A Content Analysis of Interscholastic Sport Management Research

What is it about?

Despite nearly 8 million student participants, and millions more stakeholders in the form of parents, administrators, and coaches, interscholastic sport research is scarce. To determine the scope of existing interscholastic sport research, the current study used a meta-synthesis content analysis to investigate all sport management journals listed on the NASSM list of Journals Serving the Community of Sport Management Scholarship. Results indicated that of the 37,107 journal articles on the NASSM list, 931 focused on some aspect of interscholastic sport. The number of sport-specific studies totaled 348, which is less than 1% of all sport management publications. Although results demonstrate research growth from the 1970s to 2024, particularly in the amount of qualitative research, the scale of research is strikingly small. Fortunately, newer journals appear to welcome interscholastic inquiry. The practical implication is that much knowledge has yet to be discovered which could aid in policy development, best practices, and administrative decisions. There is ample opportunity for interscholastic research, especially given the large number of stakeholders in a variety of different roles.

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