Black Vs White Male Athletes example essay topic

Introduction In the collegiate world of sports, basketball has become an increasingly recognized sport among African Americans, predominantly males. The hope of any young basketball player is that one day a scout will come and recruit them into stardom The question that presents itself as a problem to the lucky few who are chosen to go professional, is whether or not an education is more important than a million dollar shoe deal, "The NCAA's (1998) annual six-year study reported that only 33% of Black male basketball players graduated, (Chronicle of Higher Education, 1999). Individually, basketball reported the lowest graduation rate in all divisions", (Robinson, 2004: 1). Basketball players have become so idolized in the eyes of young Black male basketball athletes, that the value of education appear to be less important in the development of these young men, "According to Sailes (1997), there is an over-representation of Black males in particular sports and an under-representation in other segments of American society. He provides the example of percentages of Black males competing in the NBA (77%), NFL (65%), MLB (15%), and MLS (16%) in comparison to the fact that fewer than 2% of doctors, lawyers, architects, college professors, or business executives are Black males". , (Robinson, 2004: 1).

The idea of the attainment of a professional basketball player's salary in the NBA, without even having to go to school for the time it takes to earn a degree is very appealing to some players. Those with a wealthy, or even upper-middle class upbringing may not view material assets as a priority. In the Black community, we have theorized that money and success play a more important role than education in most households. Although these two seem to go together, one resulting from the other, this does not apply in the sports world. Our research will examine the role that the family value system plays in influencing Black vs. White male athletes to turn professional, as opposed to obtaining a college degree before turning professional. The role of the family value system encouraging Black male athletes to graduate from college appears to be less influential than that of White male athletes.

The attainment of a professional basketball contract is more important because the value system in African American families appears to be focused more on immediate gratification. So rather than an education that could eventually bring money into the family, a basketball contract is valued at a much higher level, because it is instant. One month, the family is struggling to pay for groceries and rent, the next they are all living in mansion, driving expensive cars, and eating at expensive restaurants. In White households, the expectancy to go through many stages of school and earn various degrees in order to achieve this level of living is more standard.

"The percentage of associates degrees attained increased by a small amount over bachelors degrees attained by Blacks in the academic year of 2000-2001. In all of the masters degrees acquired, Blacks were accountable for 8%, and a small portion of first professional and doctoral degrees, only accounting for 7% and 5% of those. Whites were said to have obtained the highest number of degrees", (Hoffman, 2204: 1). It is our goal to use our research to prove this point.

The role of the family value system in influencing Black male athletes appears to be less important than that of White male athletes. Although the Black community makes up 12% of the collegiate population, only 3% of those have a Ph. D. and only 6.7% have a Bachelors degree, (Hu, 2004: 1). The value system in African American families appears to be focused more on immediate gratification, rather than education, which seems to be a bigger value in White families. Basketball players White vs. Black have some goals to meeting in order to become successful in the sport of basketball. There are some influences that make some of the White and Black athletes want to go after the money and not an education. What is it that motivates these athletes to turn pro instead of getting an education?

Can it be the demographic or SES (Socio economic status) of the athlete and their family that influences their choice to enlist early into the NBA. One aspect of this study will look at SES and how it might affect the family values. There are more Black athletes that come from a home where there is either a single parent or two parents that have a low education, or the disparities of where the home is located in the suburbs to the inner cities that presents a challenge for the Black athletes. What makes some of these black and white athletes want to press on to play basketball and not have a concern about getting and education while in college.

The living conditions of where white and black athletes live do play a role in going into the NBA or getting an education before going in. These same conditions also seem to show why some of the black athletes end up going into the NBA right after high school and not pursuing college at all. The demographics of were white and black athletes come from play a crucial role in were they end up going for and education to playing in the NBA. Some of the issues in why some of the white and black athletes look upon education are based on the home of where each athlete's parents come from.

The level of income that one white family might have over a black family plays a role in where each family lives, the type of education, job status and where each white and black family lives in America. For example, if blacks and whites are not equally well informed about the stock market, or if employer-provided pension plans are not equally opened across races, there will be a systematic difference in the valuation for home ownership as a wealth generating instrument. Also, rates of return from home owning may differ systematically by race because of racial segregation in housing markets. Given that blacks and whites have different incomes, on average, housing values might appreciate differently in the two communities, causing the attractiveness of housing as an investment vehicle to differ between blacks and whites as well (Charles and Hurst, 6).

Blacks do not know how or where to get advice on stock information to getting a house that fits their needs. The income level of blacks and whites are different making it harder for blacks to have better opportunity on housing. Even to the community of where white and black families are going to live have a major role on the type of schools that have good education for their children to attend. Some whites and black athletes have a better opportunity depending on where their parents live and what type of education the parents have. Having an education is one tool that can be used to get the best housing in a good community where White and Black children can have a good education, from schools within that community. Some people feel that sports are the only way of using their talent to earn money.

Depending on the background of the athlete, the use of their skill may be the only way they know how to help their family economically Study Design We propose to conduct a comparative study, where we will be looking at White vs. Black male athletes and the influence that their family values have played in deciding their future. We selected a comparative study design because it is the most flexible in evaluating different responses and with the method being used there is little room for error or bias. Some of the strengths of this design include being able to allow the distinguishing characteristics of two or more cases to act as a springboard as theoretical reflections about contrasting findings. It allows one to make a comparison in relation to both quantitative research and qualitative research. A comparative design will allow us to look at both Black male athletes and White male athletes at the same point in time. By comparing these two cases, we will be better able to establish the circumstances in which our theory will or will not hold.

The limitations in comparative research take into account that students could potentially bias their own information, which could ultimately skew our data. Our study population consists of male basketball players from the three main Arizona State Universities: ASU, UA, NAU, as well as three Arizona Community Colleges: MCC, CAC, and PCC; their ages ranging from 18-25 years old. We will be able to identify each respondent based on their email addresses. The email address that the survey is sent to is the only one that we will accept responses from. We plan on selecting a sample using only the six schools in the state of Arizona because it would be time consuming and cost prohibitive to survey all male basketball players. In addition, it would be almost impossible to identify each and every player.

We will collect data from our respondents using a web-based questionnaire because it was the most cost-effective, by eliminating the use of paper, postage, and travel expenses. The strengths of using a web-based questionnaire are that we can reach more people in a timely manner, and there is no paper handling on our respondents side, and the data can be easily tallied through the website. Some of the weaknesses of using a web-based questionnaire are the possibility of a low return response and some emails may be lost in transmission, which would give us less data to evaluate. During the course of the study, however, we will be sending out reminders to those who have not responded and contact information will be provided to those who may need it.

We will obtain our populations email addresses from their respective universities and junior colleges and send out via email, a request to participate in our research. The email will include a link to a web page that will automatically upload the questionnaire for them to fill out. Selecting a Sample The total size of our study population is estimated to be 100 persons; therefore we will select a sample based out of Arizona from PCC, CAC, MCC, UA, NAU, and ASU. Our sample population will include all the male basketball players from the above schools. We decided on this study design because we are able to reach out to more students without the pressures of face-time and honest answers. We will follow-up by asking if the students who participated in the questionnaire would like to meet to have an open-forum discussion on some of the issues that their personal values play in their education.

Some of the limitations to our study design are that students may not be able to follow-up with face-to-face open-forums to discuss their thoughts. Methods and tools of data collection We are planning to use computer based software (i.e. excel, and a nova), so that as the participants enter information, it will be tabulated automatically, so that we may get a frequency distribution for each question. All of our questions are designed to allow data to be tabulated into the corresponding frequency distribution. The only variables to be cross-tabulated are socio-economic statuses, and Black vs. White players. Supporting reasons for website (Validity / Reliability): - Saves $$- Cost-effective because no stamps and no loss if some participants decide not to participate- Easily accessible- Easy to contain info (i.e. no papers to collect) - It's been used before (we need to come up with a past study as an example) - Administer site so unbiased and once info is input, locked Implication of the Research- - E-mail address is verification of person being used in study so that there is no overlapping of selected email addresses in system Implications of the Research Annotated

Bibliography

Hoffman, Katherine, Charmaine Llamas, and Thomas D. Snyder. "Degrees Conferred by Colleges and Universities". Status and Trends in the Education of Blacks. National Center for Education Statistics. 20 Apr. 2004 This website provided the information on the graduation rates of Black students at colleges and Universities.
Whites were said to have obtained the highest number of degrees. Hu, Arthur. "Degrees Earned by Race and Ethnicity". USA National Center for Education Statistics. No date of posting / revision given. 20 Apr. 2004 This website provides the information on the graduation rates of all races.
It also gives one important factor when studying the Black community's graduation rates, "Black may be 12% of population, but only 3% of PHD, 6.7% of Bachelors Degrees", and therefore encouraging the idea that the Black community does not support education as one of its main priorities. Robinson, Mark D. Ph. D. "Every Black Kid Should Strive to Be a Professional Athlete". Black Athlete Sports Network. 10 May 2004 This article proposes the idea of what would happen if Black people really embraced the sports world and made that their priority instead of education, "He provides the example of percentages of Black males competing in the NBA (77%), NFL (65%), MLB (15%), and MLS (16%) in comparison to the fact that fewer than 2% of doctors, lawyers, architects, college professors, or business executives are Black males", .