A Study on the Effect of De-Selection on Elite Youth Footballers - Essay Example

? A Study on the Effect of De-selection on Elite Youth Footballers Task: A Study on the Effect of De-selection on Elite YouthFootballers Brown and Potrac (2009) conducted a research whose aim was to use detailed interviews to review the experiences of former elite footballers whose careers ended before their time due to de-selection. The study focused on the respondent’s identity development as a strong sportsman, the consequence of de-selection on identity and life after de-selection. The participants were four male victims of competitive youth football de-selection. The researchers chose them on the basis that they each had attended a three-year training program in a professional club at the end of which one gets a contract is de-selected. The entrants to the scholarship program were from the best players between age 16 and 19. Each of the participants performed two interviews. Each interview averaged a time of sixty minutes. The interviews were conducted in locations of their choice. The interviews did not follow a tight schedule; instead, they were reflexive with provisional themes prepared moments before the interviews. The role of the interviewer was to enable the interviewee to narrate his tale in his own manner. Thus, the interviewer was an active listener. The interviewer stored each interview in an audiotape and transcribed before another interview took place. The interviewer pursued emerging issues in the next interview. After the accumulation of the data, the researchers analyzed it by reading the transcripts with the view of identifying narrative segments and themes in the transcripts. They then followed this with writing analytical memos to provide links to common themes. The researchers followed these identical concepts in the next meeting. From the data obtained, the researchers were able to reconstruct the lives of the correspondents before and after their de-selection. The methodology used and justification for its use. A biographical qualitative study involves the discovery and texting of a single person’s experiences, toils through life by a researcher. The researcher is interested at incidents in a person’s life that became turning points in his life. Biographical enquiry includes methods such as autobiographies, oral histories and life histories (Rutherford et al 2004, p. 572). In the interpretive biography, researchers begin by finding written documents and other records. Some may be of a quantitative nature, but it is relevant if it helps describe a person’s life. Nevertheless, the main material in this research emanates from the numerous interviews the researcher has with the respondent. Of most interest, are events that led to a remarkable change in the respondent’s life. The researcher may want to visit the actual place where the event occurred. After this, the researcher tries to decipher the meaning of those events in the respondent’s life. The researcher may rely on his impression about the event. The interpretive biography method involves the use and acquisition of documents pertaining to a subject’s; personal life, accounts and narratives that elucidate on significant milestones in a person’s life. The central focus of the interpretive biography method is a person’s life experiences (Lewiss-Beck & Bryman 2004, p. 507). The use of the biographical method has its basis on the argument that, those who lived are the only ones who can know their lives. Alternatively, through their representations, which include stories and personal narratives among others. The meaning of these events is only visible in the performances of those who lived those lives. According to Thomas Murray 2003, researchers design biographies to serve several functions. One of the purposes is to preserve a record of a prominent person’s development and contributions. Another purpose is to correct mistaken identities. It can also serve to teach readers lessons through another person’s life or to trace public and private actions of the subject in view of finding out how the resolved conflicts in their lives (Murray 2003, p. 28). Brown & Potrac’s interest was in evaluating the effect of an event in the lives of the correspondents. These events were personal experiences and thus only the respondents knew them. For the researcher to know these events and how they reacted to them, there had to be representations of their lives. According to Lewis-Beck & Bryman 2004, this justified the use of interpretive biography. No data on statistics could describe the event (de- selection) better than those who underwent de-selection. Furthermore, no other way could tell how they reacted to the ordeal other than the respondents themselves. In addition, the researchers find a commonplace in the themes outlined by Murray 2003 that justify a biography. Nevertheless, this method has one serious setback. It relies on the researcher’s ability to draw inferences about the feelings, reactions and intentions of the respondent. Sometimes those inferences may be flawed. The researcher may miss some of the evidence required to make a certain conclusion. The researcher can be too subjective or base a conclusion on personal opinion rather than on the information provided (Murray 2003, p. 29). Lewis-Beck &Bryman 2004 also argue that emphasis on method, validity, reliability and generalizability and theoretical relevance of the method are not necessary. Instead, concerns for meaning and proper interpretations are most beneficial. They challenge the students of the biographical method to learn to use ways and techniques of performance theory, criticism and literary interpretation in order to rid this method off flaws. This method was the best suited to extract relevant information to answer the outlined questions in the rationale of the research. Brown& Potrac were well aware of the traps in this method as indicated in their literature review. In their conclusions, they included excerpts from the transcribed texts to circumvent bias and subjective conclusions. A study on the effect of accessibility of sports infrastructure on sport participation Wicker, Breuer & Powlowski (2009) conducted a research to evaluate the effect of accessibility of sports infrastructure on sport participation. They used data from a population survey. They chose the economic theoretical model citing several reasons. They argued that the study was interested in analyzing changes in human behavior, and that the economic model provides operational measures to measure changes in observable actions. They also cited the simplicity of the method, the lack of data on changes in preferences in German and the ineffectiveness of the sociological model in previous studies. They also cited the unpredictability of changes in preferences, arguing that predictions based on change of preferences would be unsuitable in practice. Lastly, they cited they ease of aggregating findings from the methodological individualism contrasted to the converse, which could lead to ecological falsehoods. The researchers observed the impact of economic status and time as economic factors, thereby necessitating the use of the economic model. Wicker, Breuer & Powlowski (2009) did not collect fresh data. They utilized data collected from a previous project, in 2007. The project had collected both individual data and data on infrastructure. The collection of individual data on participation in sports among the residents of Stuttgart by was by use of computer aided telephone interview. The random sampling relied on last-birthday approach. The number of conducted interviews was three thousand and twenty six interviews. They also added 699 cases dealing with children and youth between 3-7 years. The questions dealt with whether the respondents engaged in sports, the type of sport, the time take on sport, and organization. They also collected information on income, level of education, number of working hours and hours spent in other engagements. In addition to the phone survey, they also did another survey in all the urban districts of Stuttgart to evaluate the availability of infrastructure. The researchers analyzed the data utilizing hierarchical linear models to test the effect of different factors on the dependent valuable; participation in sports. They calculated the regression model and an interdependent regression model at every level to identify relations. Research methodology used and its justification. A survey does not use experiments and is descriptive in nature. Researchers use survey to collect data on issues that are not directly observable, such as people’s opinions and reasons for certain actions. The major method for data collection is interview. Interviews can be formal, over the phone or face –to-face. There is a need to contextualize the method of interview used obtain valid and useful data (Lewis-beck & Bryman 2004, p. 521). The survey design is useful when dealing with a large number of correspondents. It is also preferred for its economy on cost and ease of accessing information. In spite of these advantages, it requires a tentative balance in the breadth of study. If the aims of the research are too broad, the questions are too many; if it is too narrow, the topic evaluation may not be thorough. It must also strive to attain a balanced representation of the whole society. The traditional method in this design is the face-to-face interview. If well applied, it can be accurate. It also allows the interviewer to select the people they ask questions and pass judgment on those who might be just wasting time. Nevertheless, it has several setbacks. It consumes a lot of time, and many people require incentives to participate and it involves embarrassing respondents. In this design, the most efficient interview method is the computer aided telephone interviewing. Groves et al (2001, p. 423) identified several reasons for this. A CATI instrument checks the direction of the interview, omission of questions is not possible. It employs computer features that enhance the quality of data, and its complex system of handling data allows for various manipulations. In analyzing survey data, researchers use correlation and regression analysis. Correlation tries to identify relationship while regression predicts vale (Fink 2003). Regression analysis concerns itself with predicting the components of a mathematical model that shows the relationship between the dependent and independent variables. Wickers, Breuer & Powlowski (2009) had the task of soliciting opinion from a large population of Stuttgart city. For such a large population, the survey design was the most appropriate. The nature of the data required was in favor of the survey design. The use of the computer aided telephone interview was necessary to avoid human error when dealing with such a large number of interviews. The use of CATI helps to save time by controlling the direction of interviews. The fact that the interviewer cannot modify the interview at will helps to maintain consistency. This is necessary in checking that the data collected is valid and reliable. The choice of the theoretical model was appropriate. According to Frey 1999, human beings are force, in most times, to act rationally for their survival. The natural selection process requires that human beings act on rationality, to optimize resources or face extinction. Therefore, it is more appropriate to evaluate the behavior of people as consumers and producers (Frey 199, p. 13). This means that the economic theoretical model is more comprehensive than the sociological model in attempting to understand human behavior. This is because the economic contexts influence most of the decisions people make. On the other hand, the analysis of the survey data is a complex task. The use of statistics is necessary. Statistical computation eliminates chances for personal opinions and biases. The use of statistics in analysis also ensures no subjectivity in judgment. The use of regression analysis provides an accurate way of identifying relationship in values between the independent and dependent valuable. Comparison between the methodologies applied in the two studies. The most conspicuous similarity between the two studies is the fact that they are both qualitative research design. Qualitative research has four main characteristics; the emphasis is on process, enlighten and meaning and the researcher is basic to for data collection and analysis and the study is inductive and the results descriptive (Merriam 2009, p. 14). Both of the studies meet most of the four criteria. The two research studies applied two different research designs. The difference in the methodologies is justifiable. According to Cresswel (2003, p. 103), the purpose statement is the most significant statement in the whole study. It gives direction to the research and introduces the reader to the principle purpose of the study. The purpose statement, therefore, determines the design of study used. The method used must compliment the purpose of the study. The two studies had different interests. Brown and Potrac (2009) in the first study sought to find out the effects of a certain event in the respondents lives. Their interests were in the effective domain. They were evaluating how the respondents responded to de-selection, how they felt and how they were trying to cope with the event. These variables are not empirically evaluable. The biographical method is the most suitable. On the other hand, Wicker, Breuer & Powlowski (2009) sought to find the factors affecting participation in sports among a large population of Stuttgart‘s residents. They intended to seek information from a large population. The use of detailed interviews was not possible due the time it would consume. The use of computer aided telephone interviews was the best suited to collect the data required. The two different purposes of the studies require different approaches. The two different approaches taken by the researchers also differ in data analysis. Most qualitative data require interpretive analysis. This is because it is not possible to evaluate human actions by physical science methods. The strategy then is indwelling; to get a deep understanding from the textual data collected (Miles & Huberman 1999, p.8). Nevertheless, some qualitative studies obtain categorical data. Though this data is different from interval data collected I quantitative analysis, it also requires statistical treatment. Non-parametric statistics are appropriate because the research based on experimental, has many variables and limited controls and has various sources of errors (Kent 2001, p. 2). Brown and Potrac (2009), collected textual data from the interviews and thus their method of analysis was indwelling. Wicker, Breuer & Powlowski (2009) collected categorical data and had to use statistical methods. Conclusion Research is a very crucial tool in the synthesis of knowledge and in interpretation of phenomena. For a research to be useful, the design used must compliment the variables. Proper selection of research design ensures the data collected is relevant, valid and enough to answer the research question. The method of data analysis is also crucial, without proper and objective interpretation of data; the findings of the research are useless. Works Cited. Crawsell, J 2003, research design: qualitative, quantitative and mixed method approaches, sage publications, California. Fink, A 1995, how to analyze survey data, Sage publications, California. Frey, B 1999, economics as a science of human behavior: towards a new social paradigm, kluwer academic publishers, Dordrechi. Groves, M et al 2001, telephone survey methodology, John Willy &Sons, New Jersey. Kent, R 2001, data construction and data analysis for survey research, Palgrave Press, New York. Lewis-beck, M & Bryman A 2004, the sage encyclopedia of social science research methods, Sage Publications, London. Meriam, S 2009, qualitative research: a guide to design and implementation, jossy bass, San Francisco. Miles, M & Huberman, A 1999, qualitative data analysis, sage publications, London. Murray, R & Thomas M 2003, blending qualitative & quantative research methods in theses and dissertations, sage publications, California. Rutherford, B et al 2004, a handbook of research in emotional and behavioral disorders, Guilford press, New York. Read More