Testing Measurement Invariance of Hedonic and Eudaimonic Entertainment Experiences Across Media Formats

The aim of this study is to investigate the measurement invariance of media users’ entertainment experiences as conceptualized by two-process models of entertainment (i.e., enjoyment and appreciation) across different media formats. With this purpose, the present research relates to the recent rise of entertainment research, embracing more and more media types and formats with which entertainment experiences may occur. At the same time, it addresses a methodological issue that has rarely been addressed in communication research. Focusing on one of the most often used measurement instruments in entertainment research, on three different media formats (political talk shows, comedies, and dramas), the study finds evidence for configural, metric, and scalar invariance for the scale. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.     

Early Football and the Emergence of Modern Soccer: A Reply to Tony Collins

This paper seeks to defend one part of what has become known as the ‘revisionist’ account of the historiography of football in nineteenth-century England. In so doing, it responds to the critique by Tony Collins in his article ‘Early Football and the Emergence of Modern Soccer’ between 1840 and 1880, calling into question the reliance in his arguments of what he describes as ‘legal organized games’ as the only measure of a football culture outside of the public schools. His classification of small-sided games of football as an ‘informal leisure practice or folk custom’ is also interrogated and found wanting. Alternatively, further evidence is presented from 1860 of football games played in a variety of forms, usually alongside other sports, and mainly on church, works’ or schools’ outings, at rural fetes, galas and celebrations, or as street or casual football, the latter taking place in meadows, fields, and greens. Importantly, these were predominantly small-sided games and are, arguably, the ones closest to Association football, as it was codified in 1863, and constituted a broad, tenacious, and increasingly visible football culture that existed amongst the general population across mid-century uninfluenced by the public schools and public school boys.     

Sport for Social Change and Development: Sustaining Transnational Partnerships and Adapting International Curriculums to Local Contexts in Rwanda

Abstract

Local Non-Governmental Organisations and sports organizations have been recognized as important and well positioned strategic implementing bodies by the ‘Sport for Development and Peace’ (SDP) sector. Whilst they may be experienced and knowledgeable of the historical and local sociocultural landscape, many seek to form transnational partnerships, for the purpose of expanding their capacity, sustainability, and expertise. Rwanda’s history of genocide frames much of its development objectives, and sport has been an integral method for implementing programmes that speak to social impact and reconciliation aims. This paper examines a transnational partnership active in Rwanda, that uses football as a tool to achieve its shared development goals. We conducted ethnographic fieldwork in Rwanda, by volunteering with the organizations as they delivered SDP programmes across the country. In doing so we were able to deconstruct the management and intricacies of this partnership and contextualize the important negotiations, management and style of approach when tackling difficult issues. This paper contributes to both expanding our knowledge of transnational partnerships and provides unique commentary that aligns the complexities of engaging with local populations in post-genocide Rwanda with ‘Sport for Social Development’ programming.     

The development and validation of the Interpersonal Support in Physical Activity Consultations Observational Tool

This study describes the development and psychometric characteristics of an observational instrument that examines four aspects of interpersonal support (or lack of) provided during physical activity (PA) promotion consultations (i.e., Autonomy Support, Involvement, Structure and Interpersonal Control), as identified by Self-determination Theory (SDT). The reliability and validity of the Interpersonal Support in Physical Activity Consultations Observational Tool (ISPACOT) were examined within an exploratory randomised control trial. Recorded consultations (N = 42) conducted by qualified PA advisors (N = 14) at 13 leisure centres across the West Midlands (UK) were rated. Intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) indicated moderate to high inter-rater reliability for overall interpersonal support (0.80), and the Autonomy Support (0.74), Involvement (0.73) and Structure (0.91) dimensions, but low reliability for Interpersonal Control (0.35). The advisors, who conducted PA promotion consultations that were rated as low in their interpersonally supportive features, were perceived by their clients as being less supportive (F(1,10) = 5.0, p <.05). Ratings on the ISPACOT differentiated advisors who were trained in SDT principles and those who were not. Overall, the findings provided preliminary evidence for the reliability and convergent validity of the ISPACOT.     

Training the inspiratory muscles improves running performance when carrying a 25 kg thoracic load in a backpack

Load carriage (LC) exercise in physically demanding occupations is typically characterised by periods of low-intensity steady-state exercise and short duration, high-intensity exercise while carrying an external mass in a backpack; this form of exercise is also known as LC exercise. This induces inspiratory muscle fatigue and reduces whole-body performance. Accordingly we investigated the effect of inspiratory muscle training (IMT, 50% maximal inspiratory muscle pressure (P_Imax) twice daily for six week) upon running time-trial performance with thoracic LC. Nineteen healthy males formed a pressure threshold IMT (n?=?10) or placebo control group (PLA; n?=?9) and performed 60?min LC exercise (6.5?km?h^–1) followed by a 2.4?km running time trial (LC_TT) either side of a double-blind six week intervention. Prior to the intervention, P_Imax was reduced relative to baseline, post-LC and post-LC_TT in both groups (pooled data: 13?±?7% and 16?±?8%, respectively, p?P_Imax increased +31% (p?TT (+18%, p?P_Imax at each time point was unchanged (13?±?11% and 17?±?9%, respectively, p?>?.05). In IMT only, heart rate and perceptual responses were reduced post-LC (p?p?相似文献   

Examining student-designed games through Suits' theory of games

This paper documents how a unit of student-designed games can create a more meaningful version of physical education (PE) for disengaged students, a version that enhances the educational legitimacy of the subject matter by affording it worth in and of itself rather than being justified for other, extrinsic or instrumental reasons. Furthermore, it seeks to develop new knowledge relating to the conduct of game instruction within PE, by using Suits' theory of games. Drawing on Suits' theory, we develop a conceptual model that is intended to represent the hierarchical processes that occur in gameplay through student-designed games. This model is then tested via examination of the experiences of a cohort of teachers and their year 10 students from a mixed secondary school in the greater London area. From our discussions with the students, it is argued that the key focus of the games that these students were used to playing was the need to ‘play the game well’. By contrast, we suggest that it is possible to provide more meaningful experiences to students if a more philosophically driven and less efficiency-driven approach to games is taken, following Suits' lead more closely. By exploring the loop between and around lusory means, lusory goals and constitutive rules (the aspects of Suits' theory that have been shown to represent student-designed games), students engage with a more meaningful games experience than simply playing the game well. This ‘new’ approach to games may offer counterbalance to the ideological tendencies now emphasized in countries and contexts that celebrate instrumental outcomes of performative PE and sport rather than affording worth in and of itself to the curriculum’s subject matter.     

Ice hockey shoulder pad design and the effect on head response during shoulder-to-head impacts

Ice hockey body checks involving direct shoulder-to-head contact frequently result in head injury. In the current study, we examined the effect of shoulder pad style on the likelihood of head injury from a shoulder-to-head check. Shoulder-to-head body checks were simulated by swinging a modified Hybrid-III anthropomorphic test device (ATD) with and without shoulder pads into a stationary Hybrid-III ATD at 21 km/h. Tests were conducted with three different styles of shoulder pads (traditional, integrated and tethered) and without shoulder pads for the purpose of control. Head response kinematics for the stationary ATD were measured. Compared to the case of no shoulder pads, the three different pad styles significantly (p < 0.05) reduced peak resultant linear head accelerations of the stationary ATD by 35–56%. The integrated shoulder pads reduced linear head accelerations by an additional 18–21% beyond the other two styles of shoulder pads. The data presented here suggest that shoulder pads can be designed to help protect the head of the struck player in a shoulder-to-head check.     

Effects on muscle strength,maximal jump height,flexibility and postural sway after soccer and Zumba exercise among female hospital employees: a 9-month randomised controlled trial

This 9-month randomised controlled workplace physical activity trial investigated the effects of soccer and Zumba exercise, respectively, on muscle strength, maximal jump height, sit-and-reach flexibility and postural sway among female workers. A total of 107 female hospital employees aged 25–63 were cluster-randomised to a soccer group, a Zumba group or a control group. Training was conducted outside working hours as two to three 1-h weekly sessions the first 3 months and once a week the last 6 months. Tests were conducted at baseline, after 3 and 9 months. The soccer group improved maximal neck extension strength both after 3 (1.2 kg; P < 0.05) and 9 months (1.7 kg; P < 0.01) compared to the control group. The Zumba group improved maximal trunk extension strength (3.1 kg; P = 0.04) after 3 months, with improvements in postural sway velocity moment (?9.2 mm²/s; P < 0.05) and lower limb lean mass (0.4 kg; P < 0.05) after 9 months. No significant intervention effects were revealed in vertical jump height or sit-and-reach flexibility. The present study indicates that workplace-initiated soccer and Zumba exercise may be beneficial for improvement of the neck and trunk strength, which may have preventive effects with regard to future perceived muscle pain in the respective body regions. Furthermore, the Zumba group revealed positive effects on lower limb lean mass and postural sway compared to the control group.