A Content Analysis Exploring 25 Years of Conference Abstracts From the Eastern Canada Sport and Exercise Psychology Symposium

Authors:
Publisher website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine 25 years of abstracts from a prominent sport and exercise psychology student conference to investigate presentation characteristics, presenter characteristics, and presenters’ current occupations. A quantitative and qualitative content analysis of 2,102 abstracts and 1,204 presenters was conducted. Sport psychology research was represented most frequently over all time periods (49.5%–65.7%); however, exercise psychology (+10.9%) and health psychology (+5.3%) grew more prevalent over time. Quantitative methods were used most frequently in all time periods (43.9%–53.8%), while qualitative research increased in frequency over time (+4.9%). The most common research topics, regardless of date, were (a) physical activity (13.6%) and (b) equity, diversity, and inclusion (11.5%). Results of current occupations of former presenters demonstrated that the proportion of individuals who occupy academic positions has decreased over time (−21.7%). Explanations and implications are provided for research topic and methods trends and the state of career prospects for students.

This publication has 37 references indexed in Scilit: