Conclusions and Takeaways
Conclusions:
Let’s return to the research question: How do fans relate to sports violence in the media?
Through my research, we can see that the way in which fans relate to sports violence in the media is actually a continuum. There is no specific way in which fans relate to sports violence in the media. Fans can have a wide variety of relationships with sports violence in the media. The way in which they relate depends on the specific sport which they are relating to, their relationship to the players and teams who are involved in the sport that contribute to their personal bias, and how the specific sport’s league handles instances of violence. Each occurrence of sports violence must be looked at as a specific case because the results will constantly vary based on these factors.
Previous research, while valid and informative, needs to be expanded upon. Research should be done on each sport specifically in order to get the best assessments. Additionally, while I looked at professional sports, other levels of sports, including high school and college, should be looked at separately as well because this could also be a factor in how fans relate to sports violence in the media. The possibilities are endless.
Takeaways
Overall, there is a need for more research within the area of sports violence. My research showed that while most research has lumped sports into two main categories of violent and nonviolent, the distinctions go far beyond this thought.
Researchers in the area of sports should take away from my project that of all the areas researched in sports, this area is the least discuss, however, it is one of the most prevalent areas within the sports. Important to this thought is the fact that the contact sports which contain the most violence are the most popular sports resulting in the most discussion. Looking at sports and leaving out the discussion of violence is doing a disservice to the topic in general.
