Global Research of Physical and Sports Activity: Problems of Methodology and Prospects of Development

Sociological measurement of the level of physical and sports activity of the population has developed primarily in the developed countries of the world, such as the US, Great Britain, France etc.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, first international studies of physical and sports activity in the territory of the European Union by the COMPASS project and Eurobarometer were conducted. In 2007, the ISSP conducted an international study “Leisure time and sports” in 34 countries in different continents.

A significant contribution to the development of the methodology for the study of physical activity was made by WHO experts who developed the International Physical Activity Questionnaire and the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (2002).

The scientific potential that has been achieved as well as the development of modern information technology have created the prerequisites for transition to global studies of sports and physical activity. Such global studies presuppose integration of sociologists within the framework of a special global scientific project supported by ISA, ISSA, IOC, UN, UNESCO, WHO etc. Preparation and implementation of such a project includes: development of a unified methodology for global measurements of the level, forms, factors of sports and physical activity of the population of the countries of the world; the use of advanced information and computer technologies in the collection, processing and access to the results of the study.

The experience of global sociological researches and Internet surveys, that have been carried out during the last decades by Gallup Organization, the UN, confirms the prospects of studying sports and physical activity on a planetary scale. This reveals new opportunities in the field of cross-national and cross-temporal analysis of the level, trends and problems of sports development in all countries of the world.