Everyday Statistics: A Story of the Meteorologist, the Football Coach, the Gambler, and the Student

Author(s):  
James Holst
Keyword(s):  
2017 ◽  

Politics is about conflict, struggle, decision-making, power and influence. But not every conflict and not every situation in which power is exercised is widely regarded as politics. A football coach who decides to leave a player on the bench because he has given him a bit of lip, is exerting power, and there is conflict here, too. However, few people would consider this a political issue. The same applies to a mother who quarrels with her adolescent daughter about going to a house party, a schoolteacher who gives a student detention, and so on. But if we were to limit our understanding of politics to official decisions that are taken by governments, in parliaments or on municipal councils, we would fail to recognise the political meaning of trade unions, lobbyists, protest groups, corporations and other more-or-less organised groups that influence collective decision-making.


2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 134-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alicia A. Grandey ◽  
Morgan A. Krannitz ◽  
Tyler Slezak

For many, Penn State is synonymous with football and Coach Joe Paterno, an association that has been a source of pride for many alumni, staff, and students for years. As Alderfer's (2013) article summarizes, that overlap has now made the horrific behaviors of the former football coach Sandusky indelibly connected to Penn State. Alderfer argues that the scandal can be explained by the actions or inactions of nine Penn State groups “whose collective behavior first allowed the criminal acts to occur and then put an end to them” (p. 117).


Retos ◽  
2016 ◽  
pp. 164-170
Author(s):  
Abel Merino Orozco ◽  
Ana Arraiz Pérez ◽  
Fernando Sabirón Sierra

El entrenador de fútbol sala prebenjamín se erige como un mediador social, formativo y deportivo en un escenario en vigente vorágine y masificación. Debe atender las tensiones de clubes, familias y niños para promover un sentido educativo de la competición deportiva; por ello, su figura es foco de estudio emergente. En esta investigación se desea conocer descriptivamente el perfil del entrenador, sus motivaciones, cualidades y dificultades para considerar la relevancia de su formación para la mejora del escenario formativo-deportivo en prospectiva. El estudio forma parte de la fase descriptiva de un estudio de modalidad etnográfica. Tras el análisis cualitativo del trabajo de campo de una observación participante con ocho equipos prebenjamines (ocho entrenadores varones) durante toda la temporada 2014/15, se categoriza un cuestionario que se generaliza a una muestra de 52 formadores (47 varones y cinco mujeres). Los resultados muestran un joven entrenador con escasa formación inicial relacionada con la Educación Física, un desempeño de la actividad motivada por su arraigo al fútbol a lo largo de su vida y una priorización de partida por atender a cuestiones educativas y de mediación social sobre el referente estrictamente competitivo. Se discute sobre el interés en la profesionalización y el reconocimiento social de la actividad. El apoyo formativo del entrenador se presenta como una necesidad para la mejora en el fútbol base, priorizando competencias para la mediación en escenarios formativos-deportivos y claves psico-socio-pedagógicas para gestionar la educación de sus jugadores prebenjamines.Abstract. The under 7s indoor football coach stands as a social, educational and sports mediator in a scenario in current massification. He must work between the tensions of clubs, families and children to promote an educational sense of the sport competition; therefore, he is an emerging focus of study. The aim of this research is to determine descriptively the profile of the coach, their motivations qualities and difficulties to consider the relevance of his formation for the improvement of the training-sports area in prospective. The study forms part of the descriptive phase of a study of ethnographic mode. After the qualitative analysis of the fieldwork in a participant observation with eight under 7s football teams (eigth male coaches), we construct a questionnaire, that is generalized to a sample of 52 coaches (47 men and five women) along the season 2014/15. The results show a young coach with poor initial formation related to physical education, that works motivated by its roots in football throughout his life and a prioritization to answer to educational issues and social mediation before of the strictly competitive reference. The research discusses about the interest in the professionalization and the social recognition of the activity. The training support for the coach is presented as a need to improve the youth football, prioritizing skills for mediation in training-sports contexts and psycho-socio-pedagogical keys to manage the education of their under 7s players.


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