Date of Award

2015

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

Abstract

The evolution of sport and the factors that are influencing it, such as industry standards and external conditions, have challenged curricula in the area of sport. The number of sport administration/management programs has increased over the years to over 500 (North American Society for Sport Management, n.d.), which, in turn, has contributed to variation among higherEducation programs (Eagleman & McNary, 2010). Sport administration/management programs vary in core content, specializations,Educational philosophies, and ideologies (Eagleman & McNary, 2010; Jones, Brooks, & Mak, 2008). Ideologies underpinning the curricular structure are uncertain among graduate programs in sport administration/management. The information in this study was provided qualitatively through document analysis to bridge the gap of conceptual information. Two conceptual frameworks facilitated the document analysis. Posners (2004) Analyzing the Curriculum (3 rd ed.) was used as the guideline for interpreting the curricula. Posner offered a beneficial collection of theoretical perspectives including traditional, experiential, constructivist, structure of the disciplines, traditional, and behavioral perspectives that were used in the analysis. The influencing theoretical perspectives were observed throughout the graduate sport administration/managements documents. Additionally, the Commission on Sport Management Accreditation (COSMA) developed accreditation principles from best practices” that have been used through sport management (COSMA, 2013), but, prior to this study, it was relatively unknown how many graduate programs were following the principles that COSMA had promoted. Thus, COSMA principles were used to understand the inclusiveness of the examined curricula. A purposeful sample of 79 of the 226 graduate sport administration/management programs from all four regions of the United States (Northeast, Midwest, South, and West) were evaluated for common themes and similarities. As the data were compared between regions, the Western region included the highest number of institutions that included COSMAs traditional areas of sport managementEducation. When comparing the courses through the overall analysis, the Midwestern region included the most institutions that included the most courses. The private institutions included more courses in comparison with COSMAs traditional areas of sport managementEducation compared to the public institutions. The main themes that developed from the research included the philosophical perspective, curricular confluence, and the impact of accreditation. Similarities and differences were found among the graduate sport administration/management programs within public and private universities in comparison to COSMAs principles. Future research will allow for an in-depth association of philosophical perspectives, effectiveness of programs, and sport management curricula.

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