| The field of sport management has grown tremendously as an academic discipline. Researchers have continuously discussed the scope and direction of research and the importance of the diversity of research design. There have been a significant number of studies examining the scope and direction of research over the past few decades such as: the lack of diversity in methodology; the lack of diversity in research focus; the lack of importance of power analysis; and the lack of diversity in topic areas. Embracing a variety of research designs is an absolutely necessary condition for the growth and credibility of sport management as an academic discipline. Therefore, the overarching goal of this dissertation was to provide sport management researchers with the diversity of research designs useful for helping them deal with different types of data. The purpose of three analytical studies outlined in this dissertation was as follows: (1) to examine the influence athletic performance has on the elements of source credibility and the causal relationships among consumers' brand attitude, attitude toward the advertisement, and purchase intentions; (2) to examine whether the hypothesized model, indicating the relationship between the dimensions of service quality and the assessment of service quality, fits the data adequately; (3) to examine whether the variation in athletic giving crowds out academic giving. Researchers in the field of sport management should have a comprehensive understanding of the various research methods to enhance scholarship in sport management as they rely heavily on empirical data based research. It is clear that experimental and longitudinal research is a formidable methodological challenge and which is why the current study addresses how scholars can integrate experimental and longitudinal research to examine relationships that have been elusive in past research efforts. |
