Hi everyone,
As I’m particularly interested in the similarities between managing a sports team and managing any other business, I searched for sources which link social networking to team sports.
To date, only few studies concentrated on sporting teams using social network methodology. Having said this, Lusher, Robins and Kremer (2010) studied the application of social networking analysis (SNA) to team sports. The authors argue that the current SNA allows exploring individual and group behavior in sporting teams by examining social relations between team members and their individual-level qualities simultaneously. The intra-group relations among teams, which include aspects like cohesiveness and hierarchies among players, provide information about the team members’ informal connections to each other. However, researchers analyzing these intra-group relations often face a number of challenges. For example:
1. Agreed behavioral norms as a key correlate of team cohesion
2. Small sample sizes (Unlike work-based and other types of groups, sport teams usually comprise only a relatively small number of individuals)
3. Membership may change relatively frequently
The SNA focuses on actual behavior between team members rather than simply on the attributes of the team members. As an example, being a captain can be considered as an attribute that the captain holds. From a relational perspective, though, the captain has a formal relation of power with others in the same team. In this context, it is important to understand that beyond formal relations, there are informal relations which influence a team’s operations.
SNA permits to examine whether the most popular individuals in a team are also those who have the strongest investment in the goals. Furthermore, SNA helps to determine whether the prominent players may indeed drive social norms through their informal social influence within the team. To put it in a nutshell, SNA enables the researcher (as well as the coach) to shift the focus from measurements on individuals to the team as a systemic unit of analysis, while still taking into consideration the qualities of individuals in the team.
Anja
HHL, M12
Source:
Lusher, D., Robins, G., & Kremer, P. (2010). The Application of Social Network Analysis to Team Sports. Measurement in Physical Education and Exercise Science, 14, 211-224. Retrieved from http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/1091367X.2010.495559.
As I’m particularly interested in the similarities between managing a sports team and managing any other business, I searched for sources which link social networking to team sports.
To date, only few studies concentrated on sporting teams using social network methodology. Having said this, Lusher, Robins and Kremer (2010) studied the application of social networking analysis (SNA) to team sports. The authors argue that the current SNA allows exploring individual and group behavior in sporting teams by examining social relations between team members and their individual-level qualities simultaneously. The intra-group relations among teams, which include aspects like cohesiveness and hierarchies among players, provide information about the team members’ informal connections to each other. However, researchers analyzing these intra-group relations often face a number of challenges. For example:
1. Agreed behavioral norms as a key correlate of team cohesion
2. Small sample sizes (Unlike work-based and other types of groups, sport teams usually comprise only a relatively small number of individuals)
3. Membership may change relatively frequently
The SNA focuses on actual behavior between team members rather than simply on the attributes of the team members. As an example, being a captain can be considered as an attribute that the captain holds. From a relational perspective, though, the captain has a formal relation of power with others in the same team. In this context, it is important to understand that beyond formal relations, there are informal relations which influence a team’s operations.
SNA permits to examine whether the most popular individuals in a team are also those who have the strongest investment in the goals. Furthermore, SNA helps to determine whether the prominent players may indeed drive social norms through their informal social influence within the team. To put it in a nutshell, SNA enables the researcher (as well as the coach) to shift the focus from measurements on individuals to the team as a systemic unit of analysis, while still taking into consideration the qualities of individuals in the team.
Anja
HHL, M12
Source:
Lusher, D., Robins, G., & Kremer, P. (2010). The Application of Social Network Analysis to Team Sports. Measurement in Physical Education and Exercise Science, 14, 211-224. Retrieved from http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/1091367X.2010.495559.
1 comment:
Yet another interesting application of SNA. There's a whole lot of research on sports teams as networks now coming out. Thanks, Anja
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