Humphreys, J. M., & Plummer, M. K. (1995). The economic impact on the state of Georgia of hosting the 1996 summer Olympic Games (mimeograph). Athens, GA: University of Georgia, Selig Center for Economic Growth.

Lee, S. (2001). A review of economic impact study on sport events. The Sport Journal, 4(2).

Mensheha, M. (1998, March 27). Home-court edge: Final Four promises to be economic slam dunk. San Antonio Business Journal.

National Football League. (1999). Super Bowl XXXIII generates $396 million for South Florida [Report 58(7)].

Noll, R., & Zimbalist, A. (1997). Economic impact of sports teams and facilities. In Sports, Jobs and Taxes. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution.

Porter, P. (1999). Mega–sports events as municipal investments: A critique of impact analysis. In Fizel, J., Gustafson, E., & Hadley, L. (Eds.), Sports economics: Current research. Westport, CT: Praeger.

Rosentraub, M. (1994). Sport and downtown development strategy. Journal of Urban Affairs, 16(3), 228–239.

Seigfried, J., and Zimbalist, A. (2000). Economics of sports facilities and their communities. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 14(3), 95–114.

Selig, B., Harrington, J., & Healey, J. (1999, July 12). New ballpark press briefing. Retrieved August 29, 2000, from http://www.asapsports.com/baseball/1999allstar/071299BS.html.

South Africa Football Association. (2000). World Cup bid details. Retrieved January 9, 2002, from http://www.safa.ord.za/html/bid_det.htm.

United States Tennis Association. (2001). 2000 U.S. Open nets record $420 million in economic benefits for New York. Retrieved January 9, 2002, from http://www.usta.com/pagesup/news12494.html.

U.S. Sports Academy2016-10-12T11:40:57-05:00February 14th, 2008|Contemporary Sports Issues, Sports Facilities, Sports Management, Sports Studies and Sports Psychology|Comments Off

Effects Music Has on Lap Pace, Heart Rate and Perceived Exertion Rate During a 20-Minute Self-Paced Run

Submitted by: Brian C. Matesic and Fred Cromartie, Ed. D.

Abstract

The general problem of this study was to determine the effect, if any, that music had on heart rate, lap pace, and perceived exertion rate (RPE) during a 20-min self-paced run completed by a group of trained participants and a group of untrained participants. The participating subjects, all males, attended a college with an enrollment of 1,200. There were 12 participants, ranging in age from 18 to 23 years. They comprised two experimental groups. Experimental Group A consisted of 6 subjects who were considered untrained individuals, because they did not partake in exercise, or only in very limited exercise. Experimental Group B consisted of 6 subjects who were considered trained individuals, because they were in the habit of running more than three times a week to reach or exceed a target heart rate. The 12 subjects signed an informed consent form before participating in the study. No pre- or post-test capable of affecting the rate at which subjects completed the 20-min run was taken. The data were collected, condensed, and analyzed to measure performance differences when running to music and running without music. Analysis of the collected data employed Microsoft Excel as well as the t-test for the two samples’ means. Findings were that music had a noticeable effect on the pace demonstrated by both groups when running. Differences in heart rate and perceived exertion were found only in the untrained group, which may be due to source of error problems. Further research is recommended involving various styles of music and forms of athletic performance other than running.

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U.S. Sports Academy2016-10-12T13:12:50-05:00February 14th, 2008|Sports Coaching, Sports Exercise Science, Sports Studies and Sports Psychology|Comments Off