スポーツの研究領域の変遷に関する研究

抄録

    The aim of this study was to trace the historical evolution and trends of the research areas of sports. Recently not only has the sports industry been growing, but also many universities have started to engage in research and education on sports. However, it is very difficult to comprehend all the perspectives of the research areas of sports which include such a wide variation.
    We analyzed the citation networks of the research areas of sports and sports management, which has been growing rapidly, in 1988, 1993, 1998, 2003, and 2008.
    As the outcome of this study, we realized that the numbers of papers has been increasing in both the areas of sports and sports management. In particular, study of sports ethology, including “motivation management” or “participation motivation in sports” has been studied continually. In the 2000s, in addition to the rapid growth of studies of sports business such as those regarding management of professional sport teams or economic impact of sports, studies of sports sponsorship and brand equity have also greatly developed. Also, the study of sports medicine has been segmented according to affected areas and the evolution of sports. Moreover, study of people’ s health and the rehabilitation has increased from the late 1990s. However, it can be considered that the study of social sciences, including women’ s participation in sports, or drug-use, has diminished.
    This study’ s results will help identify the research trends and historical evolution of sports. We hope that analyzing the front-line of the research areas of sports periodically using our method will contribute to the development of the study of sports in Japan.