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The identification of key factors student-athletes perceived to be important to the college student-athlete retention process

Rivera, Christina A.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1091805526

Abstract Details

2004, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Educational Policy and Leadership.
The purpose of this study was to identify the key factors student-athletes perceived to be important in their decision-making to stay in school. To accomplish this purpose, it was necessary to: 1) construct a conceptual model of student-athlete retention based upon the literature associated with traditional student retention and the college student-athlete experience, 2) utilize the conceptual model of student-athlete retention to guide the creation of an instrument that captures student-athlete perceptions of factors important to the retention process, and 3) use exploratory factor analysis to extract meaningful factors underlying the items of the instrument. Participants in this study consisted of 330 NCAA Division I student-athletes attending a large west coast university. Using the Understanding College Student-Athlete Retention Questionnaire developed for this study, data were collected in person during a team meeting for each participating sport. A total of 42 items, one question regarding intent to leave, and 17 demographic questions were included in the questionnaire. The Likert-scaled items were measured on a six-point scale ranging from Not Important (1) to Very Important (6) with the Importance scale referring to how important each statement is to the participant's decision to stay in school. Principal components analysis with VARIMAX rotation extracted a four-factor model. Cronbach's alpha and split-half (Spearman-Brown) reliability coefficients were calculated for the instrument and for each extracted factor. The questionnaire had a reliability coefficient of .930, whereas each factor had a reliability coefficient greater than or equal to .784. Forty-one of the 42 items included in the questionnaire loaded onto one of four factors: Quality of Academic Experience, Quality of Athletic Experience, In-Network Support, and Out-Of-Network Support. These four factors reflect what student-athletes perceived to be important to the student-athlete retention process. Factor scores were also calculated for each factor based on intent to leave. Results indicated that respondents who did not have intentions of leaving school early placed a significantly higher level of importance on the Quality of Academic Experience, whereas respondents who did have intentions of leaving school early placed a significantly higher level of importance on the Quality of Athletic Experience.
Ada Demb (Advisor)
319 p.
student-athletes; retention; attrition; dropout; dropping out; dropout process; college athletics; college athletes; intercollegiate athletics; college sports

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Rivera, C. A. (2004). The identification of key factors student-athletes perceived to be important to the college student-athlete retention process [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1091805526

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Rivera, Christina. The identification of key factors student-athletes perceived to be important to the college student-athlete retention process. 2004. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1091805526.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Rivera, Christina. "The identification of key factors student-athletes perceived to be important to the college student-athlete retention process." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2004. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1091805526

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1091805526
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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.