The Sports Centre - the Target Population - Essay Example

College: Topic: A small Scale Sample Survey Introduction The Sports Centre is supposed to be a Leisure establishment set up toprovide a quality sports as well as health and leisure experience in whichever activity an individual may decide to participate in. Many writers argue that the sports centre is supposed to be a major local centre for sport and leisure courses open to staff and students as well as the general public. According to Bowers (1970), the sports centre should run highly successful competitive teams in sports such as football, netball and basketball and other games such as Badminton, table tennis and martial arts, all open to both members and non-members. These activities should be divided into daytime activities for staff and students and evening activities for the public and may be offered either free or at a minimal fee (Bowers, 1970). The sports centre should have modern amenities such as spacious gyms and air conditioned dance studios, several swimming pools and instructional pools, all aimed at facilitating it to offer Health and Fitness services to its clients (Bowers, 1970). It should therefore act as a place where the public can visit especially in the evenings, not only to improve health, but to make friends and to get fit with one's family as well as allowing their children to have fun (Bowers, 1970). Because of the foregoing, the researcher finds it necessary to investigate the sports centre to find out if it really satisfies these obligations. Aims and objectives of the survey. This survey therefore aims to investigate whether the Sports Centre carries out its mandate as stipulated in its manifesto. The objectives of this survey will thus be to investigate whether the sports centre operates within its mandate of offering sport and leisure courses to staff and students as well as the public. It will also attempt to find out whether the sports centre is capable of inspiring its members and non-members alike, sharing information with them about how they can become fitter and feel great at the centre. Finally, the survey will set out to investigate whether the sports Centre is an inclusive leisure facility offering competitive, instructional and leisure exercise opportunities to all who visit it. Discussion Since this is a small scale survey, the researcher proposes to come up with a questionnaire that will be used as the instrument of data collection. It is therefore the intention of the researcher to use a sample size and a sampling strategy that will best suit the purpose of this study. The Target population In this survey, the researcher wishes to target three categories of subjects in sampling his population. These include the staff, students and the public of the sports centre under investigation. These subjects are going to be selected because the researcher believes that they are better placed in giving the information that will help him to best investigate the sports centre. The staff and students will be involved in the study particularly because they are constantly in the sports centre and are thus able to learn the problems, if any affecting the sports centre. The public on the other hand will participate in the study because they are basically the ones who are the recipients of the bulk of services offered by the sports centre. They spent their money for the services offered. They may also decide whether to take their children to the sports centre or not, pay their fees or not, all depending on the satisfaction of the services they get. Thus this makes the public very decisive in their children's participation of the sports activities. The sampling strategy Through stratified random sampling, the researcher intends to select his sample population of about two hundred and ten subjects. In each of the three categories from which the sample population will be drawn, the researcher proposes to randomly select seventy respondents, that is seventy staff members, seventy students and seventy members of the public. Half of these respondents in each category are proposed to be males and the other half females. These two hundred and ten respondents will participate in the study by completing a questionnaire administered personally by the researcher. This questionnaire is the one which the researcher proposes to use in data collection. It was constructed by the researcher by modifying the original one developed by Likert (1971), adopted by Mackillican (1979) and revised by Likert Association (1986). Questionnaire I appreciate your answering the questions in this questionnaire. It is important that you answer each question as thoughtfully and frankly as possible. There are no right or wrong answers in this questionnaire and therefore you should feel free when filling in the questionnaire. Do not indicate your name anywhere on the questionnaire for the purpose of total confidentiality. The responses you give will be used for study purposes only. Instructions There are five responses to each question. Select the one that best matches your perception by clearly marking it. Use a HB pencil to make heavy black marks. Please indicate your status by selecting one category from below: Staff Student Public Other Refer to the indicated "Extent Scale Guide" in completing the questionnaire. 1. To a Very Great Extent 2. To a Great Extent 3. To Some Extent 4. To a Little Extent 5. To a Very Little Extent 1. To what extent does the sports centre ensure that kids and teenagers have the opportunity for regular activity ............................................................................................................1,2,3,4,5. 2. To what extent does the sports centre take pleasure in offering members and non- members an environment that is not only safe and clean, but friendly and fun to visit..... 1,2,3,4,5. 3. To what extent is the sports centre willing to offer clients other activities such as badminton, squash or table tennis ....1,2,3,4,5. 4. To what extent is the sports centre capable of inspiring clients and sharing information about how they can become fitter and feel great at the Sports Centre 1,2,3,4,5. 5. To what extent is the sports centre capable of being an inclusive leisure facility providing competitive, instructional and leisure exercise opportunities.......................................1,2,3,4,5. 6. To what extent is the sports centre capable of giving the clients' children the best birthday party as well as taking away their stress . 1,2,3,4,5. 7. To what extent does the sports centre meet its obligation of offering sport and leisure courses to its clients......... 1,2,3,4,5. 8. How much is the sports centre committed to the clients' quality of life through daily Physical activity1,2,3,4,5. 9. To what extent would you be willing to become a member of the sports centre and experience its goodies all for just a very affordable amount each month .. 1,2,3,4,5. 10. To what extent is the sports centre capable of balancing the staff, students and the public in offering daytime and evening activities ...1,2,3,4,5. Design of the questionnaire. The questionnaire is constructed by modifying the original school questionnaire developed by Likert (1971), adopted by Mackillican (1979) and revised by Likert Association (1986). This design of the questionnaire is very simple since it uses an extent scale with choices of five alternatives. The respondents are required to just select the alternative that best suits their perceptions. On the other hand, a brief introduction on the usage of the questionnaire is given to help respondents complete it with ease. Again the items on the questionnaire are very simple and short thus eliminating any shade of confusion to the respondents. To estimate the validity and reliability of this instrument, the data collected will be entered into the computer data bank and analyzed using the computer program statistical package for social sciences. Data analysis and presentation. The data analysis in this survey will be based on quantitative data collected using the questionnaire. Frequencies of responses and percentages will be tabulated for all the responses of the items of the questionnaire. The data for the population sample studied will be clearly described where the statistics will be calculated and the means, standard deviations and Pearson correlation "r" computed to establish the relationship among the items. Conclusion. Based on the survey results of the items that had been analysed, the main points regarding the sports centre that surfaced clearly are that all respondents maintained that the sports centre is quite superb. It came out clearly that the sports centre is a real leisure facility out to provide quality sports as well as health and leisure experience to all those using it. Both members and the non-members seemed to be equally satisfied with the way the way the sports centre is handling their affairs. The public is especially happy because of how they are able to make friends and let of steam in the sports centre (Bowers, 1970).In addition, their children receive the best of their birthdays as they have fun especially on Sundays. As far as the limitations of this survey are concerned, the researcher found it time consuming in administering the instrument. This was in the sense that the respondents had to be persuaded to complete the questionnaire. Questionnaire. Works cited Bowers, G., Tylor, R. (1970). The Survey of Organizations: Toward a machine-scored, standardized questionnaire instrument. Ann Arbor, MI: The University of Michigan. Read More