Sociology ETDs

Publication Date

4-23-1976

Abstract

Is there a sociological explanation for the pattern of consistent winning and consistent losing that is found at all levels of football competition as well in the New Mexico high school football program? A study of the 1975 New Mexico high school football season presents evidence that definite performance patterns have persisted over the last ten years and therefore cannot be strictly accounted for on the basis of ability and talent of individual players and coaches. It is hypothesized that the social structure and social interaction of each team were possible factors affecting team performance. Three hypotheses were tested: 1) Team performance will vary directly with the homogeneity of the social background characteristics of the players. 2) Team performance will vary directly with the amount of communication between coaches and players. 3) Team performance will vary directly with the amount of team consensus. The sample consisted of 690 high school football players and seventy-six coaches. Written questionnaires were administered before the football competition began in the fall. The respondents were asked for information concerning their ethnic group, level of father's education and occupation as well as their perceptions about their team members and the opportunities for communication within the team. During the playing season, win-loss records were kept for each team. Correlation co-efficients were computed and showed moderate to low positive relationships between the percentage of games won and 1) the homogeneity level of players' fathers' education, 2) the homogeneity level of players' ethnicity, 3) communication. Negative associations existed between percentage of games won and 1) homogeneity of fathers' occupational prestige, 2) team consensus. Although some support was provided for hypotheses 1 and 2, only the variable of homogeneity of fathers' education approached statistical significance. A multivariate regression analysis revealed that the combined effect of the three homogeneity variables, communication and team consensus accounted for forty-nine percent of the variance of team performance. This analysis also supported hypotheses 1 and 2 and approached statistical significance. Also included in the research was an analysis of the high school football coaches’ ideology. The analysis was based on personal interviews with the coaches and the literature of the coaching profession. It was found that the coaches’ beliefs about the values, norms, customs and ideas concerning football and coaching were based on a secular version of Max Weber's theory of the Protestant Ethic. Furthermore, this belief system is used by the coaches to cope with the unrelenting pressure to win while existing in the powerless, uncertain social position that characterizes the job of the football coach. The analysis examined some areas that the coaches believed to be particularly important in their efforts to produce winning teams. These areas are 1) the winning tradition, 2) senior leadership, and 3) size. It was concluded that sociological composition and social interaction do have an effect on performance. It is possible to soy that for some teams in New Mexico, the presence homogeneous levels of social background characteristics and open communication between players and coaches are associated with successful performance.

Degree Name

Sociology

Level of Degree

Masters

Department Name

Sociology

First Committee Member (Chair)

George Arthur Huaco

Second Committee Member

Dodd Harvey Bogart

Third Committee Member

Charles E. Woodhouse

Language

English

Document Type

Thesis

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