Mungaray 1

Jake Mungaray

Matthew Wilson

Writing 2

9 June 2017

WP2 Revised: Final Portfolio

The debate over whether or not Division I student athletes should be paid in addition to

receiving an athletic scholarship has been a hot topic recently, in more than just the field of

college athletics. This topic is widely talked about due to the fact that a change in NCAA policy

in this area does not affect just athletes; it also affects all students at universities across the

country in addition to affecting labor rights and laws. As a result of this issue playing a role in

multiple different industries, many disciplines are researching this issue, including sociology and

sports law. The ideals of each discipline vary due to the respective disciplines having various

discourse communities. Sociologists value research stemming from human sources because it is

their belief they can best improve society from this data; while, on the other hand, sports law

scholars place high importance on legal documents because they believe those are the governing

principles that contribute most to how society functions.

One characteristic of the sociology discipline is the use of framing questions in a

particular order so researchers can both effectively and efficiently obtain data. In a research

article published in the College Student Journal, author Raymond Schneider asked the following

questions via questionnaire to a randomly selected group of college students: if they think

student athletes should be paid, why/why not, and how should the payment for college athletes

should be funded. The order of the questions Schneider chooses to ask frames the issue as

simple, by leading with the yes or no question of whether the person thinks student athletes
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should be paid, and then asking more complicated follow up questions. If Schneider instead

asked his sample size the third question before the first question, results may be skewed because

that forces people to confront the more complex issue first. However, in order to generate clear

and raw responses, the scholar frames the questions in this particular order.

Using a questionnaire or survey as the main research method is a common way of

obtaining data in the sociology field. Following the initial questions, the questionnaire then asked

people to fill out information regarding demographics and socioeconomics of paying for college.

This method displays sociologists are seeking personal opinions and information because the

goal of this questionnaire is to collect data on college students perceptions on paying college

athletes. The attempt to study and collect qualitative data from human beings of the sample size

can further be seen by the second half of the questionnaire. Sociologists are interested in how

differences in demographics or socioeconomics play a role in answers to the questions asked in

their research. This relates back to the overall goal of the discipline, in which sociologists place

importance on societal opinions, interactions, and structure because they believe those are the

driving forces behind many of the issues. Thus, understanding the data will allow them to help

improve society.

Another distinct characteristic of the sociology discipline is the format used and how the

research is presented. For sociologists, once they have collected data on their human samples, it

is then essential for them to study and analyze the broader implications the results have with

respect to issue and society at large. This explains why there is a discussion section. This section

allows the scholar to comment on any noteworthy trends or observations he noticed after

reviewing the data. Such topics are introduced in this article following phrases such as of

particular interest to this study and perhaps the most noteworthy finding of this study
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(Schneider 2001). Lastly, the discussion section presents the author with one final opportunity to

express final thoughts on the implications of the study, issue a call to action, or suggest ideas for

a further study. This is important for the sociology discipline because society is always changing,

so it is necessary to continue to do conduct research in order to observe how societys reaction to

certain issues shifts over time.

On the other hand, the sports law discipline frames issues as complex and sophisticated

by beginning with a serious, complicated scenario related to the issue(s). Before exposing the

claim, argument, or belief, sports law scholars attempt to get the audience to think about the

issue so they realize they are not aware of an immediate answer or solution. This establishes the

sports scholars credibility and allows he or she to persuade readers to side with their argument.

In the study A Solution for the Pay for Play Dilemma of College Athletes, sports law scholar

Roger Groves accomplishes this goal and shapes the topic by introducing real life situations and

questions, with hypothetical situations that can result from it. For example, Groves discusses an

actual situation regarding juke moves made on national television by Ohio States Braxton Miller

and Ezekiel Elliot, in which legally, those moves could be labeled as a players likeness.

Groves goes on to introduce follow-up questions and controversies that could result from Miller

and Elliot preventing the NCAA from using their likeness. Questions include, Would they

lose their scholarship if they were paid any sum of money from the video game? (Groves

2016). The proposed questions are very complex, with answers that are unknown due to the

situation not happening yet, and therefore no evidence or research sports law scholars value, such

as a previous court ruling. This presents the perfect segway for him to offer up solutions to his

own proposed questions and, since Groves asked the questions, he is going to have formulated

well thought out answers and models.

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Contrasting from sociology, the sports law discipline features virtually no data focused

on human beings or societal interaction. Instead, the research conducted is centered around

finding and discussing relevant court cases, laws, and rules or guidelines (in this case NCAA

rules). Scholars want to position rules, laws, and court cases to create the best case possible for

their claim, just like a lawyer. This is precisely how Groves conducts the research. After

successfully framing the topic with questions, he provides background information about NCAA

rules regarding how scholarships work, what classifies on benefiting from likeness, etc.

Throughout the article, he continues to cite various laws and court cases. This approach

demonstrates that sports law scholars value guidelines and information because they believe it

provides the strongest basis and support for their claims. Furthermore, sports law scholars

conduct research in this field because it is their belief that the legal documents created by

governing bodies directly contributes and effects how people and overall society in the sports

community functions. Understanding the legal documents that are in place will give sports law

scholars the best opportunity to improve the sports community and communities at large.

Sociology is a discipline that focuses its research on studying humans and collecting data

from a sample size in order to discover the thoughts or opinions of those people. From there,

sociologists will analyze this data and discuss the broader implications the results have on

society. On the other hand, sports law scholars do research not to discover any new data, but

rather attempt to locate legal documents and present them in a relevant manner particular to the

study. In this case study, the NCAA will utilize both disciplines so that they are aware of what

fans opinions are about the issue, as well as to become knowledgeable of legal barriers and

complications that could arise. Numerous amounts of research has been conducted with the

hopes of reaching a solution on this issue. It is necessary to look at research from multiple
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disciplines for this issue, as well as all issues, in order to be aware of all angles and how the issue

affects all discourse communities.

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Works Cited

Groves , R. (2016 ). A Solution for the Pay for Play Dilemma of College Athletes. Texas Review

of Entertainment & Sports Law,17(2). Retrieved May 6, 2017 .

Schneider, R. G. (2001 ). College Students' Perception On The Payment Of Intercollegiate

Student-Athletes. College Student Journal ,35(2). Retrieved May 6, 2017 .