Är det alltid rätt person som vinner? - DiVA

Johansson, Annika. Är det alltid rätt person som vinner? Bedömningarnas
reliabilitet och validitet inom bedömningssporterna acroski och rytmisk
gymnastik. (Is it always the right person that wins? The reliability and
validity of the judgements in the judging sports acroski and rhythmic
gymnastics.) Dissertation for the Licentiate Degree of the Faculty of Social
Sciences, University of Umeå, Sweden, 2001. (In Swedish with a summary
in English). ISBN 91-7305-110-1, ISSN 0283-9997
ABSTRACT
Did the right person win? In competitive sports the difference between
winning and loosing can be very marginal but still the result will have a big
impact. To finish second, even if it is an Olympic Game, can be felt like a
failure for the athlete. In the light of this the quality of the measurements
and the judgements in sports are an extremely important issue. In this
dissertation, consisting of two separate reports and one summary report, the
freestyle discipline, acroski, and the gymnastic discipline, rhythmic gymnastics
(RG) where studied with a focus on the rules and judgements in the
sports. The reliability and validity of the rule and judging systems were
analysed together with changes in the rule and judging systems. The reliability,
as the judges ability to interpret the rules and judge in a consistent way,
and validity in the sense that the judgements, and the rules for the judgements,
where in accordance with the idea of the sport. Information was
gathered from rulebooks, judging manuals, meeting protocols, and historical
documents. For information on how the rules and judgements where perceived
among people involved in the two sports, interviews where carried
out with two coaches, two judges and four athletes from each of the sports.
In the summary report the results from the two reports where discussed and
a comparison of the rule systems and judgements was made together with a
discussion about reliability and validity problems in sports measured by
time, length and height. The results showed that the rule and judging
systems in acroski and RG in a short time have gone through major changes
to increase the reliability and validity in the judgements. The quick evolution
of these sports seems to be the main reason for these changes but also
other factors where of vital importance. Finding the balance between
making the judgements as objective as possible, without loosing the idea of
the sport, together with the quick evolution of the sports, seemed to be the
main challenges in the rule and judging systems of acroski and RG.
Key words: judgement, judging, measurements, sport, validity, reliability