Metaphoric Perceptions of the Students of the Sports Sciences Faculty Regarding the Concept of Fair-play

Abstract

The objective of this study is to reveal the perceptions of the students of the sports sciences faculty regarding the concept of “Fair-Play” by means of metaphors. 275 students [male_(n=173), female_(n=102)] studying at the Sports Sciences Faculty of Seljuk University in the fall semester of the 2016-2017 educational year took part in the study voluntarily.

The data of the study were obtained by making the students complete the sentence of “Fair-Play is like………….. because………..” Every student was expected to create a metaphor regarding the concept of Fair-Play in that way. In this study, the research design of phenomenology was used and the analysis of the data was conducted by using the content analysis method.

The perceptions of the students of the Sports Sciences Faculty for the concept of “Fair-Play” were scrutinized by way of the metaphor analysis method. In this scope, the process of analysis and construal of the metaphors developed by the students took place in five stages as (1) determination of the metaphors, (2) classification of the metaphors, (3) category development, (4) ensuring validity and reliability, and (5) transfer of the data to the SPSS package program for quantitative data analysis.According to the findings of the study, the students created totally 119 valid metaphors regarding the concept of “Fair-Play.”

The metaphors were analyzed in terms of their common traits and brought together under seven conceptual categories. At the end of the study, it was determined that students have perceived Fair Play as the “Expression of Wisdom” by 27%; as the “Expression of Nature” by 25%; “as a Guide” by 19%; as the “Expression of Humanly Qualifications” by 13%; as the “Expression of Cleanness” by 8%; as the “Expression of Contradiction” by 5%; and as “Important Persons” by 3%.