Key parameters of the swimming start and their relationship to start performance

The swimming start is typically broken into three sub-phases; on-block, flight, and underwater phases. While overall start performance is highly important to elite swimming, the contribution of each phase and important technical components within each phase, particularly with the new kick-start technique, has not been established. The aim of this study was to identify technical factors associated with overall start performance, with a particular focus on the underwater phase. A number of parameters were calculated from 52 starts performed by elite freestyle and butterfly swimmers. These parameters were split into above-water and underwater groupings, before factor analysis was used to reduce parameter numbers for multiple regression. For the above-water phases, 81% of variance in start performance was accounted for by take-off horizontal velocity. For the underwater water phase, 96% of variance was accounted for with time underwater in descent, time underwater in ascent and time to 10 m. Therefore, developing greater take-off horizontal velocity and focussing on the underwater phase by finding the ideal trajectory will lead to improved start performance.     

Premises,Promises: Connection,community, and communion in online education

This paper is an essay on the discursive politics of education. Data from a small study, combined with a review of the related literature, suggest that the overarching concept “community” lacks coherence when used in online education. At least three contrasting forms of connection can be discerned: communion among participants, exchange between participants, and attachment to an ideal. In turn, we believe that this incoherence is not a trivial semantic problem, but rather a central concern in current efforts to remodel, reform and globalize distance education.     

Can international elite sport success trickle down to mass sport participation? Evidence from Danish team handball

Many scholars do not find evidence of a trickle-down effect from elite sport success to mass sport participation. Contrary to what is assumed by the trickle-down effect “theorem”, successful elite sportspeople do not seem to inspire amateurs to take up sport themselves. However, recent studies present evidence that elite sport can have an influence. In this article, we apply regression models on time series data from one of the most successful Danish sports, team handball. Our findings are mixed, but lean towards supporting scholars who argue that trickle-down effects are not necessarily an inherent part of international sporting success. Further studies should examine more sports to identify where trickle-down effects occur and why.     

Governmental innovation support in Norway: Micro- and macro-level effects

The present article focuses on a government supported program in Norway. “The Innovation Plan”, aiming at overcoming the critical lack of innovation now facing industry. A framework based on the well known structure-conduct-performance paradigm serves as the theoretical point of departure. Both secondary and primary data are applied to assess micro- and macro-level effects.In this piece of research governmental R&D support was found to exert an impact on the level of R&D activities, as well as on the willingness to direct R&D resources towards projects representing solutions high in novelty. Various types of positive outcomes such as increased technical competence and spin-offs, as well as various types of economic effects could also be traced for the supported projects. Implications of the findings are highlighted.     

Brand creation in international recurring sports events

Although recurring sports events are held more frequently and by a larger number of cities than one-off events, little research has examined the branding process within recurring events. This paper addresses this gap by examining the brand creation process for international recurring sports events. Based on Parent and Séguin's (2008) model for one-off sports events, a comparative case study of the Alberta World Cup (Canada) and World Cup Drammen (Norway) cross-country ski events was conducted. Findings included similarities (leaders’ skills/value-based actions, induced event experiences, and institutional experiences) and differences (branding/marketing efforts, recognition of the sport, and nature of the event (success, media coverage, geographic location, and history/impact)). An expanded model of event brand creation is proposed, which can be applied to both one-off and recurring sports events in small and large North American and European cities.     

Gender Differences in Self‐efficacy and Academic Performance among Students of Business Administration

Gender differences in perceived self‐efficacy and academic performance in marketing, organizational behaviour, accounting, computing, mathematics and statistics were investigated in 154 college students studying business administration. At the beginning of their second year in college, the students completed a questionnaire designed to measure self‐efficacy in subjects they had studied during their first year. The female students had significantly lower self‐efficacy in computing and marketing and higher self‐efficacy in statistics than the male students. Except for statistics, where female students outperform their male counterparts, there were no significant gender differences in academic performance.     

Action research and the micropolitics in schools

This paper is based on the assumption that action research always affects the micropolitical balance characteristic of a certain school setting. The authors claim that micropolitics, that is the patterns of formal power and informal influence, has largely been neglected in the literature on action research in schools. This means that action researchers appear to be ‘micropolitically illiterate’. Firstly in the paper the authors present the concept of micropolitics and a model consisting of three arenas for understanding micropolitics in schools. Thereafter they exemplify the different aspects and expressions of micropolitics by referring to their own action research projects. The focus is particularly on initiative to and engagement with action research. Finally they reflect on some micropolitical dilemmas characteristic of action research and the contradictory role of the action researcher.     

The Demand for Books Estimated by Means of Consumer Survey Data

In this analysis we present some results for book demand (schoolbooks are excluded) in Norway, obtained by means of a three-goods model (books, other cultural goods and non-cultural goods) and survey data for more than 18000 households from the period 1986–1999. Various methods of estimation are used, and they provide, surprisingly unambiguous results. Our hypotheses about the price and income sensitivity of book demand are confirmed. Books turn out to be “luxury” goods. Our calculations do also suggest that they are quite price sensitive and that they are close substitutes to other cultural goods. The results for socio-demographic variables indicate that access to outlets for books, sex and age matter for book demand. Moreover, we find that single persons and households with small children, especially those with children less than 7 years, are frequent book-buyers.     

Maternal Perinatal and Concurrent Anxiety and Mental Health Problems in Early Childhood: A Sibling-Comparison Study

Do associations between maternal anxiety symptoms and offspring mental health remain after comparing differentially exposed siblings? Participants were 17,724 offspring siblings and 11,553 mothers from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort study. Mothers reported anxiety and depressive symptoms at 30 weeks’ gestation, and 0.5, 1.5, 3, and 5 years postpartum. Child internalizing and externalizing problems were assessed at ages 1.5, 3, and 5, and modeled using multilevel analyses with repeated measures nested within siblings, nested within mothers. Maternal pre- and postnatal anxiety were no longer associated with child internalizing or externalizing problems after adjusting for maternal depression and familial confounding. Maternal anxiety when the children were in preschool age, however, remained significantly associated with child internalizing but not externalizing problems.