Definition
Objectivity is defined as the degree of independence of the measurement results of a measurement method from the person of the examiner. In short: different examiners should achieve the same results when measuring the same procedure. Based on one of the phases of the measuring process, objectivity is divided into:
- Objectivity of implementation
- Evaluation objectivity
- Objectivity of interpretation
Fundamentals of objectivity
In competitive sports, violations of objectivity occur less frequently than in school sports or popular sports. In most cases, performance-oriented athletes are familiar with the test procedures and they are carried out automatically. In order to be able to avoid violations of objectivity in advance, exact instructions for the execution are necessary.
(e.g. push-ups/start position and end position must be clearly defined. Violations of objectivity are particularly frequent in so-called technical-compositional sports (e.g. apparatus gymnastics, water jumping, figure skating, etc.). Sometimes in the form of scandalous judgements.
1. objectivity of implementation
Implementation objectivity concerns the degree of independence of the study results from random and/or systematic behavioral variations of the experimenter during data collection. Performance objectivity concerns the ability of the investigator to influence the data collection process. The objectivity of performance is given if the study is conducted under standardized conditions.
The objectivity can be controlled in two ways:
- Milieu-specific conditions (e.g. test room, floor coverings etc. )
- Material and apparatus specific conditions (e.g. sports equipment, swimming clothes, footwear etc. )
- Psychophysiological conditions (e.g. motivation, intensity of test preparation)
- Information media to describe the test behavior (e.g. verbal/written explanation of the task)
- Information content of the description of the test behavior (e.g. starting and end position during pull-up)
- Repeat the test with a different test supervisor (note, however, possible learning progress of the test persons)
- Subjects are randomly assigned to the investigator
