3.2.2 - Socio-cultural influences

Question 1

What are the five social groups that can impact participation?

Answer 1

Gender, age, socio-economic group, ethnicity and disability

Question 2

What percentage of disabled people participate regularly in physical activity and sport?

Answer 2

17%

Question 3

What percentage of adults from black and ethnic minority groups participate regularly in physical activity and sport?

Answer 3

38%

Question 4

What percentage from the lowest socio-economic groups participate regularly in physical activity and sport?

Answer 4

26%

Question 5

What are the participation level difference between males and females?

Answer 5

Males participation level is 41% Females’ participation level is 31%

Question 6

How might the social group (family) discourage participation in a physical activity?

Answer 6

• They may not provide encouragement
• They may have safety concerns or lack of interest in the specific sport.
• May provide pressure early on in life to focus on academic work rather than physical activity.
• Cannot supply the financial support (low socio-economic group) in the form of equipment, kit, coaching and transport.

Question 7

How might the social group (gender) discourage participation in a physical activity?

Answer 7

• Lack of facilities aimed at women
• Lack of female teams.
• Lack of female coaches.
• Barriers created by incorrect stereotyping (e.g. a women’s role is at home).

Question 8

How might the social group (Ethnicity) discourage participation in a physical activity?

Answer 8

• Dress codes
• May limit participation in certain sports, as parts of the body may need to be kept covered. This could result in embarrassment or low self-esteem.
• Single sex rules (e.g. muslim)
• Prevent women from participating in mixed sex, as women’s role may be perceived as in the home in certain cultures.
• Due to cultural or religious beliefs, some people may be (stereotypically) drawn towards certain activities.

Question 9

Why are more females taking part in sport and physical activity now than in the past? (4 marks)

Answer 9

There are lots of reasons:

• More sports available to females
• More competitions/events/leagues available to females.
• More coaches available to females.
• More role model
• More opportunities at school
• Changes to lifestyle.
• More encouragement available to females.
• More times to play due to female/male role changes/traditions.
• Changes in attitudes towards females participation / equality for women.
• Female sport well publicised/ campaigns promoted.
• Women’s only sessions in clubs/centres.
• Changing attitudes/ambitions amongst women.
• Increased chance of sponsorship for elite women athletes / earning money.
• More female sports coverage on TV / media.
• More childcare available.

Question 10

What factors could influence/discourage participation within a social group?

Answer 10

• Attitudes
• Role models
• Accessibility
• Media Coverage
• Sexism / stereotyping
• Culture/religion/ religious festivals
• Family commitments
• Available leisure time
• Familiarity
• Education
• Socio-economic factors / disposable income
• Adaptability / inclusiveness.

Question 11

Describe one negative effect that your socio-economic group might have on participation.

Answer 11

An individual from a low socio-economic group will not be very wealthy / so will not be able to take part in activities / that need expensive equipment / or are expensive.

Question 12

Describe one positive effect that your peer group might have on participation.

Answer 12

If your peer group or friends enjoy taking part in activity and/or appreciate the benefits / they will encourage and motivate others to join in as well.

Question 13

Why is there a reduction in participation rates amongst young people after they finish organised schooling?

Answer 13

Whilst at school, young people have organised physical education, which is made compulsory by the Government. Additionally, post education young people normally find work to earn money. This means there is less free time to exercise.

Question 14

What is disability?

Answer 14

Disability is a physical or mental condition that limits a person’s movements, senses or activities.

Question 15

What is the difference between integration and adapted sports?

Answer 15

Integration is when disabled people are fully involved with the full community. Adapted sports are competitive sports for individuals with disabilities. While they are often parallel existing sports played by able-bodied athletes, there may be some modifications in the equipment and rules to meet the needs of the participants.

Question 16

What are the three types of disability?

Answer 16

• Mobility impairments - Sensory impairments - Mental impairments

Question 17

What are the benefits of integration for disabled people?

Answer 17

Reduction of the possible discrimination that they cannot participate with able-bodied individuals. Less stereotyping and thus fewer barriers .

Question 18

Identify four different types of media.

Answer 18

Television, newspaper, magazines, radio, social media, internet.

Question 19

What is commercialisation?

Answer 19

Commercialisation is the process by which a new product or service is introduced into the general market.

Question 20

Explain the relationship between sport, sponsorship and the media.

Answer 20

In this relationship the sport is sold to business as a means of advertising the business’s product. The business sponsors the sport to obtain advertising space to publicise its product. The sport is shown on the media, which promotes the product, and the sport spectators see the advertising and buy the business’s product.

Question 21

The relationship between sport, sponsorship and the media is known as what…

Answer 21

The golden triangle

Question 22

In commercialised sport, how does the golden triangle work? (4 marks)

Answer 22

Media uses sport to gain viewers/readers; the media is used by the business for advertising; business pays for media advertising space/time; business pays sport to act as advertising medium; sport must be in media to attract sponsorship.

Question 23

What are the benefits and disadvantages of this golden triangle? (4 marks)

Answer 23

Benefits to sport: Sport gets money for allowing events to be televised; business pays sports for advertising at grounds/events/sponsorship; sport becomes popularised, so increases the amount of fans. Disadvantages to sport: Media sensationalise sport, and reports dysfunctional aspects. The media may affect the organisation and timing of the sport. Media can change the nature of sport, in respect to the breaks, lengths and method. Only popular sports are televised. Players spend too much time working or focused on appearance. More pressure is put on to win due to the sponsorship pressure.

Question 24

Name three types of sponsorship.

Answer 24

1. Financial 2. Clothing and equipment, including footwear 3. Facilities 4. Transport

Question 25

How might financial sponsorship improve an individual’s performance?

Answer 25

By having financial sponsorship, the athlete can focus more on training than worrying about ensuring they have enough money to live with.

Question 26

How might clothing/footwear sponsorship improve an individual’s performance?

Answer 26

This provides the athlete with a higher quality running shoe that enables them to run for greater distances with more comfort and grip.

Question 27

How might equipment sponsorship improve an individual’s performance?

Answer 27

This provides the athlete with higher quality balls for example that enables advanced skills to be developed. Additionally, it cold make it easier to catch or grip.

Question 28

How might facility sponsorship improve an individual’s performance?

Answer 28

This provides the athlete with a place to train through free of charge so they can train more effectively and more often.

Question 29

What is the media?

Answer 29

Main ways in which people communicate collectively.

Question 30

Explain the main reasons why business’s sponsor sports teams.

Answer 30

Publicity Association - to successful teams may deem the sponsor successful. Support - sponsoring local sports teams to help them out. Tax Deductable - business’s do not need to pay tax on sponsorship.

Question 31

How might commercialised activity impact the performer?

Answer 31

The income the performer gets will be increased, due to the increased revenue created from the sponsorship. This might mean they also get the best equipment available. Additionally, due to the increased publicity the performers lifestyle may be impacted (media intrusion) and social background of the performer. The sponsorship would allow the player to train more freely without worrying about the financial factors. Likewise, they could receive equipment/clothing and footwear. The negative aspects could be they have a contract with the sponsor and have to act in such a way, attend media commitments, which would mean a loss of free time and potential privacy. The sponsors product may not be entirely suitable in terms of the performers values, as it could be deemed unhealthy. If the performer starts to lose or become unsuccessful, may lead to a loss of sponsorship and money. This could lead to them cheating (and thus breaking the rules).

Question 32

How might commercialised activity impact the sponsor/company?

Answer 32

Commercialisation provides sponsors with the publicity they require for their product. The advertising through sport attracts a very large audience and many people will want to be associated with sporting success. The status of the product is linked to that success. There could be increased sales of the product and therefore increased income for the business. On the negative side, anything that occurs in a sport that is harmful to that sport, team or individual will also affect the sponsor and potentially the sales of the product. So things such as crowd trouble, a run of poor results, cheating or drug taking may affect the reputation of the sponsor.

Question 33

How might commercialised activity impact the official?

Answer 33

Officials can get paid to officiate, and their income has increased in recent years. People who officiate elite sport are invariably full-time; officiating is their job. In most elite sports, if matches are being played more frequently, then more matches can be officiated by the relative few high calibre officials. A top football or rugby union referee can earn £50,000-£100,000 per year. Matches are held around the world, so there is the opportunity to travel. Many officials can become nearly as famous as the players they control. But there are downsides, mainly because of the media coverage involved. Officials are regularly placed in the media spotlight over decisions they have made. Making a bad decision can lead to being dropped from the elite panel of officials and, with social media, severe criticism from the general public. The modern-day official has to be prepared to take the rough with the smooth in much the same way as the professional sportsperson in terms of accusations of not performing well, being biased, cheating, etc.

Question 34

How might commercialised activity impact the audience/spectator?

Answer 34

In general, commercialisation has been beneficial for spectators. There is more money available for better players to be brought in and matches are played at a higher standard. Facilities have improved for spectating at the match, with many teams updating existing facilities or moving to new improved facilities. The spectators can be more involved through the use of huge TV screens to show replays, statistics and other information, which also make them more informed and knowledgeable about the activity through buying merchandise. Changing the format of a sport, together with longer seasons, means that there are more opportunities for spectators to watch their favourite sport. The armchair spectator can see many more games using wide range of different camera angles. Therefore are more sports available to watch than ever before with dedicated sports channels on TV, radio and websites. There are also sport-specific newspapers. The main problem for the armchair spectator is the isolation from the live match, but TV tends to compensate for that through the use of crowd noise, specialist camera positions, the use of the red button to offer a preferred view and informed opinion from ‘experts’.

Question 35

Describe two ways in which the director of a televised sports event could influence how sport will be seen by viewers.

Answer 35

The director could: - Select highlights to be shown / to make the game seem more exciting. - Selects sports to be shown / from a range of options as in a multi-sport event like the Olympic Games. - Can be a very positive influence as all of the action can be shown / from fair and unbiased angles. - Can also influence the commentators or summarisers, to be fair in their commentary / which shows a balanced content of the game. - Can decide not to show disruptive aspects such as streakers on the pitch / so that this sort of behaviour in not encouraged. - Can have a negative influence as they may choose to show certain parts of the action or edit shows or programmes / which can give false impression of the actual events. - Can choose to focus on poor attitudes or even poor behaviour by fans / to sensationalise certain aspects and give a sport or an individual a bad name. - Can have a positive influence by using effects such as action replays or different camera angles or microphones by the pitch or ref link / which shows good play or decision making. - Decides who to interview / to get further insight into the game, or event, or competition.

Question 36

What is sponsorship?

Answer 36

Sponsorship is when athletes or teams are provided with clothing/facility use/ equipment/ money on someone’s behalf, such as an event/competition or advertisement.