A few years back, Title IX was imposed by the NCAA in an attempt to equalize the number of male and female collegiate athletes. I am first proposing a survey regarding opinion on whether it was morally correct to eliminate sports and athletes from pursuing their passions because of this and then further that surgery with research and acknowledgment of the hardships this has caused. Likewise, it has also given opportunity to so many people as institutions have provided sports they did not currently offer. I am in no way, shape or form trying to show any bias one way or the other, but I think it would be interesting to research the effects – both good and bad – on collegiate sports since this ruling took place. Let me know what you guys think!
I’m not sure what “surgery” has to do with this study — “further that surgery with research and acknowledgment of the hardships this has caused.” I think you mean “survey”! Consider a survey a method rather the research itself. The survey will provide results on anything you want to know, but you have to know what you want to learn before you can develop the survey. You’re seeking to understand the impact of Title IX, but it’s not clear on who or what you want to measure those impacts. Do you want to look into athletes who lost sports? Who gained sports? Or would you like to look into the impact of Title IX on colleges and universities in fiscal, recruiting, or ranking terms? Be clear on what you want to focus your attention, then think about the kind of data you’d need to collect to help you understand the topic or subject you’re pursuing. The idea is strong, but it needs some limiting of scope (time, location, people) and narrowing of focus (institutions, teams, individuals).
Professor,
Thank you for the thoughtful response and the guidance. I have been thinking about that since our last class meeting and – to be more clear – I want my proposal to focus more specifically on athletes who lost sports. It will be important to note that some athletes have of coursed gained sports from this ruling, but I think I would like to look more closely at those affected negatively. Additionally, I think it would serve me well to narrow the focus, like you said, and dive deeper in to institutions affected in Power 5 conferences or even more specifically, the University of Richmond’s own conference, the Atlantic 10. In order to better collect data for this, it will be important for me to look in to first, what schools within the conference(s) were affected and how, (in terms of gaining or losing sports/athletes) and then ask more deeply the toll that that imposes on student-athletes who then lost opportunities because of such. A survey would be a solid place to start in terms of actually gaining data, but I think it more pertinent to my own cause to do more research on a smaller focus like one conference.