Bibliography
Holmes, R. M., McNeil, M., & Adorna, P. (2010). Student athletes' perceptions of formal and informal team leaders. Journal of Sport Behavior, 33(4), 442-465.
The majority of sports leadership studies focuses on the coach, his or her effectiveness, and relationship with the team. However, the coach is not the only leader, as the athletes also perform roles of formal and informal leaders. Furthermore, the majority of studies involve only quantitative approaches, which become the reason of such issues as the absence of description and methodological flaws. The absence of description means that quantitative approach cannot provide details about social interactions, does not explain situational factors, cognitive processes, and behavior of the leaders in different situations. Methodological flaws include the possible conflict between real and ideal behavior and failure to reveal if respondents have behaved really or ideally.
Comments: The statement of the problem was clear and corresponded with the title of the article. The problem was educationally significant and understandable either for the sociologists or for the average readers.
Review of literature
Hypothesis
Comments: The authors gave the clear statement of the hypothesis. However, the hypothesis did not fully agree with the title of the article. The difference in male and female perception of a peer leader was a significant part of the study, but the title did not contain references to sex of student athletes.
Objectives
In their study, the authors pursued the following goals: (a) to discover the qualities of the best and the worst peer leaders according to the opinion of collegiate student athletes; (b) to develop a qualitative method of sports leadership studies; (c) to highlight the difference between the opinions of male and female athletes.
Comments: The objectives of the authors were clear and answerable. The objectives directly corresponded with the hypothesis and the provided methodology.
Methodology
The study involved 33 participants, 17 women and 16 men. Two participants were current team captains. To obtain a deeper understanding of students’ perception of leadership, the authors invited representatives of all collegiate sports teams excluding Men’s and Women’s Basketball and Women’s Field Hockey, as they had extended playing seasons. Male sports teams included Baseball (3 participants), Football (4 participants), Soccer (4 participants), Golf (2 participants), and Track and Field/Cross Country (3 participants). Female sports teams included Lacrosse (4 participants), Golf (1 participant), Soccer (4 participants), Tennis (1 participant), Softball (4 participants), and Track and Field/Cross Country (3 participants). Class years varied from freshmen to seniors and from 18 to 21 years with a middle age of 19.6 years. The authors provided the information about an age of the participants in the table form depending on their sex and class year.
Sessions took place in the room student athletes were familiar with. All participants sat in a semi-circle and could clearly see the authors and communicate with them. Sessions started with ice breaking and casual conversation, and only then the authors started the dialogue. The Appendix of the article contains the list of discussed questions prepared on the basis of previous studies. During different sessions, the order of questions could vary due to the difference of conversational paths.
Comments: The authors clearly explained the qualitative methodology they had used for gathering the data. They explained the instruments and the development of the methods, the composition of focus groups, and the coding system. The authors referred to the previous and additional studies that they had used during the development of their methodology. They explained the reasons for the number of teams, the specific composition of focus groups, and the venue of sessions and provided full information about an age of the participants depending on their sex and class. The authors described the process of focus group sessions and the coding system they used during them in detail.
Findings
Hypothesis (a):
Communication. Both male and female athletes said that the best leader should be able to verbally interact with the members of the team in and out of play and be vocal. Moreover, male athletes added that the leader should be able to motivate the members of his team.
Behavior. Both male and female athletes said that the best leader should follow strong work ethic and lead by his or her example. At the same time, male athletes emphasized that the best leader should be good motivator able to control the group and that he should never abuse his power. Female athletes argued that the best leader should be a role model and set an example, always be responsible, and treat her teammates carefully.
Personal Characteristics. Both male and female athletes said that the best leader should be trustworthy. He or she should earn respect and give it back. At the same time, the best leader may not be liked. The female athletes added that the best leader should have a positive attitude, good interpersonal skills, and not be greedy or selfish while male athletes stated that the best leader should be experienced and not provide feedback.
Hypothesis (b):
The results of the first hypothesis confirmed the second hypothesis. Furthermore, the qualities that were common both for male and female athletes were perceived in different ways. For instance, man perceived communication as an ability to provide teammates necessary information, and woman understood it as a favor and an absence of humiliations. Moreover, the authors asked the participants to draw a parallel between their sports activities and future careers, and the male responses were more various than female ones.
Comments: The authors carefully organized their findings. First, they provided the data in the form of two figures. The figures give clear perspective about the results of the study both for professionals and for the average readers. Second, they provided the data in the form of the well-structured text. The authors divided the text into two parts. The first part contains information about the results gained from female focus groups. The second part contains information about the results obtained from male focus groups. Both parts were divided into three sub-parts related to the major themes of the conversations, behavior, communication, and personal characteristics. The authors supported their findings and highlighted the individuality of opinions with quotations of participants. To keep the confidentiality, the authors replaced real names of the participants with pseudonyms. Moreover, the authors asked the participants to connect their sports activities with future career and, thus, drafted a direction for further studies.
Conclusions
Comments: The conclusions were logically stated and based on the findings and previous studies.
Limitations
The study was limited by the disproportionate number of representatives of different sports teams. Also, golf and tennis were underrepresented comparing with other sports that had larger team rosters. Next, the audio taping was not used, and some important aspects of the conversations could be lost. Last, even despite the fact focus groups were composed under careful attention, some of the members of the group still could be familiar with each other, as the study was held among the athletes of the one University.
Comments: The authors mentioned the major limitations of their study and its weaknesses and implied the possible improvements.
Recommendations for future studies
Quoting Dupuis, the authors suggested comparing “the perspectives of coaches and formal and informal team leaders with respect to leadership and leadership positions” (460). Furthermore, the authors suggested analyzing the impact of gender and leadership perception among athletes of other sports including individual, team, opened and closed ones. Also, they stated that the future studies could relate to the problem of correlation between collegiate sports participation and sports leadership and future career choices.
Comments: The recommendations aimed to broaden the understanding of the perception of leadership among collegiate athletes. The authors based recommendations both on their findings and on the literature review.
Overall Critique
Holmes, McNeil, and Adorna carried out a deep study of the perception of leadership among collegiate team athletes, revealed the key characteristics of the best collegiate team leader, and discovered the difference between the male and female vision of leadership. Their article is well written, well organized, and clear both for specialists and the average readers. The authors developed and wrote up the qualitative method of sports leadership studies and focused not on coaches but on formal and informal leaders within the team. Their study is a significant contribution to the field of sports leadership researches and could be a basis of the further studies in the field.
References
Holmes, R. M., McNeil, M., & Adorna, P. (2010). Student athletes' perceptions of formal and informal team leaders. Journal of Sport Behavior, 33(4), 442-465.
