Survey Analysis

As primary research I decided to complete a survey. I completed this on Survey Monkey as it is a well known website that I have used before. I also knew the results were clearly understandable and easy to interpret due to its graph system with a breakdown.

I was able to use the results to add more information to my report and gain an understanding of anxiety from a persons perspective. I found 3 questions in particular especially helpful in my research:

These three especially I found to be in pattern the most with my research and fit my understanding the best.

Primary Research: Observation

Observation

I also believed actually observing a team performance may be beneficial in my investigation. I observed an U16 league  match against a weaker team than themselves and also a cup semi-final match. The team I observed are based in Horsley and are in the second highest division  (west Surrey boys)

During the league game the players had a very good performance both on and off the pitch. They were all very enthusiastic and had optimal levels of arousal which also showed when performing. Their team performance was outstanding with strong communication between them and good tactics that didn't break down. They rarely missed a pass and the majority of their shots were on target. All had good technique in their skills. They won the game 4-0. When I asked one of their players about their performance they felt they had adrenaline in their system and were up for the performance. He also said he was more ready for the game as they knew comfortably win. I interpreted this as the team having an optimal level of arousal and as a result not suffering from anxiety. However, the opposing team at one point had a penalty opportunity missed so I asked the player who took it how they felt. They said they were worried they were being judged by their team and the stress of the situation was high especially as at the time the score was 0-0. I interpreted this as the player suffering evaluation apprehension which meant his anxiety levels increased and he was feeling the cognitive and somatic symptoms of this which led to him missing. 

The semi final game however was a different story. The team looked nervous even when warming up and the vibe of the team seemed lower. The opposing team was top of the premier division of the age group. It was apparent the team was over aroused as they were missing basic passes, shooting with the wrong part of the foot etc. The final result was 4-1. 

I asked the players as a group why their performance was not as strong as I previously saw. They all emphasised the pressure of the match and the want to progress to the final an the expectations they'd set of theirselves may have been unrealistic to what they could achieve. One player mentioned they'd "bottled it" and said they did not communicate well as a team or use their tactics. One said they saw their captain give up and subsequently they gave up to (social loafing.) They also expressed the fact they knew the team was of a much higher quality than their own so they were nervous which they would not be in other matches.

I believed I could use this in my research as it showed the effects of the opponent on a persons performance.

Report Styles and Referencing

During a meeting with Steph on the 16th of October, we went through as a group about how to set about writing our reports. We were shown the mark scheme once again and were given gave about the easiest way of writing our report. After the meeting, I researched the best way for me to personally write my report as well as the best style of referencing to use:

Report Writing;

I researched information about different types of report, to see which style would best suit my report. As much of my EPQ is based around research of a topic, I decided a research report would be best, however due to conducting my own primary research I would incorporate aspects of lab based reports in, like evaluations and methodology. I would put this information in the second half of my report, as I have mainly used my primary research to back up my findings rather than use my researched information to back up my study.

I also learnt that writing style in a report was as key as the style of report written. Many factors like who I’m aiming the report at, what my report is about, and how I am to put my information across can impact my style of writing. However, different parts of the report would require different styles, for example I would be more factual and descriptive when writing about the information I have learnt whereas when evaluating both my research and my sources I would need to be more analytical. 

When I write my report I will structure it in an altered IMRD style (introduction, method, results discussion.) However, before my introduction I will write and analyse the information I have found (as well as my survey) before then talking about my primary research due to the nature of my investigation. As well as this, I will include an introduction and a conclusion to my report as well as a bibliography to list my sources.

Sources; http://www.skillsyouneed.com/write/report-writing.html

https://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/ScienceReport.html

http://www.lib.uoguelph.ca/get-assistance/writing/specific-types-papers/writing-lab-reports-or-research-reports

http://www.sussex.ac.uk/s3/?id=173

 

Referencing;

In my report I will have to reference every time I use information I found from one of my sources. If it is a direct quote I will put the information in quotation marks (“ “) and use a reference system, which I will also have to use even if I don’t directly quote the information. Using information from websites without referencing is plagiarism therefore it is a vital part of my report and has to be done correctly.

After research into different types of referencing (eg Harvard, Vancouver etc) I decided the most appropriate type of referencing for my report would be APA (American Psychological Association) referencing mainly due to the fact I am doing a psychological based EPQ.

Further research into APA referencing showed me how I would reference my variety of sources, therefore making me more confident when referencing.

Sources;

http://www.coventry.ac.uk/Documents/Harvard_Guide_v3.0.1.pdf

http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/univ/plagiarism/students/referencing/conventions.html

http://www.apastyle.org/learn/faqs/web-page-no-author.aspx

https://www.usq.edu.au/library/referencing/apa-referencing-guide#How_to_cite_references_within_the_text_of_an_assignment

Planning My Primary Research

My supervisor suggested it would be a good idea to do my own personal research for my EPQ. As a result, during and after the summer (when most of my research was completed) I started planning ideas of what I could do for my primary research.

After coming up with a few ideas, I planned two different experiments I could do. One of them was more focused around the affects of an audience on performance, where my second idea was more focused on self-confidence in a sport and how that can help us facilitate or inhibit our performance.

Discussing with my supervisor, we agreed that investigating how audience affects our performance would be the best idea. She also suggested that I change the sport I focused my study on to basketball, due to the fact that our college had two high standard (GB) basketball players and it would be more reliable to compare them to a novice performer. As well as this, she suggested that if I use my three settings (without an audience, with an audience of people they know and an audience of strangers) and asked the people I use to record a few weeks of average shots from the free-throw line, I would then be able to compare their performance in the situations to their average, which would able to show us more clearly if the environments helped facilitate or inhibit their performances.

As a result, we slightly changed my methodology, and started to look into buying the equipment I needed to complete my study.

Experts

I decided to ask my PE teacher some questions about my topic as I knew he knew a lot about it. I asked him a few different questions (to what extent do you believe that anxiety can affect our performance and what do you think is the best to help cope with anxiety) that helped me both clarify and get an opinion on both aspects of my question.

His answers to my question gave me a better understanding, as well as make me aware that personality can affect whether we interpret anxiety in ways that can facilitate or inhibit our performance. As a result, I researched more into personality to add into my report.

Source List

The research for my topic required me to keep track of all the sources I used to investigate my topic. I wrote the links down in a word document and this post so I can keep track of what sources I have found.


// Sources //

https://www.adrenalfatigue.org/saliva-testing-for-adrenal-hormones

http://www.markedbyteachers.com/as-and-a-level/psychology/arousal-and-anxiety.html

http://believeperform.com/performance/anxiety-within-sport/

http://www.healthcentre.org.uk/sports-medicine/sports-performance-anxiety.html 

http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/sports-anxiety-theory-and-research-39282#

http://www.reversaltheory.net/files/Reversal-Theory-Fact-Sheet.pdf

http://believeperform.com/education/crowd-and-the-home-advantage/

Inside Sports Psychology by Costas Karageorghis and Peter Terry;  ISBN-10: 0736033297

Pure Sport by John Kremer ISBN-10: 0415525284

http://www.athleticinsight.com/Vol1Iss2/Cognitive_Behavioral_Anxiety.htm

 http://www.soccerperformance.org/specialtopics/stresanxirelax.htm

http://www.livestrong.com/article/117970-anxiety-sports/

http://www.brianmac.co.uk/companx.htm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEmXtP_e26E

http://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/guide/stage-fright-performance-anxiety

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjRvaGyYh-s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2EzK4xvJ3c

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/meaningful-you/201309/how-overcome-sports-performance-anxiety

http://www.brianmac.co.uk/companx.htm

http://coachadkins.com/2010/11/how-does-anxiety-affect-your-performance/

"Relationship of intensity and direction of competitive trait anxiety to skill level and gender in tennis" by Perry and Williams.

 "Anxiety, Attentional Control, and Performance Impairment in Penalty Kicks" by Wilson, Wood and Vine.

"Relationship Between Competitive Trait Anxiety, State Anxiety and Golf Performance: A Field Study" by Weinburg and Genuchi

http://www.psychologycampus.com/sports-psychology/arousal-anxiety.html

http://pe-arousal.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/inverted-u-theory.html

http://thesportdigest.com/archive/article/stress-and-anxiety.html


http://www.marinij.com/article/ZZ/20100808/NEWS/100809159

http://www.podiumsportsjournal.com/2011/10/23/managing-anxiety-after-personal-injury-in-athletics/

http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/sportspsychology/a/Injury_Coping.htm

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2707070/

http://www.slideshare.net/mobile/hollyjohnson93/causes-of-anxiety-in-sport

http://sportsmedicine.about.com/cs/sport_psych/a/aa010603a.htm

http://www.holah.karoo.net/sport/arousal.doc

http://oneathlete.co.uk/anxiety-in-sports/

http://www.brianmac.co.uk/relaxation.htm

http://www.psychologycampus.com/sports-psychology/arousal-anxiety.html

Weeks 7, 8 and 9

During week 7 I was planning on reading 3 more articles and write up notes. I read the three sources (

http://www.brianmac.co.uk/companx.htm // http://coachadkins.com/2010/11/how-does-anxiety-affect-your-performance/ // 'Relationship of Intensity and Direction of Competitive Trait Anxiety to Skill Level and Gender in Tennis' by Perry and Williams.) and wrote notes on one of them, however didn't have time to write up notes on the other two. The three sources concreted my knowledge, as well as specifying the information to a certain sport (tennis) which I had not done before.

 

During week 8, I planned to contact two experts and start planning and buying resources for my primary research. However, due to the people I could use as experts being university lecturers, I waited until the second week back from college as I believed I was more likely to get a reply. To make up for this, I finished writing the notes from the articles the week before, and planned what I would need for my primary research.

 

The last week of summer I dedicated my EPQ work to complete as much of my research as I could, as well as organizing my work and making sure I had documented somewhere what I had done. I did as much research as I thought was appropriate as I knew I would need to find more as I started to plan my report and fit everything together. I made sure my source list was updated fully and that my notes were neat and together.