Class
Article
College
Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services
Faculty Mentor
Matthew Vierimaa
Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Abstract
Past research has stressed the influence that environmental factors, such as population of one’s birthplace, can impact the likelihood of attaining success. Moreover, several studies of professional sports have found over-representations of successful athletes from small cities, while showing an under-representation of individuals from larger cities, with 500,000 inhabitants being the cut-off (e.g., Côté et al., 2006). To holistically examine the birthplace effect, the role of population density has also been explored, with varying results depending on sports and countries being considered (Hancock et al., 2017; Rossing et al., 2016). Taking both city population and density into account, the purpose of the present ongoing study is to investigate birthplace effects in male and female collegiate (NCAA) and professional (WNBA and NBA) basketball athletes. The US census was utilized to gather birthplace data for 8,060 NCAA, 400 WNBA and 382 NBA athletes. Data analysis is currently ongoing, and will involve computing odds ratios to examine whether certain populations or densities were significantly different from the general US population at the collegiate and professional levels. Based on prior research, the expected results should reveal an over-representation for both male and female basketball players in areas that have between 250,000- 500,000 inhabitants (MacDonald et al., 2007; Côté et al., 2006). By examining both collegiate and professional and male and female athletes while considering multiple casual variables, the present study helps shed light on environmental factors that lead to success in sport.
Location
Room 154
Start Date
4-12-2018 1:30 PM
End Date
4-12-2018 2:45 PM
Examining birthplace effects in US collegiate and professional basketball
Room 154
Past research has stressed the influence that environmental factors, such as population of one’s birthplace, can impact the likelihood of attaining success. Moreover, several studies of professional sports have found over-representations of successful athletes from small cities, while showing an under-representation of individuals from larger cities, with 500,000 inhabitants being the cut-off (e.g., Côté et al., 2006). To holistically examine the birthplace effect, the role of population density has also been explored, with varying results depending on sports and countries being considered (Hancock et al., 2017; Rossing et al., 2016). Taking both city population and density into account, the purpose of the present ongoing study is to investigate birthplace effects in male and female collegiate (NCAA) and professional (WNBA and NBA) basketball athletes. The US census was utilized to gather birthplace data for 8,060 NCAA, 400 WNBA and 382 NBA athletes. Data analysis is currently ongoing, and will involve computing odds ratios to examine whether certain populations or densities were significantly different from the general US population at the collegiate and professional levels. Based on prior research, the expected results should reveal an over-representation for both male and female basketball players in areas that have between 250,000- 500,000 inhabitants (MacDonald et al., 2007; Côté et al., 2006). By examining both collegiate and professional and male and female athletes while considering multiple casual variables, the present study helps shed light on environmental factors that lead to success in sport.