An examination of the decision-making styles of hearing-impaired sports club managers in Turkey

Abstract

This study was conducted so as to evaluate decision-making styles of managers of sports clubs which are affiliated under the Turkish National Federation for the Deaf. The study was carried out at the international sign language and hearing-impaired sports training seminar in Antalya organized for club managers and coaches of hearing-impaired sports clubs between the 8th to 9th January and the 15th to 16th January 2011. A total of 92 sports club coaches in Turkey gave information to 76 managers (82.61%) about the study’s objective, on a totally voluntary basis. While managers were filling out questionnaires, they also used the sign language interpreter of the Turkish National Federation for the Deaf. The result of the study shows that a careful decision-making score is higher in elderly people. Similarly, avoidant and panic decision-making scores are lower in age groups above 51. No statistically significant difference was found in the lower dimensions of the scale, depending on the educational background variable. A statistically significant difference was determined in the lower dimension of the scale for self-esteem depending on the (on a yearly basis) management period variable (F (3.73) = 6.982; P < 0.05). For the group with 6 to 10 years management experience and the other with 11 years and more, self-esteem scores were higher. It is very important to bring sportspeople together within a club and to organize sports activities which can play a significant part in the socialization process of hearing-impaired people. Extensive work on the infrastructure must be conducted in order to overcome any deficiencies of these clubs in on legal, structural and functional levels. The extent to which decisions to be taken by managers or future managers of hearing-impaired sports clubs are key to providing for the social integration of disabled individuals should never be underestimated. Key words: Hearing-impaired, hearing-impaired sports clubs, sports club management, decision-making styles.