Responsible Conduct: The Ethics of It All in Life and Research

The teaching and learning of ethics as applied generally to the human condition as well as specifically to ethics in research are explored in this discourse. This first section focuses on individual moral dilemmas whereas the second depicts professional ethics in a more complicated tension between the personal moral self and the professional rules, regulations, and ethical expectations of a particular institution

The RSBH value-judgment inventory:preliminary analysis of the Portuguese version

The belief that sports build character has been held across the centuries. However, the scientific scrutiny of these beliefs is only a few decades old. The RSBH Value-judgment Inventory (RSBH VI; Rudd, Stoll, Beller, & Hahm, 1996) was developed to assess moral (α = .82-.88) and social (α = .70-.77) reasoning. The former is based the principles of honesty, responsibility, and justice. By applying the defined principles, any abused or confused situation should be solved within moral standards (see Lumpkin, Stoll & Beller, 2003). The latter is about weighing a social value against a moral value which is more important. The purpose of this study is to validate the Portuguese version of RSBH Value-judgment Inventory (RSBH VI-P). To investigate for construct validity, it was anticipated that moral reasoning would be negatively associated with ego-involvement, but positively associated with task-involvement

Moral reasoning in sport:validation of the Portuguese version of the RSBH value-judgement inventory in adolescents

The purpose of this study was to examine the validity and reliability of the Portuguese version of the Rudd Stoll Beller Hahm Value-judgement Inventory (RSBHVI) in a sample of adolescents. The RSBHVI, which measures moral and social reasoning, was translated using a back translation method. A sample of 238 10th to 12th grade high school students (age mean value 16.93 years, s = 1.34) completed the Portuguese versions of RSBH, and the Task and Ego-orientation Questionnaire. Partial support for the original structure of the moral reasoning scale, but not the social reasoning scale, was found. Females, and non-athletes and individual sport athletes scored significantly higher than males and team sport athletes in moral reasoning, respectively. Moral reasoning was negatively correlated with ego-orientation (r = −30; p <. 001) and uncorrelated with task-orientation (r = .10, p > .05). Participants who were low-ego scored higher in moral reasoning than those who were high-ego. It is suggested that decreasing levels of ego-orientation may be necessary to improve athletes’ moral reasoning

A Moral Reasoning Intervention Program for Student-Athletes

A study was conducted to assess the effects of an intense intervention program on the moral reasoning and development of intercollegiate student-athletes. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of an experimental applied normative ethics intervention program on the moral reasoning and moral development levels of Division I university age student-athletes. One hundred and sixty-nine subjects were pre-, post-, and postpost-evaluated with the Hahm-Beller Values Choice Inventory and the Defining Issues Test. The Hahm-Beller evaluates moral reasoning in the sport context, while the DIT assesses reasoning within the social construct. Both tests have a philosophical foundation, are objectively measured and scored, and have high validity and reliability indexes. Studies using both instruments have found that the Hahm-Beller and the DIT correlate at the .82 level (Hahm, 1989; Stoll & Beller, 1991). Furthermore, the theoretical foundation of both the Hahm-Beller and the DIT is deontic ethics. Thirty-seven student-athletes were randomly selected to enroll in the two-credit course, with 132 serving as controls. This study showed that an intense "Moral Reasoning in Sport" course appeared to increase cognitive moral reasoning and development in intercollegiate student-athletes. The course was offered in the 1989-1990 academic year and counted for two NCAA degree applicable credits

Beauty and the Beast: Perception of Beauty for the Female Athlete

This chapter is a discussion and reflection of how beauty is perceived through the lens of four different athletes over four different decades. Two basketball players, a gymnast and a skater, reflect on the language of their sport and how beauty is perceived and manipulated through language and coaching techniques. The experiences affect athletes over a lifetime, both positively and negatively

The Missing Science: Ethics in Practice

The Greeks argued that philosophy was the most important science even though it was a science that studied no things. Their science, philosophy, focused on the meaning of life and death, life after death, existence, knowledge, knowing the good and bad, as well as the application of right and wrong. We argue that what is right and what is wrong should underlie the development of the current book Sports and Exercise Science. The stated purposes of the book, “to present the up to date knowledge about etiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis, management and prevention of chronic injuries or sports related long term changes in locomotor system. Moreover, topics about influence of sports activities on growth and development in pediatric population and presentation of acute injuries that often develop to chronic…as well,” are topics that should be addressed through science in sports and exercise science—philosophy and ethics. Ethics should govern all science, including the growth and development of sports and exercise science. Injury often occurs because of poor coaching, poor training, or overtraining. The problem exists because of unethical practice of either coaches, parents, leaders, trainers, or a combination of all of them. This chapter focuses on ethical education for professionals, educators, practitioners, and coaches

Leadership: The Act of Serving

This chapter is directed toward servant leadership as applied to the field of sport and athletic coaching. The purpose of the chapter is to give a brief definition of servant leadership and the application of such in coaching, and then to offer strategies for servant leadership as well as discuss several different research studies in athletic coaching. The conclusion simply states that though little research in coaching servant leadership exists, that which has been accomplished argues for implementation of coaching styles that are servant leadership focused

Interim guidelines for the assessment and treatment of pain in children with multiple sclerosis

IntroductionPain in multiple sclerosis (MS) is common, but literature on pain in children with MS remains scarce. Pain has physical, psychological, and social implications in MS, and both comprehensive assessment and interdisciplinary management approaches are needed. We sought to develop an interdisciplinary interim guideline for the assessment and management of pain in children with MS.Methods and materialsWe convened a modified Delphi panel composed of 13 experts in pediatric and adult MS neurology, physiotherapy, pain, patient lived-experience, advanced practice nursing, psychology, physiatry, and MS research. A survey was sent to panelists for anonymous completion. The panel discussed survey themes extracted by the panel chair. The process was repeated twice.ResultsThirteen assessment and treatment recommendations were produced regarding pain in children with MS.DiscussionFuture studies will assess implementation of these pain assessment and treatment guidelines in the clinical setting

HII Region Metallicity Constraints Near the Site of the Strongly Lensed Supernova "SN Refsdal" at Redshift 1.49

T. Yuan, C. Kobayashi, and L. J. Kewley, “HII Region Metallicity Constraints Near the Site of the Strongly Lensed Supernova "SN Refsdal" at Redshift 1.49”, The Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 804(1), April 2015. © 2015. The American Astronomical Society.We present the local HII region metallicity near the site of the recently discovered multiply lensed supernova (SN; "SN Refsdal") at redshift 1.49. "SN Refsdal" is located at the outer spiral arm ($\sim$7 kpc) of the lensed host galaxy, which we have previously reported to exhibit a steep negative galactocentric metallicity gradient. Based on our updated near-infrared integral field spectroscopic data, the gas-phase metallicity averaged in an intrinsic radius of $\sim$ 550 pc surrounding an HII region $\sim$ 200 pc away from the SN site is 12 + log(O/H)$_{\rm PP04N2}$ $\le$ 8.67. The metallicity averaged over nine HII regions at similar galactocentric distances ($\sim$5-7 kpc) as "SN Refsdal" is constrained to be 12 + log(O/H)$_{\rm PP04N2}$ $\le$ 8.11. Given the fortuitous discovery of "SN Refsdal" in an advantageously lensed face-on spiral, this is the first observational constraint on the local metallicity environment of an SN site at redshift $z>1$.Peer reviewe

Immigration Rates in Fragmented Landscapes – Empirical Evidence for the Importance of Habitat Amount for Species Persistence

BACKGROUND: The total amount of native vegetation is an important property of fragmented landscapes and is known to exert a strong influence on population and metapopulation dynamics. As the relationship between habitat loss and local patch and gap characteristics is strongly non-linear, theoretical models predict that immigration rates should decrease dramatically at low levels of remaining native vegetation cover, leading to patch-area effects and the existence of species extinction thresholds across fragmented landscapes with different proportions of remaining native vegetation. Although empirical patterns of species distribution and richness give support to these models, direct measurements of immigration rates across fragmented landscapes are still lacking. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Using the Brazilian Atlantic forest marsupial Gray Slender Mouse Opossum (Marmosops incanus) as a model species and estimating demographic parameters of populations in patches situated in three landscapes differing in the total amount of remaining forest, we tested the hypotheses that patch-area effects on population density are apparent only at intermediate levels of forest cover, and that immigration rates into forest patches are defined primarily by landscape context surrounding patches. As expected, we observed a positive patch-area effect on M. incanus density only within the landscape with intermediate forest cover. Density was independent of patch size in the most forested landscape and the species was absent from the most deforested landscape. Specifically, the mean estimated numbers of immigrants into small patches were lower in the landscape with intermediate forest cover compared to the most forested landscape. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our results reveal the crucial importance of the total amount of remaining native vegetation for species persistence in fragmented landscapes, and specifically as to the role of variable immigration rates in providing the underlying mechanism that drives both patch-area effects and species extinction thresholds