Evaluation of Orienteering Athletes' Decision Making Strategies for Some Variables

Abstract

The aim of present study is to determine orienteeringathletes’ (OA) decision making strategies (DMS) for some variables. Subjects in the study are 325 OA (236 male, 89 female) chosen randomly among 1000 athletes attending 1st Turkish Grade Orienteering Championship between 23 and 24 November 2013 in Soma district Manisa. Data related to DMS were obtained in convenience with the method developed by Mann et al (1998; Melbourne Decision Making Questionnaire) and translated in Turkish and revised by (Deniz, 2004) and involving a Decision Making Styles Scale (DMSS) with 28 different items (Deniz,2004). Demographic data were gathered through a personal information form. Frequency distribution, t test and ANOVA variance analysis were used to determine the decision making level of orienteering athletes, to compare two and more independent variables, respectively. Difference between the groups’ views was evaluated at the confidence level of P:0.05. Differences between mean scores given to the groups for the variables of gender, settlement area and sport age were found to be statistically significant. Statistically significant differences were also found in the scores for DMSS between the variables of age and sport age. No statistically significant difference was found to be between self-esteem and the scores of DMSS for the characteristics of being a national athlete. It was suggested that orienteering sport suitable for individuals from any age group can be advisable to develop and improve the DMS.