Running head: RESEARCH PROPOSAL

Final Project (Research Proposal): How do Americans feel about student athletes getting paid

a salary alongside their scholarships by the NCAA?

Name

Institutional Affiliation
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Abstract

Student athletes have for along time rendered their services in exchange for scholarships.

However, given the amount of revenue which NCAA collects, it has been argued that student

athletes deserve to be paid. Proponents of the idea of paying student players argue that selling

talents qualify to be compensated with wages. The labour laws indicate that workers can still

enjoy other benefits such as bonuses and given rights, apart from compensation. As such,

there is a school of thought which contends that student athletes should be paid salaries

alongside their scholarships. Opponents of this proposal argue that college players should not

be paid since they are students. The aim of the study is to seek answers for the research

question: The research question that this study will seek to answer is: How do Americans feel

about student athletes getting paid a salary alongside their scholarships by the NCAA? Both

quantitative and qualitative methods are used. Additionally, the study explains that primary

data shall be used. Questionnaires and structured interviews will be employed as the research

instruments of the study.

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INTRODUCTION

The topic of whether athletes should be paid or not by NCAA has elicited mixed

reactions from various people. Student athletes have also been on the forefront to ensure that

they push for pay becomes successful (Smith & Smith, 2011). For instance, there have been

several law suits which involve students and NCAA such as Anderson et al. Vs. NCAA et al.

In the case, a former student athlete sued the body by claiming that college players deserved

to be paid minimum wages as stipulated by Fair Labour Standards Act as they had a kind of

symbiotic relationship that was generating income (Rosenthal, 2017). Though the case was

dismissed on the ground that student athletes were not employees, it seems to have initiated a

struggle which could go on until a conclusion which satisfies both sides is reached. It is

important to note that some people believe that student athletes should be paid wages

alongside their scholarships, which implies that being paid salaries would not scrap the

existing scholarship programs. In light of the above information about the topic of whether

student athletes should be paid or not, it is important to know how Americans feel about it.

For this reason, the researcher decided to seek the opinion of Americans in as far as the topic

is concerned.

Research question

The research question that this study will seek to answer is: How do Americans feel

about student athletes getting paid a salary alongside their scholarships by the NCAA?

Importance of the research question

Given that the topic of student athletes being paid has attracted the attention of several

people, it is of paramount importance that research is done with the aim of recommending

appropriate actions. For this reason, the research question will be important as it will help

know the opinion of majority of Americans in as far as call for student pay is concerned.
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To what groups

The question in this study will be useful to different stakeholders of college sports.

For instance, groups such as NCAA, student players, college coaches, schools, governments,

and parents will find it handy. The above mentioned parties are the ones who are going to be

affected either directly or indirectly.

Consequences for not researching it

If the topic is not researched, the deadlock that has hit college sports for sometimes

will continue. Students will continue suing the NCAA and other involved bodies while.

Additionally, it will not be possible to obtain information about how majority of Americans

view the topic. As such, more research in the area is needed.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Several scholarly works attempt to analyze the situation surrounding the debate about

whether or not to pay the students athletes alongside their scholarship. Whereas some people

support the idea, there are those who contend that the athletes should not be paid (Johnson &

Acquaviva, 2012). The paper analyzes the past studies that have majored on this particular

issue.

Learning institutions provide education to society. Therefore, what the students gain

from schools is crucial not only for the short term period but also in the long run. On average,

a graduate is expected to earn more than one million US Dollars from the time of graduation

to retirement. The impression given from this argument is that students should not demand

payment for any co-curricular activities they participate in while studying. Experts in sports

matters recommend that denying the student-athletes salary because the value of education

acquired from the institutions is immeasurable is unfair (Johnson & Acquaviva, 2012). The

schools, through NCAA, benefit massively from such sports through trading of broadcasting
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rights to media organizations, therefore; there should be no excuse as to why participating

students should not be paid.

The argument that student scholarship provides free education, so athletes should be

paid does not hold waters. Although the NCAA acknowledged and revised the scholarship

package such that it covers for accommodation, books, teaching charges for boards, the

amount allocated for the scheme is not enough to meet all the demands of a college student.

Based on previous research, 78 percent of the citizens belonging to America hold the views

that the athletic activities that occur in college and campus generate profit (Johnson &

Acquaviva, 2012). The records obtained from NCAA, however, show that it is only 20 out of

126 players who get a share of the profit.

Some scholars hold I suggest that paying the college athletes does not make sense

since the money received from the sports programs are channeled back to other game

activities depending on how the department plans. In this case, students should be treated the

same regardless of the co-curriculum activities they engage in. Researchers who come from

this school of thought insist that a student remains to be a learner and not an employee

(Johnson & Acquaviva, 2012). As such, they do not be considered for any compensation in

the form of money. To put more emphasis, it is indicated that each year, the NCAA provides

financial support to more than eighty championships across the nation. Therefore, the

stakeholders have to think about whether they need to drop the sponsorship and direct the

money to pay the college athletes or should continue.

There have been issues which have been raised by the relevant stakeholders regarding

the situation about college gaming activities. It is argued that top departments that deal in

athletics matters seem to favor inter-colleagues competitions by setting aside a huge amount

of money for such events at the expense of other sport-related activities such as entertainment
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(Sanderson & Siegfried, 2015). Further, if the college realizes a loss from the circumstances,

the department does not address the matter in the right manner. Instead of analyzing the

financial situation to find out the right way to compensate for it, what the athlete departments

do is use more money on compensating the employees at the expense of another sporting

affair. The issue further makes the situation more complicated in as far as paying the college

athletes is concerned.

METHODOLOGY/METHODS

The methods which the researcher will apply in order to answer the question of the

study are included in this section. This chapter gives an explanation of the methods of

research that were utilized in this study. The subsections covered are research methods,

importance of research methods and their suitability, advantages and disadvantages of the

approaches to be used, sampling procedure, data types, how data will be utilized to answer

the research questions, as well as research instruments.

Research methods and their suitability

Both qualitative and quantitative research designs will be used in the study.

According to Dawson (2007), qualitative approach explores the behavior, experiences,

opinions, and attitudes of individuals through methods such as interviews or focus groups.

The method was deemed appropriate since it would help the researcher capture the opinions

of sample members on the question of whether student athletes should be paid alongside their

scholarships by the NCAA. On the other hand, quantitative methods help researchers

generate statistics using information obtained from structured interviews or questionnaires.

Quantitative data is usually collected using closed ended questions while the qualitative data

is obtained using open ended questions.

Pros and cons of the research methods

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Quantitative research approach is advantageous since it is easy to measure its

outcomes. Additionally, its outcome is presented using objective data (Creswell, 2009). The

study will aim at generating statistics regarding the number of people who will be supporting

a certain argument and also their demographic data. A major disadvantage of the method of

quantitative is that it does not explain information which is not in numerical form (Creswell,

2009). For instance, it is hard to capture beliefs, opinions, and emotions of human beings.

Qualitative research design provides an in-depth analysis of the information collected.

It also allows individuals to express themselves in an open manner since they are not given

options to choose from (Creswell, 2009). However, qualitative methods are usually time

consuming and it sometimes depend on the expertise of the researcher, particularly in the

case of structured interviews and focus groups.

Sampling size and Procedure

The targeted population will be the students of the United States of America.

However, only 30 people will be included in the sample because of time and financial

constraints. The method which will be used to choose sample members from the population is

random sampling, whereby each member of the population will have an equal chance of

participating in the study. The researcher will seek permission from ENMU to issue surveys

to students from six schools to be chosen.

Type of data to be used

Primary data will be used in the study since it provides a platform for researchers to

obtain first hand information on a subject.

How the data answer the research question

The researcher will set questions in a way that it is going to be possible to cover the

scope of the study. Thematic analysis will be used to answer the questions of the research.
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Research instruments

The research instruments that are going to be employed are questionnaires and

structured interviews. It is important to note that the researcher selected the two instruments

so that they can help capture both quantitative and qualitative data. They will be reflected in

the appendix section of the research.

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References

Creswell, J. W. (2009). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods

Approaches.

Dawson, C. (2007). A practical guide to research methods: A user-friendly manual for

mastering research techniques and projects. Oxford, UK: How To Books.

Johnson, D. A., & Acquaviva, J. (2012). Point/Counterpoint: Paying College Athletes. Sports

Journal, 15.

Rosenthal, G. J. (2017). College Play and the FLSA: Why Student-Athletes Should be

Classified as Employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Hofstra Lab. & Emp.

LJ, 35, 133.

Sanderson, A. R., & Siegfried, J. J. (2015). The case for paying college athletes. Journal of

Economic Perspectives, 29(1), 115-38.

Smith, R. A., & Smith, R. A. (2011). Pay for play: A history of big-time college athletic

reform. University of Illinois Press.