Emily Nothnagle, an undergrad student who is using the SSI-sponsored National Sports and Society Survey (NSASS)  for her research thesis, was just awarded a $5,000 Undergrad Research Scholarship to continue her thesis work under Dr. Chris Knoester.

 

Here is a brief summary of Emily's project:

 

 

The significance of the proposed project is its contribution to understanding the implications of sport participation and its concern with the development of grit. Grit is important to study because it is associated with a host of benefits, including career success and lower mental health risks. In terms of analyzing sport participation, the proposed project uses new, landmark sports and society survey data from a large U.S. sample (N = 3,993) to assess the implications of sport participation over the life course for adults’ grit. The study of sports and society issues suffers from a paucity of quantitative research, so this project is novel in that regard. Also, it seeks to disentangle sports participation from selection concerns about who participates in sports, to a greater extent that most previous research, by looking at changes in sport participation patterns over the life course and linking those to reports of adults’ grit. The findings from this study can inform our knowledge about how sport participation shapes the development of grit. They should inform policies about the offering of sport participation programs, over the life course. Also, the findings should increase our awareness of what grit is and how it can be developed, for good.

 

For more information on SSI researh opportunities, contact Dr. Knoester.