The involvement of selected young women in sport

Abstract

This study explores the involvement in sport of 14 young women from a co-educational school. The information about their involvement in sport was gathered from a short questionnaire, group discussions and personal interviews. The methodology was selected to take the experiences and interests of the students into account. Feminist perspectives on research were consulted in order to define an appropriate methodology. The influence and bias of the researcher is acknowledged as affecting the study process and results. An outline of a feminist perspective on research is provided. In accordance with some feminist thoughts on research, the literature review on women and sport was carried out after the personal data had been collected and analysed. The results of this study suggest that sport is an appropriate and important activity for women; however more could be done to enable greater involvement. This study also indicates areas for further research into women and sport.