The Value of Sport – why we need to improve the evidence base for sport
The importance of sport as a means to achieve wider social, health, economic and environmental outcomes has been increasingly recognised by Government and others over recent years. Much of the increased investment in sport that we have seen from Lottery and other sources has been advocated on the argument of ‘sport for good’ as opposed to ‘sport for sport’s sake’. However, with this justification has come an increasing challenge to sport to demonstrate with ‘hard’ scientific evidence the benefits that are often claimed for it.
In order to respond to this challenge there have been a number of commissioned reviews that have sought to summarise the evidence base for the social benefits of sport. Generally speaking these reviews have concluded that the strongest evidence for the benefits of sport are in relation to health outcomes although even here the focus has invariably been on physical activity rather than ‘sport’ per se. In other areas of social policy such as crime reduction, drug use and education the evidence base has been less convincing often drawing on theoretical associations and anecdotal accounts. All of the reviews have concluded that there are few examples of quality scientific evidence emerging from the evaluation of the impact of local projects.
What is the Value of Sport Monitor?
The Value of Sport Monitor is a joint Sport England and UK Sport initiative working in conjunction with Professor Fred Coalter and colleagues at the University of Stirling. It provides an online monitoring service of the most up-to-date reference sources and critical reviews of published research evidence on the contribution of sport to a range of broader social issues.
The evidence is arranged in accordance with the themes outlined below. To read a summary of the key evidence on these themes, click on the links below:
The Value of Sport Monitor is not a bibliography (of the type already produced by a number of other agencies). Rather it is based on a relatively rigorous selection process and, in the main, deals with evidence and reasonably robust empirical material and not the more general academic/theoretical material.
Content of Monitor
The value of sport seeks to deliver on the following objectives:
- Provide extensive and up- to-date coverage of the research evidence from UK and international sources and promote access to, and dissemination of, the evidence;
- Present material in a user friendly and flexible format that provides the capability for searches by subject area, country of origin, author and type of methodology;
- Provide an interactive capability to enable researchers to submit details ‘on-line’ about their research. These may be added to the reference sources after review to ensure that they meet minimum quality standards.
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