New approaches for studies of Muslim women and sport

This article offers a new approach for examining Muslim women in sport, which combines the domains of sporting participation, consumption and representation. It proposes moving beyond a sports development paradigm and deficit model of sports participation, whereby marginal communities are incorporated into the mainstream by playing sport, to take account of other ways that people engage with sport as consumers and fans. Conceptually, this approach is informed by transnational feminist perspectives, which foreground the role of power hierarchies in the production of knowledge about the sporting female Other. It suggests that sport practitioners, scholars and policy makers pay greater theoretical attention to how Muslim women are constructed within sport discourses. By widening the research focus to consider consumption and representation, possibilities emerge to expand on the narrow research and policy fields of ‘ethnicity’ and ‘well-being’ focused on physical health outcomes through which Muslim women’s engagement with sport is commonly framed.

Muslim women and sport: participation, consumption, representation

This paper proposes a new framework for approaching Muslim women in sport, beyond the oft-utilised framework of sports development. In preference to a deficit model of sports participation, where marginalized groups and individuals are incorporated into mainstream culture as players of sport, we bring together three domains that remain under-investigated in terms of Muslim women and sport in Australia and internationally – participation, consumption and representation. By shifting the research focus toward the contribution of both active and passive sports participation to fostering pleasure, enjoyment and self-determination for Muslim women, possibilities emerge to expand on the narrow priority formulation and policy fields of ‘ethnicity’ and ‘well-being’ focused on physical health outcomes through which Muslim women and sports-based interventions are commonly framed.

"Beyond number crunching" : applying qualitative techniques in sport marketing research

Valid and reliable research is pivotal to successful sport marketing strategy. Market research may be gathered via either quantitative or qualitative means. This paper explores the theoretical background and practical applications of qualitative research techniques. It explains the appropriate context for qualitative approaches, and discusses sampling procedures with particular emphasis on the powerful but simple technique known as theoretical sampling. In addition, it clarifies and explores data analysis procedures. The purpose of this paper is to provide sport market research practitioners with a model for implementing qualitative methodologies in sport marketing campaigns.

Visitor loyalty in sport tourism: an empirical investigation

This paper reports research regarding the relationship between consumer loyalty, satisfaction,and novelty seeking, including an analysis of these constructs as reflected in the published literature. A telephone survey was conducted of 500 city residents, focusing on their visitation of special events, including sporting events. It was found that satisfaction was somewhat positively related to interest in attending the same sporting event, and the intention to actually visit the sporting event again. However, novelty seeking was virtually unrelated to both interest in attending the same sporting event, and the intention to actually visit the sporting event, and unrelated to satisfaction. Novelty seeking in general, or in relation to special events particularly,performed similarly as a predictor. Further research is needed to clarify the role of other moderating variables, such as the feeling of involvement in sporting events, and to investigate segmentation aspects which might be operating in relation to specific sporting events and tourists.

Patterns and demographic predictors of 5-year weight change in a multi-ethnic cohort of men and women in Australia

Objective: This study investigated 5-year trends in body weight, overweight and obesity and their association with sociodemographic variables in a large, multi-ethnic community sample of Australian adults.  Design: This prospective population study used baseline and 5-year follow-up data from participants in the Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study (MCCS). Setting: Population study in Melbourne, Australia. Subjects: In total, 12 125 men and 17 674 women aged 35–69 years at baseline. Results: Mean 5-year weight change in this sample was +1.58 (standard deviation (SD) 4.82) kg for men and +2.42 (SD 5.17) kg for women. Younger (35–44 years) men and, in particular, women gained more weight than older adults and were at highest risk of major weight gain ($5 kg) and becoming overweight. Risk of major weight gain and associations between demographic variables and weight change did not vary greatly by ethnicity. Education level showed complex associations with weight outcomes that differed by sex and ethnicity. Multivariate analyses showed that, among men, higher initial body weight was associated with decreased likelihood of major weight gain, whereas among women, those initially overweight or obese were about 20% more likely to experience major weight gain than underweight or healthy weight women. Conclusions: Findings of widespread weight gain across this entire population sample, and particularly among younger women and women who were already overweight, are a cause for alarm. The prevention of weight gain and obesity across the entire population should be an urgent public health priority. Young-to-mid adulthood appears to be a critical time to intervene to prevent future weight gain.

Doping in sport: an economic analysis

This paper examines the impact of various regulatory policies on the decision to dope by athletes. The analysis suggests that punishment schemes involving lump-sum fines and bans, which are commonly used to control doping, create biases, and do not achieve their goal of levelling the playing field. Under plausible assumptions, these schemes are more likely to control doping for risk averse athletes compared to risk neutral ones, poorer athletes compared to their wealthier counterparts, and athletes with high earning potentials relative to those with lower potential. A marginal penalty scheme where athletes are fined based on the quantity of dope detected eliminates these biases, and emerges as a superior policy for levelling the playing field.

A measure of 'high commitment organisation' performance values in sport management professionals and sport organisations

Many organizations have realized the growing importance of adopting a 'High Commitment Organization' (HCO) approach with a focus on shared values to assist them in meeting their competitive challenges. A survey questionnaire based on the McDonald and Gandz (1992) list of values, employing confirmatory and principal components analyses was used to create scales to (a) explore the importance the sport management professional placed on those values, (b) explore the individual's perception of the importance placed on those values by their employing organization, (c) to compare these hierarchies with the values of the HCO, and (d) to measure the extent of value congruence. Three clear sets of values emerged: Development / Adhocracy (D/A) Values, Humanistic / Clan (H/C) Values and Conformity / Hierarchy (C/H) Values. Findings indicate significant differences between sport management professionals' values and those of their organizations. Employees placed higher importance on (D/A) and (H/C) Values than their organizations, while Sport organizations placed higher importance on (C/H) Values than their employees. There is stronger support by individuals than organizations for the values underpinning the HCO approach. These levels of individual - organizational value incongruence have implications for individual job satisfaction, motivation and organizational effectiveness.

Women in research? Investigating research opportunities for female academics in Australia

Women continue to be surprisingly under-represented in academia, given the increasing numbers of female postgraduate students and the flexible working conditions offered by most Australian Universities. To date, research has emphasised multiple causes for the 'gender gap' in academia, including the structural characteristics of the university system, cultural and societal barriers to the advancement of women, the influence of marital status on the productivity of women academics and the interaction of cultural, social and personality factors on women's professional careers. However, the implications of a 'gender gap' in academic rank reach beyond arguments of equality between sexes, to questions regarding consequences of a male-dominated professoriate to the nature and subjects of academic research in Australia. The aim of this paper is to investigate the factors that determine the rank of Australian academics and in part, to investigate whether there is a gender gap of rank or authority, through an analysis of data collected on all Australian academics by the Federal Department of Education, Science and Training. The implications of these findings on opportunities for female academic researchers and for research outcomes will be discussed.

Consumer complaint behaviour in sport consumption: a theoretical model

In this study, traditional consumer complaint behaviours (CCBs) are re-examined in an experiential context; specifically, the consumption of live sport. It is proposed that these behaviours are not motivated by the “traditional” antecedents, and further, that they are not enacted with the purpose of reducing dissonance. Instead, it would appear that traditional CCBs, such as private responses, direct voicing and third party action take on a more functional role in the sport consumption experience. The possibility exists that for some spectators, these CCBs, which have been traditionally classified as negative, actually contribute to overall enjoyment of, and satisfaction with, a sport consumption experience. A review of literature in the area is presented, and a theoretical model of CCB in the experiential context is offered.