Research findings

Abstract

This Chapter explains the main findings collected after the application of the ESTPORT questionnaire to the student-athletes from the four universities, comparing data from the pre and post-test. The questionnaire was previously designed and validated by research team (Sanchez-Pata, et al., 2016). The first purpose of this project was to design and validate a questionnaire about the perceptions of elite student-athletes at university relating to their dual career. In the initial creation of the instrument, constructs were defined and three dimensions were established: academic life, sporting life and sports tutor. After a process of 'back translation', experts (n = 8) agreed the construct to ensure content validity, the dimensions and the questionnaire questions. Statistical analysis of the items showed adequate comprehension to confirm content validity of participants (n = 30). In construct validity (n = 73), the results showed correct psychometric quality, internal consistency, reliability and adequacy of the structural model. The instrument had evidence of external validity, since the results were congruent with the main findings of the research. Finally, the "ESTPORT-survey: Questionnaire about the perceptions of dual career student-athletes" (Sanchez-Pato et al., 2016) was found to be a valid and reliable assessment instrument, consisting of 84 questions (in Spanish and English language), that enables the perception of elite student-athletes to be known about their dual career whilst at university. In summary, this assessment tool had two categories: (a) Sociodemographic and contextual variables (i.e., "Which level in sport do you participate?"); and (b) Dual Career issues (i.e., "Do your studies interfere with your athletic performance?"). The second category contemplated three dimensions about the dual career: "Academic life" (i.e., "How much do you value having access to 'Distance learning' as part of the services and feature of your dual career at your university?"), "Sporting life" (i.e., "How much do you value the 'Sport monitoring' services and features as part of having a dual career at your university?"), and "Sports Tutor" (i.e., "How highly do you value these services and features of the dual career at your university 'Dual career sports tutors'?"). Most of the questionnaire items used a Likert scale ranging from 1 ("strongly disagree") to 5 ("strongly agree"). The final version "ESTPORT-survey", about the perceptions of the dual career, were assessed by the student-athletes without the presence of the trainer or teacher. The time approximately for each questionnaire (pre and post) were about 30 minutes (Appendix 8.2. ESTPORT-Survey). This chapter explains the main findings collected after application of the ESTPORT-survey to the student-athletes from the five universities, comparing data from the pre and post-test.