Scheduled for Research Consortium Free Communication: History Makers and Barrier Breakers in HPERD and Sport, Thursday, March 15, 2007, 4:15 PM - 5:15 PM, Convention Center: 328


Review of the Research Consortium's Annual Program/RQES Supplement, 1992--2006

Bradley J. Cardinal and Leslie D. Schultz, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR

The Research Consortium supports researchers through multiple mechanisms, including the presentation of peer-reviewed research findings at the AAHPERD National Convention and publication of research abstracts in the RQES Supplement (inaugural issue, 1992). This study documented annual research presentation frequency both overall and within the various research categories between 1992-2006, including the examination of macro trends on the basis of exponential growth curve analysis. The study also identified the “top 10” ranked institutions and individual presenters during this time period. Presentation frequency relates to institutional visibility and prestige. Also, because programs depend on people and people may change institutions, documenting individual presenters is important. The following data were coded and stored in a database for each published abstract: presentation year, review category, author name, and author affiliation. No adjustment was made for multi-authored presentations. Presentation frequency varied by review category across the years with the following averages observed (trends denoted by +/-): Biomechanics/Sports Medicine (7.1+), Dance (5.5-), Exercise Physiology/Fitness (36.5-), Health (39.2-), Leisure/Recreation (5.6+), Measurement (15.0+), Motor Behavior (23.6), Multidisciplinary (7.4+; 7 years only), Pedagogy (66.9+), Psychology (22.5), Sociocultural (21.3), Special Populations (25.4+), Sport Management/Administration (18.1+; 7 years only), Total (280.4+). The top 10 institutions on the basis of total number of abstracts were: Texas A&M, College Station (137), Wayne State (103), Arizona State (100), Ohio State (99), Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (97), South Carolina (97), Louisiana State (89), Florida (82), Oregon State (79), and Colorado State (77). The top 10 individual presenters on the basis of total number of abstracts were: Weimo Zhu (90), James J. Zhang (60), Bradley J. Cardinal (40), Melinda Solmon (38), Dale DeVoe (37), Eddie T.C. Lam (34), Ping Xiang (33), Michael Young (31), Charles B. Corbin (30), and George B. Cunningham (30). Among the top 10 individual presenters, all but one presented across more than one review category (M = 6.2) and all but two had more than one institutional affiliation (M = 2.1). Overall growth in the amount of research being presented through the Research Consortium's program was observed, though not equally across categories. Among the top 10 institutions, each AAHPERD District association had institutional representation except Eastern District, with Southern District (4) having the most. These results should help inform the strategic planning efforts of AAHPERD and the Research Consortium. Institutions may also use this data as one indicator of institutional quality (a multifaceted construct) and individual faculty achievements in presenting peer-reviewed research.
Keyword(s): advocacy, college level issues, interdisciplinary

Back to the 2007 AAHPERD National Convention and Exposition (March 13 -- 17, 2007)