Dr. Kelly Price looks at the research on the barriers faced by women's sport in getting media coverage, public attention, and commercial support.

Kelly Price considers the research on the covert and blatant sexism of golf announcing and how modern TV commentators like Juli Inkster are making a difference.

You may be asking yourself, “Why should I care if women’s golf is studied by a bunch of professors?" - Dr. Kelly Price

In her search for a glove, Dr. Kelly Price looks at the research on sport marketing and the value of the female golf consumer.

Dr. Kelly Price looks at the research linking perceived attractiveness and prizemoney on the LPGA Tour and asks 'What is Beauty?'

The purpose of this study was to determine if differences exist among NCAA divisions I, II and III as well as between Athletic Directors and Primary Women Administrators with regard to the perceived competencies and preparatory coursework required of athletic administrators. A mail survey utilizing a six point forced choice Likert rating scale was constructed from a review of the literature and modifications of the survey instrument "Athletic Club Managers Survey" developed by Lambrecht (1986). The questionnaire contained 46 competency statements and 30 course content area statements as well as a set of demographic questions. The 1987-88 NCAA Directory listed 466 institutions which employed both an Athletic Director and a Primary Woman Administrator. Two hundred five of these institutions were systematically randomly selected and received two questionnaires, one for the Athletic Director and one for the Primary Woman Administrator. Three hundred and forty-nine questionnaires were returned yielding an 85% response rate. It was hypothesized that there were no significant differences between the responses of athletic administrators from the three divisions of the NCAA with regard to the competency and course content area statements. The analysis of variance technique was used to analyze the data. Where differences existed the Newman-Keuls test was employed to determine the location. The null hypothesis was rejected for 20 competency items and 17 course content area items. Athletic Directors and Primary Women Administrators were also studied. Fifteen competency items and 14 course content area items were rejected in this comparison. The top six ranked competency items were: 1. Enforce NCAA Rules, 2. Human Relations, 3. Staff Communications, 4. Decision Making Process, 5. Budget Preparation and Control, and 6. Interpret NCAA Rules. These top six ranked competency items were the same in each division, although the order of importance varied. Competency items were rated higher than course content area items. Of the top 16 items with means above 5.0, only three items were course content area items. Public Relations, Speech and Writing were the top three ranked courses. Results of this study indicate that there is limited significant difference among the three NCAA Divisions or between Athletic Directors and Primary Women Administrators in their perception of competencies and coursework necessary for athletic administrators. / Graduation date: 1990

The purpose of the study was to investigate the extent to which a relationship existed between the set of predictor variables including age, sex of the athletic director, years of experience as athletic director at the institution and the highest terminal degree held and the male and female head coaches' perceptions of the role of athletic director. The role of athletic director was defined in terms of the dimensions of Initiating Structure and Consideration as determined by the Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire - Form XII (LBDQ).Hypotheses were developed to determine if relationships existed between: (1) the set of predictor variables and the dimensions of Initiating Structure and Consideration as perceived by female head coaches; and (2) the set of predictor variables and the dimensions of Initiating Structure and Consideration as perceived by male head coaches. Hypotheses were also developed to determine the significance of increase which the addition of the sex designation of the athletic director has on the dimensions of Initiating Structure and Consideration as perceived by male and female head coaches,The population of the study consisted of athletic directors and 101 male and female head coaches from 34 women athletic departments from selected midwestern states. The universities selected were from those listed in the 1979-80 AIAW National Directory as having an enrollment of 1000 or more students.Athletic director data were obtained through the use of the Athletic Director Information Sheet (ADIS) which provided a list of male and female head coaches and demographic data. Head coaches completed the LBDQ. Scores for the dimensions of Initiating Structure and Consideration as determined by the male and female head coaches' responses to the LBDQ and demographic data as determined by ADIS responses were analyzed by multiple regression analysis to determine whether or not relationships significant at the .05 level existed between the set of predictor variables of the athletic director and the Initiating Structure and Consideration scores from the male and female head coaches.Findings1. The set of predictor variables including age, years of experience as athletic director at the institution, terminal degree held, and sex designation of the athletic director were found to be significantly related to the scores of female head coaches on the Initiating Structure dimension.2. There was no significant relationship between the set of predictor scores and the scores of the female head coaches on the Consideration dimension.3. No significant relationship existed between the set of predictor variables and the scores from the male head coaches on either the Initiating Structure or the Consideration dimension.4. The addition of the sex designation of the athletic direction provided no significant increase in the proportion of explained variance in predicting either male or female head coaches' perceptions on the Initiating Structure and Consideration dimensions from the set of predictor variables.Conclusions1. Female head coaches perceived athletic directors as exhibiting more of the characteristics of Initiating Structure which are associated with the formal or structural aspects of the organization.2. The age, sex, number of years as athletic director at the institution and the degree held did not produce a significant relationship when associated with the Initiating Structure and Consideration dimensions as perceived by the male head coaches.3. The sex of the athletic director did not significantly affect the relationship that existed between the athletic director and the male and female head coaches. 4. The Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire - Form XII provides one method of examining head coaches' perceptions of leader behavior of athletic directors on the dimensions of initiating Structure and Consideration.

<p> Athletic programs have been an exciting staple of the higher education experience for over a century. Although student athletes have been studied near exhaustively in higher education research, less attention has been paid to the relationship of athletic academic staff members and corresponding institutional operations in supporting student athlete goals. This study was designed to create a full, rich description, ultimately contributing to the literature of the cultural, social, economic, and academic environment of the staff of the athletic academic support unit from 1991-2014. The overall research question is thus: How has NCAA legislation shaped the administrative institutional action at the "Big Football University" athletic academic support unit from 1991-2014? </p><p> A case study methodology was chosen for the research design. The study utilized a constructivist epistemological orientation and two theoretical lenses: Organizational Identity Theory and Social Identity Theory. Data collection was conducted through interviews with key informants and primary and secondary document analysis. Data displays, domain analysis, and open coding was be used to answer the research question. To increase both internal and external validity, trustworthiness tactics were used ensuring that the results matched reality, that there was a saturation of data, and that a truthful portrayal was created by providing a clear synthesis of patterns found. During data analysis, four constructs were used as macro categories for themes including University Responses, Identity Changes, Legislative Influences, and Leadership and Role Conflict.</p><p> The results from this study led to three major findings. First, the data collected has the ability to contribute data furthering research in the fields of Social Identity Theory, Organizational Identity Theory, and constructivist epistemology influences in higher education environments. Next, the hyper focus of the study on one institution's administrative choices was a pragmatic choice by the researcher to be able to recommend how other schools can adjust their own support services if they are faced with similar scenarios. And lastly the study highlights the need for more athletics research to improve practice within the field.</p>

<p> As technology development has made the world better, the benefits of such development are also increasingly related to sports activities. Many sports devices have been combined with Information Technology (IT). One great example is an IT-combined sport device called "Activity Tracker." It is a device that is worn on the body and records a user's body status such as calories burned, steps walked, or heart rates. With people's increasing attention to their health, it is expected that the popularity of the devices will increase. To aid in the sales of activity trackers in a competitive market, the manufacturers should be familiar with the impact of product cues such as brand, price, and design on consumers' perceived quality, which will influence their willingness to buy. </p><p> The study was quantitative; paper and pencil questionnaires were utilized. The instruments were derived from three existing studies. The study participants were Florida State University undergraduate and graduate students; 200 questionnaires were distributed to students enrolled in Lifetime Activity Program (LAP) courses and/or visiting a recreation center on campus. The final sample size was 144 participants. The data was analyzed using several statistical methods with PASW Statistics 20.0. From the descriptive statistics, the frequency counts and/or mean scores were computed for profiling the participants. The Cronbach's alpha scores, and item-to-total correlations were utilized to assess the internal consistency of the factors measured with the questionnaires. The assumptions of multiple regression, including as normality, linearity, homoscedasticity, and multicollinearity were assessed. Multiple regressions were utilized to gauge the extent to which price, brand, and design influence perceived quality. As the final step, a simple regression was utilized to measure the relationship between perceived quality and willingness to buy. </p><p> Examination of this data revealed several significant results regarding the relationships between product cues, perceived quality, and willingness to buy. While brand (t=6.779; p&lt;.05; beta=.522) and design (t=5.934; p&lt;.05; beta=.450) had a positive impact on perceived quality, price (t=-1.681; p>.05; beta=-.139) had no significant impact on perceived quality. Perceived quality (t=6.060; p&lt;.05; beta=.453) had a positive impact on willingness to buy; however, the variance (20%) accounted for in willingness to buy was low, meaning that there may be mediating variables between perceived quality and willingness to buy.</p>

<p> The problem addressed is the lack of empirical research describing the delivery of individualized learning material in a secure and mobile manner. The goal was to investigate the effectiveness of deploying training materials to National Football League (NFL) players during a recent NFL season. </p><p> Over the past few seasons, NFL teams have started to deliver player training material to mobile devices. The training material is sensitive and includes planning documents for upcoming games. An effort was made to survey a representative at each of the 32 NFL teams in order to gain insight on effectiveness, security, and process. Nearly half of the league responded with 14 of the 32 franchises reporting back. </p><p> The results demonstrate that mobile devices can be an effective means to distribute educational materials to individuals in secure manner. The iPad was identified as a suitable platform for delivery of instructional material. Security elements such as encryption and using mobile security products should be strongly considered. The results are discussed in detail. A set of standards and guidelines were created based on the responses provided by club employees. </p>