Research Trends on Social Capital in Sports

Abstract

PURPOSE This study aims to analyze research trends on the social capital in sports. METHODS A total of 69 papers published until December 2020 were selected as research subjects. Further, Excel, KrKwic software, and NetDraw function of the UCINET 6 program were used for analysis. RESULTS First, social capital research on sports has shown quantitative growth since 2010. Second, the studies were conducted on sports participants such as general, elderly, college students, adolescents, foreigners, and the disabled, showing the highest frequency of research subjects. Third, quantitative research conducted based on the research method were several. Fourth, single-author studies were the highest. Fifth, as the result of the analysis on the publication journal, the Journal of the Korean Physical Education Association was shown the highest. Sixth, due to frequency analysis of the thesis keywords, “social capital,” “sports participation,” “action intention,” “social capital type,” “living sports participation,” and “youth” were shown the highest. Seventh, as a result of centrality analysis between keywords through the network analysis, “sports participation” in connection centrality, “health-promoting lifestyle” in proximity centrality, and “sports participation” in mediation centrality were found as the highest. CONCLUSIONS The significance of social capital in sports is more important than others because it is a fundamental element for creating a culture where more people can enjoy sports moderately in Korea, where capitalism and liberal democracy were adopted as the governing system. Therefore, this study can be a vital resource significantly contributing to the understanding and active use of social capital, a significant factor in developing sports in Korea.

Keywords

• sport
• social capital
• content analysis
• text network analysis