Research

Physical activity after graduation: Impact of collegiate recreational sports participation on alumni

Pilot study will appear in the next Recreational Sports Journal

According to Glass and Hopkins (1996), there is great value in conducting a pilot study before undertaking a full-scale study. As they state, “Usually the pilot study will reveal unanticipated problems that can be eliminated or minimized prior to the actual study” (p. 40). Even the results of pilot studies can be informative and instructive, and considered important scholarly work. In an article appearing in the Fall 2007 Recreational Sports Journal titled “Using Past Campus Recreational Sports Participation to Explain Current Activity Levels of Alumni,” the value of a pilot study is indeed played out.

The research team of Scott Forrester, Craig Ross, Stacey Hall, and Chris Geary developed this pilot study to determine the impact on alumni of past recreational sports involvement during their college years on their current patterns of physical activity. The concept of studying alumni is rare, if not unique in recreational sports research. However, such research delivers exactly what is being called for in publications such as Learning Reconsidered and Learning Reconsidered 2 – a measurement of the impact of a traditionally non-academic program on student learning. Of course the learning in this case is the student’s learned behavior of continuing to participate in physical activity.

The study considered the breadth as well as the depth of the respondents’ past recreational sport involvement as compared to their self-reported current physical activity behavior. Drawing on Astin’s (1984) theory of involvement, the study hypothesized that the “more alumni participated in recreational sports as a student (as measured by the depth, breadth, and quality of their involvement), the more likely they are to be physically active currently.” The study was conducted at a large Midwestern university and convenience sampling was utilized to study the responses of alumni (n=1,133) from the institution’s health, physical education, and recreation academic program.

The researchers found through a multiple regression analysis that two variables predicted current level of alumni physical activity: 1) the combined benefits of their past recreational sports participation, and 2) the depth (participation in selected recreational sports program areas measured on a 5-point scale ranging from “Never” to “Very Often”) of their past recreational sports participation. The researchers also found that alumni who participated in group exercise/aerobics, informal sports, intramural team sports, and strength and conditioning areas were more likely to report significantly higher levels of current physical activity than those who did not participate in such programs during their college years. One-way analysis of variance also found that there was a significant difference in current physical activity levels between those who were physically active during their college careers and those who were not physically active. Nearly 80% of the respondents agreed that their involvement in recreational sports during their college careers had a positive influence on their current levels of physical activity.

Although pilot studies have certain limitations, and this one is no exception, the findings are quite interesting, even exciting for practitioners and future researchers. This study should further the continuing discussion and thought among researchers and practitioners about the impact of recreational sports on students’ education, as well as their lives after graduation. For further information, read the article, which will appear in the Fall 2007 issue of the Recreational Sports Journal, or contact Dr. Craig Ross, Associate Professor, Recreation, Park and Tourism Studies, Indiana University, at cmross@indiana.edu.