But What Do the Numbers Really Tell Us? Arbitrary Metrics and Effect Size Reporting in Sport Psychology Research

Full text for this resource is not available from the Research Repository.

Andersen, Mark B, McCullagh, Penny and Wilson, Gabriel (2007) But What Do the Numbers Really Tell Us? Arbitrary Metrics and Effect Size Reporting in Sport Psychology Research. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 29 (5). pp. 664-672. ISSN 0895-2779

Abstract

Many of the measurements used in sport psychology research are arbitrary metrics, and researchers often cannot make the jump from scores on paper-and-pencil tests to what those scores actually mean in terms of real-world behaviors. Effect sizes for behavioral data are often interpretable, but the meaning of a small, medium, or large effect for an arbitrary metric is elusive. We reviewed all the issues in the 2005 volumes of the Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, The Sport Psychologist, and the Journal of Applied Sport Psychology to determine whether the arbitrary metrics used in sport psychology research were interpreted, or calibrated, against real-world variables. Of the 54 studies that used quantitative methods, 25 reported only paper-and-pencil arbitrary metrics with no connections to behavior or other real-world variables. Also, 44 of the 54 studies reported effect sizes, but only 7 studies, using both arbitrary and behavioral metrics, had calculated effect indicators and interpreted them in terms of real-world meaning.

Item type Article
URI https://vuir.vu.edu.au/id/eprint/3153
Subjects Historical > FOR Classification > 1701 Psychology
Historical > Faculty/School/Research Centre/Department > Centre for Ageing, Rehabilitation, Exercise & Sport Science (CARES)
Historical > FOR Classification > 1106 Human Movement and Sports Science
Keywords ResPubID12755, measurement, real-world significance, magnitude of effects, sports -- psychological aspects, sports sciences, exercise, research, research – methodology, quantitative research, empirical research, matrices
Citations in Scopus 48 - View on Scopus
Download/View statistics View download statistics for this item

Search Google Scholar

Repository staff login