4147.4.55.001 - Culture and Recreation News, Mar 2006  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 07/03/2006   
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SPORT BARRIERS AND MOTIVES LITERATURE REVIEW

A research paper reviewing and summarising the literature on barriers to and motives for participation in sport and physical activity will be released shortly. The review was undertaken to assist in developing the additional questions on participation in sport and physical activity included in the 2005-06 Multi-Purpose Household Survey. Key messages from the review are that

  • different people and different groups of people have different reasons for participating
  • reasons can change over time, including very short periods of time
  • barriers can be definite obstructions (e.g. an injury preventing or restricting participation) but they can also be related to attitudes or priorities (e.g. simply being "not interested" or having "insufficient time")
  • motives for participation are particularly difficult to measure as they include poorly defined and overlapping reasons such as "well-being", "enjoyment" and "social reasons".

A conclusion from the review is that quantitative surveys can provide information to give some insight into reasons for participation and non-participation, but more in-depth qualitative research involving personal interviews may be required before the issues can be more fully understood.

Further information on research into barriers and motives may be obtained from Mike Stratton on (08) 8237 7399 or by emailing <nccrs@abs.gov.au>.