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Sport Psychology Research
Guide
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What is
Sport Psychology?
Psychology of sport deals
with the application of psychological theories and methods to sport
and recreational activities. In your research, you will be trying
to relate to sport issues from social psychology, mental health,
ethics or business - to name a few. Hence, you should not limit
your search to psychology, but, depending on your topic, include
sources from relevant subjects like the history of sport, the business
of sport, or substance abuse.
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Getting Started
Before beginning
your research, spend some time thinking about the topic at hand
and how to develop a search strategy. Consider the following:
- Will your research
be limited to a particular sport, event or group?
- Are you providing
an historical perspective?
- Can you consider
resources from developmental psychology or clinical psychology -
for example, to research topics like drug abuse or eating disorders?
Will social psychology resources, dealing with topics like motivation,
conflict, aggressiveness or self-esteem be helpful? Are ethical
issues of sportsmanship, discrimination or substance abuse at the
core of your subject?
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Finding General or Background
Information on Sport Psychology
Use both general and
subject reference sources to find background information on psychology.
You can explore broad concepts such as theories, big names in the
field, controversies, as well as specific terminology. General sources
include:
To find specific psychology
reference sources, search ROSIE
for keywords like “psychology and handbooks” (or "encyclopedias").
Start your search with
keywords like “sport and psychology and encyclopedia”
(or "handbook"), or simply “psychology and encyclopedia”
– and then browse the books you found for specific topics
related to sport psychology. Use this approach to look for materials
focusing on other aspects of your topic, for example, Olympics,
national identity, drug abuse or stress.
Consider starting with
the following titles:
If you need a definition
or an explanation about a particular term, use subject encyclopedias
and dictionaries, for example, Sport Psychology: The
Key Concepts - R
GV 706.4 .C39 2002 , or search XreferPlus
(Philosophy & Psychology section).
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Finding Information
about Sport Psychology in Books
Searching ROSIE Using
Keywords
Search ROSIE
for keywords included in your assignment topics as well as for related
terms and concepts you found when browsing the background resources.
For example, while searching for background information on “Steroid
use in sport” you might have found terms like performance
enhancing drugs, ethics, sportsmanship, stress, anabolic steroids,
doping, drug control, drug abuse, banned substances, perfectionism,
etc. Search for a single term or combination of two - remember that
you are searching book titles, subjects assigned to books, and (in
some cases only) tables of contents, and not the contents of books.
Leave the very specific, detailed search for periodical databases.
Searching ROSIE by Subject
The following examples
of Library of Congress Subject Headings might be useful in your
research (explore the “related subjects” links as well).
Remember to search for subjects related to other aspects of your
topic, not only those limited to psychology of sport, for example,
Olympics or drug abuse.
Browsing Call Numbers
Because books are arranged
on the Library’s shelves by subject, browsing the library
stacks in the call number areas suggested below can also be useful.
You can get additional ideas from a book's table of contents or
index. You can browse book records online through ROSIE,
but remember that only records of recently published books list
tables of contents and none lists an index.
GV 706 (psychological
aspects of sport). Note that the majority of sport books are in
the GV area.
R BF (reference - psychology) and R HM 251 (reference - social psychology)
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Finding Articles About
Sport Psychology Using Research Databases
Bowman Library
subscribes to many Web-based databases where you will find newspaper,
magazine and scholarly journal articles. Ones that are particularly
useful for researching topics in psychology are listed below. See
Searching
Electronic Resources Effectively for guidelines on making the
most of your search.
ProQuest
Search ProQuest for psychology articles published in scholarly,
popular and general interest periodicals. Explore the drop-down
menus and “More Search Options” to broaden or narrow
your search. Note, in particular, the limit to “Full text
documents only.” Wait to limit your search to scholarly journals
from the results page; some quality magazines, like Scientific
American, The New Yorker or The New York Times Magazine,
often publish well-researched articles you do not want to exclude
from your search.
PsycArticles
PsycARTICLES© is a database of full-text articles from journals
published by the American Psychological Association, the APA Educational
Publishing Foundation, the Canadian Psychological Association, and
Hogrefe Publishing Group. It currently contains 61 journals. Coverage
for some of them extends back to XIX c. Note the Thesarus (link
at the bottom of the screen) for help in finding synonyms, and broader,
narrower and related concepts.
Wilson
Select Plus
Search Wilson for psychology articles published in academic and
professional publications. The best strategy is to use search capabilities
from the Advanced Search: use the top menu tab to get there and
then explore the drop-down menus. Limit your search to full text.
Congressional
Quarterly Researcher (CQ Researcher)
You will find here reports about issues widely discussed in the
media, for example, sportsmanship, college sports, steroid use,
Olympics or gender issues in sport. While these topics are not discussed
from a strictly psychological perspective, the reports can provide
context and background for your research.
Each 20+ page report contains background information on the topic,
pro/con statements from representatives of opposing positions, analysis
of the current and future (outlook) situation, a bibliography and
list of readings for further research.
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Selected Free Web Sites
The following
Web sites have been selected by Bowman Librarians as examples of
sites appropriate for college research. Keep in mind, however, that
free Web resources are rarely filtered, often making it difficult
to determine the content's accuracy. Use our guide Evaluating
Web Resources to help you review the authority, currency, and
objectivity or bias of every site you use.
Amateur
Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles
http://aafla.org/search/search.htm
This site provides access to more than 40,000 PDF documents, some
on sport psychology, from one of the world’s largest sport
research collections.
SportsLink
http://www.sportslink.org/index.htm
An extensive, up-to-date sports information and education directory
of links. Contains information on national and international organizations
and associations.
Online
Journal of Sport Psychology
http://www.athleticinsight.com/
Non-proprietary, peer-reviewed, quarterly forum on topics within
the field of sport psychology. There is no search function, though
you can use the browser’s “Find” button to scan
the articles’ titles in current and past issues. The site
includes a broad set of links for those interested in becoming a
sport psychologist or using the services of one.
United
Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Sport for Development and Peace
http://www.un.org/themes/sport/task.htm
This Task Force encourages a more coherent approach to the use of
sport-related initiatives in the pursuit of United Nations development
goals, particularly at the community level. It also promotes the
use of sport as a recognized tool in development policy.
Sport
Psychology Resources
http://www.psychwatch.com/sport_psychology.htm
A section of PsychWatch at Duke University, “intended to provide
information that is both directly and indirectly related to the
field of Sport Psychology.”
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Citing Your Sources
Be sure to check
with your professor on which citation style is required.
Bowman Library
provides the following resources to assist with citation format:
For online resources,
see How
to Cite Your Research for links to MLA, APA and Chicago citation
styles.
MLA Handbook
for Writers of Research Papers
- LB2369
.G53 2003 (Located in Library Permanent Reserves).
Publication
Manual of the American Psychological Association
- BF76.7
.P83 2001 (Located in Library Permanent Reserves).
The Chicago
Manual of Style
- Z253
.U69 2003 (Located in Library Permanent Reserves).
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Have Questions?
- Explore WOODIE
for help with Research.
- The following guides include related information
that may assist your research:
- Ask a Librarian. We are here to help!
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