Abstract
The purpose of this study was to identify and analyze faculty, staff, and students'perception of the site visitors who were involved with the 2011-2012 Athletic Training
Educational Program (ATEP) Site Visits in Illinois. The perceptions from multiple
universities were compared to determine whether there was perceived site visitor
subjectivity during each institution's site visit. The problem that arises is that verification
of standards is a very subjective task. Most site visitors think that the program they are
affiliated with is the best (Price, 2011 ); therefore, it is difficult to accurately state that
personal bias is left at the door once a site visitor arrives on a campus for a site visit
(Price, 2011).
In this field of research, there have been previous studies using qualitative methods,
so this research study will also use a qualitative method. The information was collected
with the use of an online survey from the faculty, staff, and students that were involved
with the 2011-2012 CAATE Site Visits for the Athletic Training Educational Program's
(ATEP) at selected universities in Illinois. The program directors were contacted by the
researcher via phone and solicited to participate in the research study. If the program
directors had the desire to participate, the researcher e-mailed the survey link from survey
monkey to them and asked them to forward the link on to their students, faculty and staff
Two Athletic Training Educational Programs in Illinois gave consent to participant in this
research study. To promote confidentiality, the pseudonym names "University Green"
and "University Yellow" were given to the selected Illinois universities.
There were a total of 109 subjects recruited for this study and 83 participants
completed and returned the research survey successfully (76% return rate). A qualitative
method was used to analyze the data. The three major themes that arose included: site
visitor knowledge, the interview process, and site visitor attitude. As well as the three
major themes, subthemes also emerged from the additional comments that were provided
from the two universities. The subthemes were knowledge of CAA TE standards,
knowledge of each ATEP program, questions, individual interviews, and the site visitors'
time spent on campus. The themes emerged after labeling each key piece of information,
assigning a label to capture its meaning, and coding the labels as emerging categories
developed. Relationships between categories were evaluated and examined and collapsed
together or separated when appropriate.
The results from this research study provides direction for further research which
should include reinvestigation of CAA TE' s proposed changes to the site visitors once
they have been implemented. Ten years have gone by between the 2005 Wimer study and
this present study with minimal changes to CAATE site visitor training and performance.
The perceptions of the faculty/staff and students from the two ATEP's in Illinois further
show that CAA TE needs to re-evaluate their site visitors based on their performance.
| Date of Award | 2012 |
|---|---|
| Original language | American English |
| Awarding Institution |
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| Supervisor | Lee Ann Price (Supervisor) |