ATHLETIC PARTICIPATION AND ITS IMPACT ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH 1

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Athletic Participation and Its Impact on the Development of High School Girls

Hattie N. Burford

Chadron State College

July 13, 2017

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Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of athletic participation on the

development of high school girls. The review of literature relevant to this study shows positive

effects of athletic participation on high school girls’ self-esteem and femininity, social ties,

character and values, educational goals, test scores, and grade averages. The positive effects on

self-esteem, social ties, values, and educational goals, are what related literature refers to as

mechanisms. These mechanisms are shown to be the positive links to participants’ test scores

and grade averages. The results show that participation in interscholastic athletics promotes

female students’ development, and improves achievement in the specific content areas of math,

science, and English. The research committee will gather data from a pool of sophomore and

senior female participants from Scottsbluff High School. Correlation coefficients will then be

determined to conclude the relation between athletic participation and self-esteem, socialization,

and academic achievement.

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Statement of the Problem and Research Questions

The purpose of this study is to determine whether, and to what degree, the relationship

between athletic participation and the development of high school girls exists. The development

of female participants will be defined through self-identity, socialization, and educational

achievement. In recent years, competitive sport for females has become increasingly legitimized

in terms of mass participation, expanded programs, and budgetary allocations (Spreitzer, Snyder,

& Kivlin, 1978). This shift in social norms now allows us to look deeper into the benefits of

interscholastic athletics for young female athletes. Does participation in sports have a positive

impact on a high school female’s self-esteem? Do female participants form greater relational

networks? Are high school female athletes’ test scores and grades positively impacted by their

participation?

Statement of Hypothesis

The literature supports the inference that young female students who participate in

interscholastic sports benefit individually, socially, and academically. Therefore, it is

hypothesized that female athletes who participate in interscholastic sports will experience

increased self-esteem, a larger social network, and greater academic achievement. This

hypothesis will be proven after comparing the self-esteem, social ties, and academic achievement

of high school female athletes who participate in interscholastic athletics to high school females

who do not participate.

Methodology

Participants

All sophomore and senior female students in Scottsbluff High School are eligible for the

study. A sample of 50 participants will be selected, with 25 from the sophomore grade level and
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25 from the senior grade level. Scottsbluff High School is located in Scottsbluff, NE, population

15,039, positioned in the Nebraska Panhandle. Scottsbluff is the largest city in the Nebraska

Panhandle, and the 13th largest city in Nebraska. It is home to the U.S. National Park, Scotts

Bluff National Monument, and is adjacent to the North Platte River. The Scottsbluff School

District manages an early childhood learning center, four elementary schools (K-5), one

intermediate school (6-8), and one high school (9-12). The district also offers alternate options

for high school students, such as CHOICES and RECONNECT. These are considered for

students who are lacking credits, or prefer a smaller learning environment. Scottsbluff Senior

High School has a make-up of approximately 872 students, 39% eligible for free lunch, 8%

eligible for reduced lunch, 51% female to 49% male, 52% Caucasian, 42% Hispanic, 3%

American Indian, 2% two or more races, and the remaining 1% Asian. The school’s diversity

score is .56, compared to the state average of .26. Scottsbluff High School has a student to

teacher ratio of 16:1.

Instruments

The effects of athletic participation on participants’ self-identity, socialization, and

academic achievement will be measured through surveys, journals, NWEA Map assessments,

and grade point averages. The survey for measuring self-identity will be given once a month

through google forms, where the participant will answer 1,2,3, or 4 if they strongly agree, agree,

disagree, strongly disagree, respectively. The purpose of the survey is to track the participants’

self-esteem and identity throughout their involvement or noninvolvement in interscholastic

athletics. The following questions make up the self-identity survey that will be given:

1. I feel that I am a person of worth, at least on equal basis with others.

2. I can do well or better than others at school.
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3. I am happy with who I am.

4. I feel that I have a number of good qualities.
5. All in all, I am inclined to feel that I am a failure.
6. I have a good understanding of the things I learn in school.
7. I am able to do things as well as most other people.
8. I feel I do not have much to be proud of.
9. My skills are weaker than other people in this class.
10. I take a positive attitude toward myself.
11. On the whole, I am satisfied with myself.
12. I wish I could have more respect for myself.
13. I certainly feel useless at times.
14. At times, I think I am no good at all.
15. I am sure I will be able to reach my goals.
The survey for measuring socialization will be given once a month through google forms, where

the participant will answer 1,2,3, or 4 if they strongly agree, agree, disagree, strongly disagree,

respectively. The purpose of the survey is to track the participants’ socialization with friends,

family, and teachers throughout their involvement or noninvolvement in interscholastic athletics.

The following questions make up the socialization survey that will be given:

1. I have a group of friends that I like hanging out with.

2. I know how to start a conversation with someone new.
3. I talk to my parents about school often.
4. I do not talk to my parents about school at all.
5. I have several friends that share the same values as me.
6. I feel accepted by my friends.
7. I have several friends that want to further their education.
8. I talk to my teachers outside of class often.
9. I like when my friends are involved in the same things as I am.
10. I feel like I have a lot of good friends.
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A journal of general behavioral observations will be kept by administrators, teachers, coaches,

and myself throughout the year, as each see fit, and will be collected once a month to uphold

accountability. Such observations may include any insight into a participant’s self-esteem or

socialization. Grade point averages will be recorded for each participant on a google spreadsheet

at the end of each quarter. Test scores will be based on the NWEA Map assessment. This

assessment will be given to the participants in both the fall and spring. The Map assessment is a

computerized test that is adaptive and offered in Reading, Language Usage, and Mathematics.

When taking the Map assessment, the difficulty of each question is based on how well the

student answers the previous questions. These five instruments will be used to collect data for the

study.

Design

The study will be a quantitative research study, using the correlational research method.

This method was chosen to determine whether, and to what degree, the relationship between

athletic participation and the development of high school girls exists. The research will be

completed through a longitudinal study, where data will be collected at two or more times. A

longitudinal panel study will be used for this study. A panel survey involves a sample in which

the same individuals are studied over time (Gay, Mills & Airasian, 2012). In this study, the

participants will only be studied over a nine-month period, the length of the school year.

Procedures

The research team will request permission to begin the study by submitting an IRB to

Chadron State College. Included with the IRB will be a copy of informed consent for the

committee to review displaying the research involves no risk to participants, the participants’

identity will remain anonymous, and all data and records used will be confidential. Lastly, the
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research group will submit the research budget including paper, computers, and data analysis

software.

Scottsbluff High School administrators and other school staff, including coaches,

involved with sophomore and senior female students will be informed of the research to be done.

They will be given the research design, procedures, and methods of data collection. The research

team will then meet with sophomore and senior female students’ parents at the yearly orientation

meeting at Scottsbluff High School. There will be a consent form for the parents to inform them

that during the course of the year, 25 chosen (at random) female students from each class are

going to be surveyed, observed, and their grade point averages, along with test scores, will be

collected and recorded. The form will include information on how the data will be collected, and

how the participants will remain unharmed and unidentified throughout the process.

Once the consent forms are given and returned, the female students in the sophomore and

senior classes, whose forms were received, will be assigned a random number. A random number

generator will be used to select the sample population. Once the sample is selected, the study will

begin no later than August 21st. The female student athletes and the female student “nonathletes”

chosen will be surveyed once a month, observations will be done throughout the year, grade

point averages will be recorded at the end of each quarter, and test scores will be recorded after

the NWEA Map assessment in the fall and spring.

On May 16th, the study will end, final data will be collected, and all data will be analyzed

by the research team. The results will be used to determine whether, and to what degree, the

relationship between athletic participation and the development of high school girls exists. This

will be concluded by examining the correlation coefficient of each variable and the athletic

participation status of the participant.

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Following the completion of the study, administrators, school staff, and athletic coaches

will be informed of the results of the study. Furthermore, a letter will be sent to the families to

share the results of the research. The letter will reiterate the procedures that were done, discuss

the analysis of the data, and share the results that were concluded.

Data Analysis

Data will be collected and organized as the research progresses throughout the study.

When the study is complete, the data will be analyzed to determine whether, and to what degree,

the relationship between athletic participation and the development of high school girls exists.

The research team will use the Pearson r correlational analysis to test for relations. Not only does

this method take into account every score in the distributions, but it is also the most stable

measure of correlation (Gay, Mills & Airasian, 2012). The research team will find the correlation

coefficient, along with its significance value. These two calculations will provide the information

as to whether or not the data represents a true relation. The research team will also examine

graphs of the data collected to determine if the relation between the variables is linear. The

Pearson r is not valid if the relation between the variables is not linear (Gay, Mills & Airasian,

p.337).
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References

Gay, L. R., Airasian, P. W., & Mills, G. E. (2012). Educational research: Competencies for

analysis and application. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.