Assignment: Research proposal that describes my own project’s topic and setting and summarizes the techniques for data collection and analysis. (Due Oct 5th) – NOTE: Much of the material in the proposal for SOC 985 comes from my IRB submission

Research Proposal

Race relations is an ongoing American social problem in need of constant study within the discipline of sociology (Bash, 1979).  To gain a better understanding of race relations in America, I will examine the issue of stereotyping by race in sports.  I will use one study that conducts content analysis on sports commentary in American mass media (Denham et al., 2002) to lay a foundation for further proposed research.

Research methods will be survey and interview to determine relationships of perception of race between self and other.  The findings will be directly relevant to race in American sports and generally applicable to further the study of race relations in America.

I will produce findings of whether “racism” and “stereotyping by race” exist in NCAA men’s basketball at the time of the study.  The hypothesis presented in the current research proposal is that the athletes will convey descriptions of self that are similar to those descriptions professed by sports commentators in the Denham study.  One result of the current research proposal is a reworked heuristic that is appropriate for the study of race descriptors (especially in regard to athletes’ descriptions of self).

Topic

The research question I will answer is: Do athletes convey descriptions of self that are similar or different to those descriptions professed by sports commentators?  The descriptions of athletes by sports commentators will be gained from prior literature (Denham et al., 2002).  The descriptions of self by the individual athletes will be the charge of my research.  I will use survey and interview.  The participants are male college basketball players at 70 colleges and universities (the schools listed in Appendix A at this link plus the University of Michigan, Western Michigan University, Central Michigan University, Mott Community College, and Lansing Community College).

Setting

Survey

The initial research will study current male college basketball players.  As part of my research, I will distribute the opportunity to participate in an online survey (this link) to all the athletes stated previously.  I will convey the opportunity to participate in two ways:

1. contacting the institution (university)
2. contacting the player directly (when available)

Interview

The initial research will study current male college basketball players.  As part of my research, I will conduct in-person interviews (this link) with players at the following schools: Michigan State Universtity, University of Michigan, Western Michigan University, Central Michigan University, Mott Community College, and Lansing Community College.  I will convey the opportunity to participate in two ways:

• contacting the institution (university)
• contacting the player directly (when available)

The methods of contact (invitation) include:

• email
• mail
• Twitter
• phone

The majority of resources are non-monetary. The space used will be free of charge (public university reserved classrooms) and the personnel will consist solely of the Secondary Investigator.  Access to subjects will be gained at minimal cost (e.g. email) and confidentiality of data will also be at minimal cost. All necessary resources, including but not limited to those listed above, will be financially provided by the Secondary Investigator should they be monetary. No counseling or medical care is expected.

Summary of Techniques

Data Collection

The survey is online (this link).  The responses will compile securely into a database for later retrieval.

The interviews will occur in person.  I will be the sole interviewer and the interviews will occur in classrooms on the respective campuses of the individual athletes.  I will book a private room with the university.  I will take hand written notes during each interview which will last approximately 30 minutes.  I will not use sound recording devices.  I will not record the name or identity of the athlete (including the school or other identifying characteristics).  I will interview each individual only once and record only responses to the questions on the interview.

Analysis

I plan to conduct a phenomenological study.  “The basic purpose of a phenomenology is to reduce individual experiences with a phenomenon to a description of the universal essence” (Creswell, 2007), in other words, to “grasp of the very nature of the thing” (van Manen, 1990).  I will employ what Colaizzi defined as “empirical phenomenological reflection (EPR), in which the researcher performs his or her systematic reflections upon a body of descriptive protocols that have been collected from subjects” (Valle, 1998).  I will generally follow the four steps Colaizzi laid out (discover a fundamental structure through individual reflection, get descriptions through a phenomenological study, use empirical reflection, discover fundamental structure through empirical reflection).

I will determine the “essence of perception” (Merleau-Ponty, 2002) as understood by male college basketball players through their own descriptions of self, in other words, how they perceive their own performance as an athlete.  To formulate meaning, I will cluster themes common to many of the participants’ transcripts (Anderson & Spencer, 2002).  Unlike Anderson & Spencer who allowed for the emergence of themes from the transcripts, I will have a reworked heuristic, more closely following Colaizzi’s four steps (step 1: discover a fundamental structure through individual phenomenological reflection).

The survey and interview will examine the following categories:

1. physical index = height and weight
2. background = hometown and previous school
3. academics = major and GPA or other mentions of academics
4. family = any mention of family
5. skills = shooting, ball handling, defense, moves, etc.

Similar to Anderson & Spencer, I will take a significant statement from the athlete (made during interview) and formulate meaning.  The interview analysis will be more post-interpretive than the survey.  The survey is pre-formatted so that descriptions of the essence of racial perceptions are built in to the (e.g.) yes/no questions.

Bibliography