Not a Little Issue

Hypothesis: The way concussions have been handled in professional sports in the last century has been pitiful. I asked the question "How should professional sports leagues and teams approach concussions"? I wanted to see how many people were aware of this issue and see what they thought of it. Concussions are serious injuries that affect not only an athlete's performance, but if it is suffered enough times it could have serious implications on an athlete's life. I believe that most of the people that watch sports will be aware and somewhat knowledgeable of concussions; however' they might not know how to prevent concussions from happening.

 

Context: I surveyed 10 people about my controversial subject of concussions in professional sports. I mainly aimed my survey toward males at the beginning. I decided to survey females to see how much they knew about concussions because females watch sports too. I tried to survey more teenagers because most all teenage males watch professional sports. I decided to target an older demographic because those people grew up in a different era where concussions were not a huge concern and everyone said "play through the pain".

Questions	Male	Female
Age	14-18: 10  19-25: 1  26-35: 2     36+: 4 Total: 17	14-18: 7   26-35: 1 Rest: 0 Total: 8
Q1- Do you watch sports?	Yes- 15      No- 2	Yes- 6     No- 2
Q2- How aware are you of concussions in professional sports? Aware/ Somewhat Aware /   Not Aware	Aware- 12 Somewhat Aware- 7 Not Aware- 0	Aware- 4 Somewhat Aware- 3 Not Aware- 1
Q3- How much do you believe the integrity of professional sports has been downgraded because of the new rule changes around the leagues to prevent concussions?  A lot/ A little/ Not at all	A lot- 7 A little- 8 Not at All- 2	A lot- 4 A little- 2 Not at all- 2
Q4- Which sports have problems with their players having concussions? Only sports that at least one person circled are included.	Football- 17     Lacrosse- 3 Basketball- 11  Rugby- 6 Baseball- 14     Snowboarding-9  Skiing- 4 Hockey- 15 Soccer- 8	Football- 8     Lacrosse- 1 Basketball- 7  Rugby- 6 Baseball- 6      Skiing- 5 Hockey- 6      Tennis- 3 Soccer- 6      Lacrosse- 4 Golf- 3          Volleyball- 2 Snowboarding- 6
Q5- Which sport do you think has the biggest issues with concussions?	Football- 12 Hockey- 3 Rugby- 2	All 8 said football
Q6- Should sports leagues change equipment to try to prevent concussions? Why or why not?	16 said yes and it had to do with safety reasons and saving the players from future injuries. 1 said no because they wanted to keep the game the way it is.	All 8 said yes in order to protect player’s safety.
Q7- Do you think concussions affect you for the rest of your life? Yes or No	All 17 answered yes	All 8 answered yes
Q8- What can professional sports leagues do to prevent concussion besides changes in equipment?	All 17 said something different. Answers: Nothing, I don’t know, don’t play it, more education, more training, more padding, adjust rules, penalize players, and some did not know what to do	All 8 had differentiating ideas. Some agreed with each other. Answers: Change rules, educate more, benefit from the past, Some did not know
Q9- Do you think players should sue their leagues if they have life-long concussion like symptoms? Why or Why not?	16 people said no because the players knew what they were getting into and signed a contract. 1 said yes because if injuries consistently occur and the league does nothing it is not right.	7 people said no because they knew what they were getting into. 1 said yes to get justice for the league not doing anything.
Q10- How much can a concussion affect the way an athlete competes? A lot/ A little/ Not at all	A lot- 14 A little- 3 Not at all- 0	A lot- 7 A little- 1 Rest- 0

Trends:  

·         Everyone was aware of concussions in professional sports even those who did not watch the sports.

·         Everyone agreed that concussions affect you your whole life.

·         Football, Hockey, and Rugby are the most well know concussion occurring sports.

Data Analysis: Some of the data for this survey was all over the place. Other parts everyone agreed on the question. I found that everyone whether they watched sports or not, knew at least somewhat that concussions were a problem. Everyone was aware that concussions can affect someone's whole life. Everyone agreed about football having concussion problems. This shows you how mainstream football has become and how more people are becoming more aware of concussions. Hockey and soccer are also popular choices. I was surprised snowboarding was picked as much as it was. I did notice that all of the guys chose sports that usually involve a lot of contact or hard hits while females though that concussions could happen in non-contact sports. All but one constituent said leagues need to change the equipment used to prevent more injuries. They all believed player safety was more important. All but two people said players should not sue their leagues if they experience life-long concussion like symptoms. They said the players knew what they were getting into and signed a contract to play. The two that said no said so because they need to get justice if the league did not do anything to help them. There were a number of different answers for question 8. Everyone either had a different opinion or did not know what to do. Everyone agreed concussions do affect a player ability to compete. There were some answers confused me and also surprised me, such as the answers for question 8.

 

Conclusion: After reviewing my data, I have concluded that my hypothesis was right. Everyone who I surveyed knew about concussions, even those who do not watch sports. My constituents had some ideas about how to prevent concussions but did not know enough information to come up with a solid solution. An answer to my essential question is still a little lost. From my results I gathered that my constituents think equipment needs to be changed and some rules should be changed but they also believe the integrity of the game will also be affected.