How to Write a Sports Research Paper: The Professional Guide

What Is Sports Research Paper?

Sports research paper is an independent scientific investigation aimed at solving problems in the field of physical culture and sports. The purpose of the research paper completion is the in-depth examination of knowledge gained during studying with its consolidation and synthesis. A research paper provides an opportunity to identify the level of specialized and scientific training of a student and his/her ability to apply the knowledge gained in the process of research work. The primary skills and techniques to complete the scientific research got a form as a result of the research paper. Individual students, in agreement with the Department of Theory and Methods of Physical Education, can write the Sports Research Paper at the departments of pedagogy and psychology. The contents of the research paper should cover the problems of physical education of different population groups.

Topics and Directions

Sports research papers in terms of content can be:

Theoretical – made on the basis of an analytical collection of literary data;
Empirical – made via analysis of the best practices of specialists in physical education and sport, student’s own experience, planning documents, accounting and reporting which reflect educational, training, and educational processes;
Experimental – made on the basis of own research;
Constructive – the manufacture of instruments, visual aids, simulators, and models; describing its effectiveness in the experiment.

Good Topic Examples:

History and Functional-Typological Features of Sports Medication Communications;
Psychological Training of Youth in Boxing;
The Specifics of Avoiding the Bones Trauma in Soccer;
The Interlinkage Between Thrombosis and Application of Steroids;
The Anti-Doping Code Analysis Concerning the Technological Advancement.

Bad Topics Examples:

History of Soccer;
The Tennis Matches Rules;
Injuries and Their Effect on Sports Career;
The Regulations Rules in Football;
Regular Sport among Youth.

Planning and Outlining

The research plan is writing in the following sequence:

Definition of research direction;
Development of the thesis;
Construction of a research plan/outline.

Stages to Complete Sports Research Papers

Stage 1 – the choice and justification of the Research Paper topic;
Stage 2 – drawing up a Research Plan / Outline and Thesis Statement;
Stage 3 – working on literary sources and materials describing the experience of practical work regarding the subject;
Stage 4 – definition of tasks, methods, object, and the research program;
Stage 5 – writing an introduction and the first Section of a research paper;
Stage 6 – organization and conducting of own researches, completion of the second section of the research paper;
Stage 7 – processing and analysis of the results, writing of the third section of the research paper;
Stage 8 – writing conclusions and practical recommendations;
Stage 9 – submitting your research paper and presenting to the instructor and getting the instructions to modify the content;
Stage 10 – editing of the draft; introducing of final version; research paper presentation.

Structure and Content of Sports Research Paper

As a rule, the structure of Research Paper includes the next parts:

Title Page;
Content;
List of Symbols (if necessary);
Introduction;
Main Sections;
Conclusions;
List of Used Literature;
Appendixes.

Methods to Write the Sections

An Introduction is presented in the following sequence:

Explanation of the topic relevance;
The purpose of the work;
Object and subject of research;
Objectives of the study;
Theoretical and practical specifics;
Thesis Statement.

A set of characteristic features determines the relevance of the topic regarding the physical culture and sport:

The direction of the theme aims to solve the most critical social tasks intended for improving the system of physical education in the country and strengthening the health of different groups of the population.
For example: ‘Physical culture is an integral part of the general culture of humankind aimed at strengthening the health of the population, the formation of individual moral-volitional, and psychological qualities of the individual.’
The significance of the topic for improving the training process.
For example: ‘Optimization of the training process by the non-traditional means of physical education.’
The need for in-depth scientific research of a particular problem.
For example: ‘Learning how children of elementary school age readjust to schooling and mastering the contents of the modern curriculum of physical education.’
The need to develop innovative technologies in physical education.
For example: ‘Systematization of experimental data and generalization of pedagogical experience of trainers, innovators, and educators; development of new methods of planning, teaching, and means of training.’

The goal supposes identification of the most effective ways to optimize the physical education. After determining the purpose of the research, the student must select the object, subject, and formulate the theme. The object of the investigation may be a lesson of physical culture, the subject – a student or a group of students, the theme – the regularities for the further improvement of the educational process.

For example: ‘The research paper aims to determine the situation with the physical fitness among the children of junior school age.’
The tasks of the study are developed following the stated purpose.

For example: ‘1. To determine the level of physical preparedness of junior pupils. 2. To develop a methodology for advancing the level of physical fitness of junior pupils.’
The relevance of the research paper means scientifically substantiated data developed for the first time that should be used in the process of physical education.
For example: ‘The student scientifically substantiates and experimentally specifies the knowledge about the most optimal age zones to develop the frequency of the movements in children who are engaged in athletics and are of the middle school age.’

The theoretical significance of the study is based on previously obtained scientific knowledge.
For example: ‘The structure of the physical culture formation was developed as a result of the generalization of the obtained scientific data and studying of the person’s physical culture features; the individual system of values was proposed and scientifically substantiated.’

Practical significance is characterized by some features that make it possible to determine the importance of the results obtained and the effectiveness of its implementation in practice; development of author’s practical and methodological recommendations, presentation of scientific research at scientific-methodological conferences.

For example: ‘Based on the research materials, the practical (methodological) recommendations “Strengthening health utilizing physical education” were developed; it is recommended for teachers, trainers, students, and young scientists. Research results are presented at the scientific conference, at a scientific methodological seminar on the theory and methodology of physical education, or in the work of an experimental group of young scientists.’

Thesis statement forms the subject of a particular study.
Good example of a thesis statement: ‘Theoretical analysis of specialized literature and generalization of experience generated by the specialists through their work activities allows predicting that the use of simulators and modern computer technology in the process of students training will enable to control their physical condition and contribute to improving the efficiency of sports.’

Poor example of a thesis statement: ‘Sports history proves that exercises are useful in struggling with the extra weight.’

Literature Review

The literature review denotes an essential part of the work and can consist of several subdivisions, points, and sub-items. This section represents, compares, analyzes, and summarizes the received data of scientific researches of scientists that cover the central issues of the topic.

Examples of the Scholar Sources: The Ones Our Writers Use as Well

Sheppard, J. M., & Young, W. B. (2006). Agility literature review: Classifications, training and testing. Journal of Sports Sciences, 24(9), 919-932.
Impellizzeri, F. M., Rampinini, E., Coutts, A. J., Sassi, A. L. D. O., & Marcora, S. M. (2004). Use of RPE-based training load in soccer. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 36(6), 1042-1047.
Spence, S. H. (2003). Social skills training with children and young people: Theory, evidence and practice. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 8(2), 84-96.
Jones, M. V. (2003). Controlling emotions in sport. The Sport Psychologist, 17(4), 471-486.
Kirk, D., & MacPhail, A. (2002). Teaching games for understanding and situated learning: Rethinking the Bunker-Thorpe model. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 21(2), 177-192.

The material can be presented in chronological order or the set of the questions under the focus. Writing a literary review is recommended in the following sequence:

To select particular scientific-methodical literature.
To learn and analyze the material.
To write the basic questions of the text related to the topic of scientific work.

The content of the text is written in the form of quotation, abstracts, annotations, and plan. Writing the section via the quotations are used to determine precise concepts, terms, and guidelines for substantiating the personal opinions and characteristics of the author’s point of view. The student should also specify the author’s second name and the year of publication (via comma or brackets) in the text. It is vital to consider the features of formatting (APA, Harvard, MLA, and others).
For example: ‘The literature reflects a large number of recommendations and programs for improving the walking and the running for adults and adolescents in complex with the systematized load settings in programs (Warner, 2013).’

Methods and Organization of Research

After writing the review part, the student needs to formulate two-three main tasks (or more if necessary).

For example: ‘1. To study the age-old peculiarities of speed in children of middle school age. 2. To determine the dynamics of the development rate among children of middle school age.’
The text below specifies the methods that are defined for solving the issues.

For example: ‘To solve the problems, the following methods of research were used: 1. Study of scientific-methodical literature. 2. Theoretical-comparative analysis and generalization of literature data. 3. Pedagogical observation. 4. Educational experiment. 5. Control exercises. 6. Physiological methods. 7. Methods of mathematical statistics.’
The generally accepted methods and techniques of scientific research in the work do not describe in detail but only indicate the name of the design, the author, and the year of publication which illustrates this design. The application of the author’s technique requires a complete description with explanations of formulas, diagrams, or drawings. All possible changes, modifications, and additions to the methods of other authors are scientifically substantiated and described in detail.

Then follows the description of the organization of the study: location, timeline, and study conditions; features of experimental groups.
Meanwhile, the number of subjects, age, sex, medical specification, and related factors could be the objects of research.

For example: ‘The study involved girls and boys 9-10 years old studying at Bradford’s school in Washington DC. The total amount was 100 people. All children belonged to the main medical group concerning their health state. The level of physical development and preparedness of the subjects were approximately the same. The study was conducted in September 2017. It was based on physical education lessons. Safety instructions and job performance rules were explained before the control exercising. The best result out of the three attempts was recorded in the protocol.’

Research Results

The results are the central part of the work that outlines the outcomes and conclusions of the research. The obtained research results are compared with the evidence of other researchers; the validity or erroneousness of established regularities, provisions, and explanations are substantiated; the assumptions outlined in the thesis statement are checked. The text is accompanied by drawings, tables, diagrams, graphs, and photos.

For example: ‘It has been proved that the level of General Physical Preparedness (GPP) of students involved in sports, aerobics, and athletics triple times a week is 50% higher than that of students getting the physical education only. At this point, the part of students with an average level of physical fitness has decreased by 10% for a school year, while GPP higher than average has increased by 25%.’

The illustrated material is of great importance when writing the text of the Results section. During the study, the student collects the actual content (photographs, videos, questionnaires, digital data, certificates) and then compiles it in the table and graphic illustrations.

Conclusions

The indication of findings must finish the text of the sports research paper and, if necessary, supplemented by the practical recommendations. The conclusions highlight the most important scientific and practical results obtained during the study of its significance for science and practice. The findings are briefly, clearly, and entirely consistent with the objectives of the study. The number of points is not limited, but usually ranges from 2 to 10.

For example: ‘1. The physical development indicators in the observed schoolchildren corresponded to a range of values character to the sex-age groups in the region. The peculiarity of the physical development of these schoolchildren is the tendency towards the increase of body length indices and reduction of chest circumference and body weight in all groups (p>0,05).
2. According to the results of the testing assessment offered by the school curriculum, 59.7% of schoolchildren showed a low level of physical fitness. The tests that were the most difficult to perform are: “pull-up,” “tilt forward,” “running on endurance,” and “shuttle running.” The range of unsatisfactory evaluations according to the results of their implementation varies from 18.9% to 51.6%.’

Finally, practical recommendations are formulated in paragraphs similar to the conclusions. Recommendations would allow teachers and trainers to improve the efficiency of the educational process significantly.

For example:

‘The complexity of physical exercises has gradually increased according to the stages of learning and the individual characteristics of students.’
‘Development of coordination abilities should be given attention at junior school age.’
‘To ensure a high motor density of a lesson, one needs to apply non-traditional learning tools.’

References consist of the works of all the mentioned authors in the text. The list of authors is given in alphabetical order and adjusted according to the needed format.

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Organizational Tips For Sports Research Paper Writing