SPORT PATTERN AND PERCEIVED CONSTRAINTS · most common activities among the Muslim female were walking and volleyball. The most important sport constraints perceived by Muslim female

SPORT PATTERN AND PERCEIVED CONSTRAINTS OF THE MUSLIM FEMALE IN HONG KONG

BY

CHUNG PUI KI 02013584

AN HONOURS PROJECT SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF

BACHELOR OF ARTS

IN

PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND RECREATION MANAGEMENT (HONOURS)

HONG KONG BAPTIST UNIVERSITY

MARCH 2005

HONG KONG BAPTIST UNIVERSITY

15th March, 2005

We hereby recommend that the Honours Project by Miss Chung Pui Ki

entitled “Sport Pattern and Perceived Constraints of the Muslim Female in Hong

Kong” be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Bachelor of

Arts Honours Degree in Physical Education And Recreation Management.

______________________________ ______________________________

Dr. Tsai Hiu Lun, Eva Dr. Chow Bik Chu

Chief Advisor Second Reader

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my chief advisor Dr. Eva Tsai for

her constructive and facilitative advice in the whole presentation of this project. I

would also like to express my thanks to Dr. Chow Bik Chu for being my second

reader. Special thanks to Dr. Monika Stodolska in University of Illinois at

Urbana-Champaign for her kindly assistance and support throughout this year. I

would also like to thank Hong Kong Islamic Youth Association and Chinese Muslim

Cultural and Fraternal Association to grant me an opportunity to conduct survey in

their organizations.

Last but not the least, I would like to thank all the participants who involved in

this study.

____________________________ Chung Pui Ki Department of Physical Education and Recreation Management Hong Kong Baptist University Date: 15th March, 2005

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to examine the sport pattern and perceived constraints

of the Muslim female in Hong Kong. Quantitative and qualitative research

methodologies were used in this study. In quantitative study, the participants were

102 Muslim female in Hong Kong who aged between 15 and 55. Their nationalities

were: Chinese, 20.6% (n = 21), Pakistani, 5.9% (n = 6), Malaysian, 2% (n = 2),

Indonesian, 37.3% (n = 38) and Filipino, 34.3% (n = 35). The study found that the

most common activities among the Muslim female were walking and volleyball.

The most important sport constraints perceived by Muslim female were access

constraint and resources constraints. Non-Chinese Muslim female perceived larger

constraint then Chinese Muslim female in each dimension of sport constraints and

total sport constraint. In qualitative study, the interviewees were 11 Muslim female

who aged between 20s and 60s. Their nationalities were: 5 Chinese, 4 Indonesian,

and 1 Filipino and 1 Sri Lankan. The results were parallel with the quantitative

study that access and resource constraints were the major constraints that hinder

Muslim female in sport participation. But interestingly, dress code was not a

constraint for most of the interviewees.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER Page

1. INTRODUCTION

Introduction……………………………………………………………1

Statement of Problem………………………………………………….4

Research Questions…………………………………………………....4

Definition of Terms……………………………………………………5

Delimitations…………………………………………………………..6

Limitations…………………………………………………………….7

Significance of the Study……………………………………………...8

2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE………………………………………………..9

The Interpretation of Sport in Al-Qur’an and Hadith…………………9

Motives for the Muslim Female to Participate in Sport…………….....12

Sport Pattern of the Muslim Female…………………………………..14

Constraints of the Muslim Female…………………………………….16

Summary………………………………………………………………23

3. METHOD……………………………………………………………………25

Quantitative Method…………………………………………………….26

Instrument………………………………………………………...26

Sample……………………………………………………………29

Procedures………………………………………………………..29

Treatment of Data ………………………………………………..31

Qualitative Method…………………………………………………….32

Instrument………………………………………………………...32

Sample……………………………………………………………33

Procedures………………………………………………………..33

Treatment of Data ………………………………………………..36

4. ANALYSIS OF DATA: QUANTITATIVE…………………………………38

Examination of Sport Constraints Questions………………………….38

Results…………………………………………………………………39

Discussion…………………………………………………………….61

5. A NALYSIS OF DATA: QUALITATIVE…………………………………....68

Results…………………………………………………………………68

Discussion……………………………………………………………..80

6. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS……………………………………….85

Summary of Results…………………………………………………...85

Conclusions…………………………………………………………....89

Recommendations of Further Study…………………………………...90

REFERENCES……………………………………………………………………….93

APPENDIX

A. Questionnaire (Chinese Version) ………………………………………...99

B. Questionnaire (English Version) ………………………………………..102

C. List of Questions (Chinese Version) ……………………………………106

D. List of Questions (English Version) …………………………………….108

E. Consent Form …………………………………………………………...110

LIST OF TABLES

TABLE PAGE

1. Correlation between each dimension of perceived sport constraint and

the total perceived sport constraints……………………………………………...39

2. Frequency and percentages of sport activities participants usually took

part in…………………………………………………………………………......43

3. Frequency and percentages of sport activities wished to engage in……………..45

4. Description of sport constraints perceived by Muslim female (both

Chinese and non-Chinese)………………………………………………………47

5. Independent samples t-test for sport constraints between Muslim female

who took part in sport and who did not take part in sport………………………51


who wore veil and who did not wear veil………………………………...…….52


who wore traditional Islamic dress and who did not wear traditional

Islamic dress…………………………………………………………………….53

8. Independent samples t-test for sport constraints between Chinese

Muslim female and non-Chinese Muslim female………………………………..54

9. One-Way ANOVA comparing sport constraints scores for three

age groups Muslim female……………………………………………….…….56

10. Post Hoc test (Turkey HSD) of social-cultural constraints among

Muslim female in different age groups………………………………………..57

11. Post Hoc test (Turkey HSD) of religious constraints among Muslim

female in different age groups………………………………………………...57

12. Post Hoc test (Turkey HSD) of physiological constraints among Muslim

female in different age groups……………………………………………….....58

13. Post Hoc test (Turkey HSD) of affective constraint among Muslim

female in different age groups………………………………………………….58

14. Post Hoc test (Turkey HSD) of resources constraints among Muslim


15. Post Hoc test (Turkey HSD) of intrapersonal constraints among Muslim


16. Post Hoc test (Turkey HSD) of interpersonal constraints among Muslim

female in different age groups.………………………………………………...59

17. Post Hoc test (Turkey HSD) of access constraints among Muslim


18. Post Hoc test (Turkey HSD) of total constraints among Muslim female

in different age groups.………………………………………………………60

Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

Introduction

Most scholars agree that sport is not a religion in the same way that Christianity,

Judaism and Islam are (Donald, 2000). For example, Chandler (1992) in his article

“Sport is not a religion” claimed that sport could never be considered a religion

because it cannot lead to one’s spiritual salvation. He stated that sport cannot tell us

where we came from, where we are going, nor how we are to behave while we are

here. Another example came from Prebish (1993). Prebish discussed the four Cs

(creed, code, cultus, and community) that define a traditional religion. However,

sport does not meet these criteria.

Although many scholars thought that sport is nothing to do with religion, some

books indicated that there is relationship between sport and religion. For example,

some religious organizations, such as Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Missionary

Athletes use sports as a means of recruiting new members (Cordes & Ibrahim, 1999)

and spread the gospel (Prebish, 1993). On the other hand, athletes say prayers to

their God for protection in competition, or for good performance and prayers for

championship (Cordes & Ibrahim, 1999).

In fact, ritual and religion exert great influence over human behavior, including

sport activities during leisure time (Cordes & Ibrahim, 1999). Religion can shape

the specific sport participation. For example, Islam forbids kung fu because Islam

thinks that Kung Fu inflicts physical harm, which is contrary to divine law (Chehabi,

2002). Studies exploring the effect of religious beliefs on the leisure behavior by

specific religious are very little, and most of them focus on Christianity (Heintzman,

1987, 1994; Heintzman & Van Andel, 1995; Heinzman, Van Andel, & Visker, 1994;

Ibrahim, 1982, cited in Stodolska & Livengood, in press). At the same time, even

less sport researchers are interested in issues of religion, including Islam (Hoffman,

1992; Walseth & Fasting, 2003).

Take part in sport activities have various benefits. For example, for the

psychological benefits, playing sport can escape from physical pressure and personal

pressure, nostalgia and perceived autonomy (Cordes & Ibrahim, 1999). For health

benefits, playing sport can avoid various chronic diseases and maintain good health

(MacPherson, 1996). For social benefits, playing sport can strength social cohesion

and make new friends. Unfortunately, women perceive more sport constraints than

male. Research showed that women had lower sport participation rate compared

with male in different countries or cities, such as Australia in 1993 and 1997 (ABS,

2000) and Hong Kong (HKSDB, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001). While women have more

sport constraints than men, religion restrictions also contribute sport constraints to its

believer, like Muslim. Muslim female are confronted to more constraints comparing

with non-Muslim female due to the cultural and religious belief. Even though Islam

is not against sport, Muslim female cannot play sport in public in some Arabic

countries, like Yemen (Stevenson, 1989) and Afghanistan (O’Kane, 1998, cited in

Hargreaves, 2000). The results of no participation in sporting activities are poor

health and fail to perceive life-satisfaction (MacPherson, 1996).

In Hong Kong, the Muslim community was about 70, 000 in number,

representing about 1 percent of the total population in Hong Kong (HKSAR, 2003).

Muslims in Hong Kong had different ethnic backgrounds. More than half were

Chinese, with others trace their ancestry to Pakistan, India, Malaysia, Indonesia,

Philippines, Arabia and Africa (HKSAR, 2003). Some of them probably come to

Hong Kong for a better place to live, and some of them probably come to Hong Kong

for job. In recent years, because more marriage women work in the society, there is

a large demand of low wages domestic helpers to do the housework, take care of their

children or the elderly. Indonesian and Filipino female come to Hong Kong for job

and large amount of them are Muslim before they came to Hong Kong. Some of

them devote to Islam after they come to Hong Kong.

Relative low sport participation rate are shown among Muslim female who live

in Islamic countries (e.g., Hargreaves, 2000) or non-Islamic countries (e.g., Verma &

Darby, 1994), and literature showed that Muslim female perceived more constraints in

sport compared with the non-Muslim (Verma & Darby, 1994).

Statement of Problem

The purpose of the study was to investigate the sport pattern and perceived

constraints of the Muslim female in Hong Kong.

Research Questions

To understand the sport pattern and perceived constraints of the Muslim female

in Hong Kong, the following research questions were asked:

1. What are the sport patterns of the Muslim female in Hong Kong?

2. What are the important sport constraints perceived by the Muslim female in Hong

Kong?

3. Are there any differences in perception of sport constraints between Muslim

female who took part in sport and who did not take part in sport?

4. Are there any differences in perception of sport constraints between Muslim

female with different dress code habit?

5. Are there any differences in the perception of sport constraints between Chinese

Muslim female and non-Chinese Muslim female in Hong Kong?

6. Are there any differences in the perception of sport constraints between the

Muslim female with different age groups in Hong Kong?

7. What are the conceptualizations of sport among Muslim female in Hong Kong?

8. What are the motives for Muslim female to participate in sport?

9. What are the strategies used by the Muslim female to negotiate the sport

constraints?

Definition of Terms

The following terms were operationally defined in this study.

Sport

Islam has a different interpretation of the term “sport”. From the Islamic point

of views, prayer, fasting, pilgrimage; display some sportive characteristics although

they are basically and by nature meant for spiritual purpose (Abdalati, 1986). In this

study, the term “sport” is defined as leisure time physical activities which is freely

chosen and enjoyed by individual, involvement of body movement and includes both

indoor and outdoor activities, exercise and fitness. The term “sport” in this study is

not focus on elite participation.

Constraints

Constraints are factors which preclude or limit an individual frequency, intensity,

duration, or quality of participation in recreation activities (Ellis & Radmacher, 1986).

Muslim

Esposito’s (2002) definition of Muslim is adopted in this study. Muslims are

the people who believe in one God, Allah, and believe that Muhammad is God’s last

and greatest prophet who revealed His final and complete revelations. They also

believe in the prophets of the Hebrew Bible, including Abraham and Moses, and the

New Testament, Jesus and John the Baptist. They also believe in angle, heaven, hell,

and the Day of Judgment.

Delimitations

The scope of the study was delimited to:

1. The population used in this study was Muslim female who aged between 15 and

64. They could either be the local citizens or migrant workers.

2. The study delimit to members of Hong Kong Islamic Youth Association and

Chinese Muslim Cultural and Fraternal Association. Muslim female who did

not belong to these two organizations were not studied.

Limitations

The study was limited by the following factors:

1. Researcher was Chinese background who was unable to write and speak foreign

languages (e.g. Urdu, Bashasa and Tagalog). Thus, only assimilated subjects

who knew how to speak or read Cantonese, English or Mandarin could be the

participants of this research. Thus, it limited the generalizability of the study.

2. The selection process. Only very few participants were Malaysian and

Pakistani.

3. In quantitative survey, a few items or even one item were used to determine each

dimension of perceived constraints, which limited the reliability of the survey.

4. Convenience sampling and snowball sampling within two organizations were

utilized in quantitative study. These subjects were enthusiastic in expressing

their feelings and experiences. However, those who were unwilling or unable

to fill in the questionnaires might have different characteristics and suffered from

more sport constraints compared with those surveyed participants.

5. The sample size of quantitative research was rather small. Biased sample

occurred. Most of the participants in this study were aged between 25 and 40

years old and more than half of them were domestic helpers.

Significance of the Study

There were surveys which focus on the sport pattern of Hong Konger conducted

by Hong Kong Sports Development Board from 1998 to 2001. However, there was

none of study of this kind to the minority – Muslims. In order to tailor-made more

sports and recreation programs, provide more appropriate sports and recreation

facilities, and maximize the sport participation rate of the Muslim female (a highly

disadvantage group) in Hong Kong, it is prompt to understand the constraints that

hindered their sport participation. This research highlight the sport constraints

perceived by Muslim female in reality so that the sports and recreation organizations,

community centers, Islamic organizations, government and general public would pay

attentions on those constraints and provide suitable programs and facilities to the

Muslim female.

Chapter 2

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

The literature related to sport perception, sport pattern and perceived constraints

of the Muslim women is reported in this chapter. For organizational purposes, the

literature is presented under the following topics: a) the interpretation of sport in

Al-Qur’an and Hadith, b) motives for the Muslim female to participate in sport,

c) sport pattern of the Muslim female, d) constraints of the Muslim female, e)

summary.

The Interpretation of Sport in Al-Qur’an and Hadith

For the Muslim, Al-Qur’an is a book whose author is God (Jomier, 1997). It is

the scripture book of Islam revealed by God to the Prophet Mohammad (Ghazizadeh,

1992). Hadith is the record of the traditions or sayings of the Prophet Muhammad,

revered and received as a major source of religious law and moral guidance, second

only to the authority of the Qur’an, or scripture of Islam (Encyclopedia Britannica,

2004).

Some historical incidents may make people think that sport is anti-Islamic for the

Muslim female. Firstly, it was related to the significant low participation rate or no

participation rate of female compete the international sport competitions among some

Islamic countries in previous years. For example, Bangladesh, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan

and Saudi Arabia sent no Muslim female for international games in 1988 (Hargreaves,

1996) where majority population were Muslim. Secondly, Muslim female who took

part in international sport events might suffer discrimination and exclusion from their

communities (Hargreaves, 1996; Shelton, 2001). For example, Hassiba Boulmerka

of Algeria won the 1500 meter race at 1992. Since she only wore shorts and a shirt

during the competition, she later received death threat and became an outcast (Shelton,

2001). Thirdly, non-Muslim might misunderstand Islam forbids sport due to their

interpretation of Qu’ran. Qur’an contained a wide range of references to Arabic

words with the connotation of sport, play and pastime, but all these term were used in

a negative way (Martrin & Mason, 2004). An example given by Martin and Masson

was quoted from Surah 5:57: “Choose not for friends such of those…as make a jest

and sport of your religion” (p.6). However, as Martin and Mason mentioned, the use

of words like sport, play and related concepts in English translation of Qur’an yields

relatively little to clarify Islamic views.

Indeed, Islam did not reject people from sport participation as long as the Muslim

upholded the religion obligations (Abdalati, 1986; Al-Qaradawi, 1984). In Hadith,

we could find more positive Islamic perspective on sport (Martin & Mason, 2004).

The following paragraphs provided reasons that Islam encouraged sport based on

Al-Qur’an and Hadith.

Good Physical Condition in Case of War

One of the purposes of sport is for holy war (Hendricks, 1998; Kahan, 2003;

Kamiyole, 1986). Therefore, Muslims teach their children how to run, how to shoot

arrows, how to ride horses and how to jump fences (Kamiyole, 1986). In Qur’an

(1990) Spoils of War, verse 60 “against them make ready all your strengthen to utmost

of your power”. It showed that the one of the purposes of sport is to acquire skill for

legitimate battle. Indeed, not only males need to maintain good physical for the holy

war, females also need to do so. For example Muhammad’s wife Khadijah climbed

mountains to provide provisions for her husband while Muhammad sequestered

himself for religious purpose (Daiman, 1995, cited in Kahan, 2003).

Recreation

Islam allowed Muslim to have sport for recreation purpose (Walseth & Fasting,

2003). There was a strong Hadith which demonstrate the importance of sport and

physical activity. The story told that Muhammad raced with his wife `Aishah in

order to please her, to enjoy himself, and to set an example for his Companions.

(Al-Qaradawi, 1984). From that story, we could interpret that the lives of Muslims

should consist of both seriousness and play.

Motives for the Muslim Female to Participate in Sport

Health Concern

Health concern is one of the major purposes for Muslim women participated in

sport (Walseth & Fasting, 2003; Wray, 2002). Research conducted by Walseth and

Fasting (2003) on Egyptian women views on physical activity and sport, many

women made references to the health concerns of Islam. These informants also

stated that they wanted to be healthy because strong believers would more beloved by

Allah. Some Muslim women participated in sport activity because they stated that

Mohammed had advocated living a healthy life and had recommended running,

horse-rising, swimming and archery (Pfister, 2003). Some Muslim female thought

that they should have a responsibility to exercise their bodies in order to fulfill their

roles as wives and mothers (Hargreaves, 2000).

Religious Purpose

The motive for Muslim female to participate in sport might relate to religion.

Research conducted by Walseth and Fasting (2003) on Egyptian women view on

physical activity and sport, three informants stated that they participated in sport

because they wanted to get a higher place in heaven after they died. From these

three informants’ responses, we realized that some Muslim women participated in

sport was not for recreational purpose, but for religious purpose, which was different

from our traditional point of view.

Beauty

Just like the mainstream women in the world, one of the majors motives for

Muslim women’s taking up sport were keeping fit and, a slim figure. Research

conducted by Wray (2002) between 1997 and 2000 on Muslim Pakistani women

physical activity and health, the informants stated that they did exercise because they

wanted to lose weight and become slim. Even thought the Muslim women needed to

cover bodies in public and the shape of the bodies were not visible under the long

coats; at home, however, women wore tight trousers and miniskirts (Pfister, 2003).

No, doubt, a good shape of body can make one’s feel more confident, increase

self-esteem, etc.

Recreation Needs

Some Muslim took part in sport was mainly for recreation needs. Research

conducted by Wray (2002) between 1997 and 2000 on Muslim Pakistani women

physical activity and health, researcher observed that when the Pakistan informants

attended the exercise class in a community center, they had exercise –running, at the

same time, they could find somebody to chat with. The atmosphere in the class was

filled with enthusiasm and energy. The women were more relaxed and happy after

they left the class. Also, researcher observed that most of the Pakistan informants

had been attending that exercise class for two year or above and had built up

friendships. From this, we could see that these Pakistan women took part in the

aerobic class was for fun, perceived freedom, enjoying sharing daily life experience,

etc, but not for religious or health purposes.

Sport Pattern of the Muslims Female

Different countries or cities have different sport pattern. The sport pattern of

Muslim female can be influenced by geography, climate, government policy, sport,

economic, political, cultural, religion, etc. on specific countries or cities. In this

literature review, the sport pattern of Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Hong Kong female

would be reported. While Pakistan and Bangladesh were Islamic countries with

97 % and 87% of the population were Muslim (Lunde, 2002); Hong Kong was a

multi-religious city with only 1% of citizens believed in Islam (HKSAR, 2003).

Verman and Darby conducted a research on the sport pattern of the 6 ethnical

groups in Greater Manchester in 1988. The subjects of that study aged from school

leavers to 30 years old. The Muslim populations of Pakistani and Bangladeshi in

that study were 96.8% and 98% respectively. Among those surveyed Pakistani

female, 46.5% of them did not take part in any sport activities currently. For those

who took part in sport activities currently, the popular sport activities among them

were badminton, swimming and keep fit. In the same study conducted by Verman

and Darby on sport pattern of Bangladeshi female, 48.9% of the surveyed participants

did not take part in sport currently. The popular sport activities among Bangladeshi

female who currently took part in sport were badminton, carramboard and swimming.

There were also a few respondents from Pakistani female and Bangladish female

indicated that they were currently participating in basketball, table tennis, etc.

According to Hong Kong Sports Development Board (2001), swimming was the

most popular sport among female (with different religious belief) in Hong Kong.

Badminton, exercise, jogging, walking, hiking, weight training, Wushu, cycling and

basketball ranked from second to ten. The participation rate of female (with

different religious belief) in Hong Kong was 43% in 2001. However, the research

conducted by Hong Kong Sports Development Board could not reflect the sport

pattern of the Muslim female since religious and traditional cultural belief may shape

their sport behavior, for example, swimming.

Constraints of the Muslim Female

In reality, there are many powerful obstacles which impede a person to

participate in sport activities. Henderson, Bialeschki, and Taylor (1988, cited in Tsai

& Coleman, 1999) classified constraints into antecedent constraints and intervening

constraints. Antecedent constraints are the conscious and unconscious psychological

status (e.g., feeling of incompetence). Intervening constraints inhibit participation

after a preference has been set up (e.g., lack of money). “Hierarchical model of

leisure constraints” was developed by Crawford, Jackson, and Godbey in 1991 (cited

in Tsai & Coleman, 1999). According to this model, it is said that the first level of

constraints people perceived is antecedent constraints which lower people’s

preference or interest in leisure activities. After an individual solves the antecedent

constraints, an individual may face with constraints that intervene between leisure

preference and participation. An individual needs to solve that intervening

constraints before he or she take part in a leisure activity. However, Henderson and

Bialeschki (1993, cited in Tsai & Coleman, 1999) proposed that the profession from

preferences to participation might not be one-directional, single-channeled or

mutually exclusive, but seemed to be integrated and dynamic. In this literature

review, various sport constraints which impede the Muslim female to take part in

sport and sport constraints which caused Muslim female to reduce or discontinue the

sport participation would be illustrated.

Ramadan

Ramadan falls on the ninth of the lunar calendar (Robinson, 1997). During the

period of Ramadan, Muslims are abstinence from food and drink during the daylight.

It is not suitable for the Muslim children to have physical education lessons during the

Ramadan period because of reduced energy levels (Carroll & Hollinshead, 1993) and

dehydration (McInerney, Davidson, Suliman & Tremayne, 2000). Research

conducted by Sweileh, Schnitzler, Hunter, and Davis (1992) which examine the

changes that occurred in body composition and both resting and exercise metabolism

during a 4 week Ramadan period, the results showed that the normo-hydration status,

VO2 max stasis, decrease in body fat, persistent exercise economy will occurs during

the last week of Ramadan. Although Muslim parents urged the school accepted their

children not to have physical activities during the month of Ramadan, many research

showed that teachers did not appreciate the Muslim children behavior. Also,

swimming is not suitable for the Muslim during the Ramadan period because Muslim

believe that water should not enter the mouth at daylight (Carroll & Hollinshead,

1993).

Against Religion

Some Nigeria Muslims thought that sport was an agent of Satan because they

thought that females exposed certain parts of their bodies for every male person to

look at which violate the Islamic rules on modesty. Also, they though that sport

events held in Nigeria was in sunset which might tempt the Muslim missed the prayer

(Kamiyole, 1986). Research conducted by Walseth and Fasting (2003) on Egyptian

women view on physical activity and sport, the interviewers who wore Krimar or

Nikab thought that the concept of excitement made sport participation difficult.

Men Dominant

Islam women have the right to protection and financially support by the father,

and later the husband. The price these women have to pay for those benefits is loss

of dependence and subordination (Pfister, 2003). Women lives are focused on the

home, and they are largely banished from public life, which is the men’s domain

(Pfister, 2003). At the same time, “most sport centers are reserved for men” (Ghazi,

1999; Hargreaves, 1996; Pfister, 2003). Pfister stated that although gender

segregation enabled girl from traditional Muslim families to take up sport, many

sports are considered to be ‘unfemine’ even if they one practiced out of sight of male

public, for example, the football.

Clothing

The dress code for Muslim women can be a constraint that hindered their sport

participation (De Vries, 1997). According to Al-Qur’an (1990), Luqman verse 19, it

said that ‘modest in thy bearing’ and mentions Allah’s rewards women who ‘guard

their modesty’. The specific instructions for women are set out in The Light, verse

31, “Tell the believing women to lower their eyes, guard their private parts, and not

display their charms expect what is apparent outwardly, and cover their bosoms with

their veils” (p. 300). Research conducted by Walseth and Fasting (2003) on

Egyptian women view on physical activity and sport, results showed that some of the

interviewers thought that wearing the veil was a barrier for them to participate in sport

because they used a kind of veil (krimar or nikab) which in addition to covering the

hair also covered the chest. Carroll and Hollinshead (1993) had conducted a

research on Muslim children in a north England comprehensive school, they found

that some of the Muslim children were skipping physical education lessons because

the requirement to shower communally after lessons and wore ‘inappropriate’ clothing

which are not accept in their religions. Carroll and Hollinshead found that it was

real feelings of guilt and shamed for the devoted Muslim exposed their bodies and

legs. However, their feeling had not been fully appreciated by the teacher.

Inadequate Place and Facilities

Lack of “appropriate” facilities can be a barrier for the Muslim women to

participate in sport (Walest & Fasting, 2003). Research conducted by NSW

Ministerial Taskforce for Women in Sport and Recreation & NSW Department of

Sport and Recreation, 1999-2002 (2002) indicated that Muslim women wanted to

participate in women-only swimming classes, but the inadequate of exercise space

reserved for women had limited their participation. While Islamic religion was not a

barrier to women engaging in physical activity per se, a lack of appropriate facilities

and opportunities could constitute a barrier (Guerin, Diiriye, Corrigan, & Guerin,

2003).

Parental Influence

Lack of family encouragement could be a constraint that hindered the Muslim

female from sport participation (Carroll & Hollinshead, 1993). Research conducted

by McGuire and Collins (1998) on Asian Parent view on physical activity showed that

parents of ethnic minority origin did not always recognize the worth of their children

took part in sporting activities, which parallel to the finding conducted by Kocak,

Harris, Isler and Cicek (2002) on physical activity level, sport participation and

parental education level Turkish Junior high school students. McGuire and Collins

(1998) found that Asian parents concerned their children academic and found a good

job rather than sport. On the other hand, Esposito (2002) said that many Muslim

parents were concerned that permitting their daughters to attend American-style

dances, such as those sponsored by junior and senior high schools, will lead to their

dating non-Muslims or to illicit sexual activity. They do so can be as a means of

protection (Kocak, et al., 2002). From this, we can realize that the chief factor which

prevented the school-age child from participating extra-curricular sport was not

racism, but parental influence (McGuire & Collins, 1998).

Discrimination

Muslims had been the targets of discriminatory acts long before the events of

September 11 (Livengood & Stodolska, 2004). Livengood and Stodolska in their

research on the effects of discrimination and constraints negotiation leisure behavior

of American Muslims in the post-September 11 America found that most of the

discrimination experienced by Muslim Americans was of non-violent nature, such as

bad looks, verbal abuse and social isolation. During the last 13 years, abundant

research studies reported minorities to experience discrimination in leisure setting

such as parks, campgrounds, recreation areas, pools, beaches, golf courses and forest

(Blahna & Bkacj; 1993; Chavez, 1991, 1992; Gobster, 1998; Gobster & Delgado 1993;

McDonald & McAvoy, 1997; West, 1989, as cited in Livengood & Stodolska, 2004).

Experiences of racism or discrimination can deter people from participation in a new

sporting environment (Keogh, 2002). Keogh stated that if they were not made to

feel welcome, there was little incentive to continued participation. In non-Islamic

countries or cities, Muslim female participants dressed differently from non-Muslim

female participants can constitute a barrier to engaging in some forms of physical

activity (Guerin, et al., 2003; Kocak, et al., 2002).

No Time

Lack of time was another constraint that hindered the Muslim female from sport

participation. Carroll (1993) claimed that ethnic minority girls and women suffer a

great lack of time to take part in sport activities due to other commitments. Carroll

said that “women accepted domestic and family duties and responsibilities as part of

their lives in ways which males did not” (p.57). These duties and responsibilities

clearly restricted females’ participation in leisure activities. Community Education

Team Report which conducted by a former student of a community college of a

comprehensive school which located in Coventry in Southern Asia, the researcher

found that most of the Southern Asian women interviewees felt they had enough

leisure time, but that this time was not totally uncommitted (Lovell, 1991). These

interviewees stated that they could do as they hoped within the home, however were

not free to leave the house due to the responsibilities like custody of children or

providing company for husbands or fathers.

There are others constraints that faced by Muslim women when they participated

in sport activities, such as lack of skill, lack of confident, lack of role models, lack of

money , etc. However these constraints might perceived by mainstream too. Thus,

this literature would not cover them.

Summary

Islam did not prohibit sport unless the sport activities violate the Islamic rules,

such as gambling (Abdalati, 1986; Al-Qaradawi, 1984; Kahan, 2003) and for fame

(Kahan, 2003). Although there were some incidents that made people thought that

Islam against women in sport participation, stories in Hadith and verses in Al-Qur’an

showed that Islam encouraged Muslim female in sport participation.

The motives for the Muslim female to participate in sport were similar with

non-Muslim female, for example to pursue beauty, maintain health and recreate. But

some Muslim female might participate in sport because they wanted to prepare

themselves physical health for holy war or gaining a higher place in heave after she

died, which perceptions were different from the non-Muslim female.

The sport pattern of Muslim female who lived in Islamic countries should be

different from Muslim female who lived in non-Islamic countries/cities, like Hong

Kong. Sport participation survey conducted by the Hong Kong Sports Development

Board (1998-2001) could not reflect the sport pattern of the Muslim female since

there was tradition and cultural difference between Muslim female and non-Muslim

female.

Muslim female perceived a lot of constraints when they wished to participate in

sport activities. For example, Ramadan, lack of facilities, man dominant, etc.. A

better understanding of their constraints could help the sports and recreation

organizations provide more appropriate programs and facilities for the Muslim female

to participate in and thus improve their life satisfaction and health.

Chapter 3

METHOD

The purpose of this study was to investigate the sport pattern and perceived

constraints of the Muslim female in Hong Kong. This study used both quantitative

and qualitative research methodologies. Benefits of using this method are as follows:

First, this method can produce a final product which can highlight the significant

contributions of both (Nau, 1995, cited in Gratton & Jones, 2004). For example,

qualitative data can be used to “support and explicate the meaning of quantitative

research” (Jayaratne, 1993, cited in Gratton & Jones, 2004, p.25). Second,

qualitative and quantitative data may complement with each other. For example,

quantitative data may describe a phenomenon well, and qualitative data may gain an

understanding of the phenomenon (Bryman, 1989; Gratton & Jones, 2004). Third,

quantitative research and qualitative research are combined in order to produce a more

comprehensive picture. For example, Henderson et al. (1999, cited in Gratton &

Jones, 2004) conducted their research on physical activity and culture, they were

using both quantitative and qualitative research methods because they realized that

descriptive statistics did not tell the meanings of physical activity; the in-depth

interviews alone did not represent the sample. However, using both qualitative and

quantitative research method could generate a bigger picture of some of the issues that

described and mitigated the physical activities of the women with difference colour.

In this study, quantitative survey was conducted first, followed by the qualitative

method of semi-structured interview. The aim of using quantitative research method

was to examine sport pattern and sport constraints perceived by Muslim female in

Hong Kong. Since there was no information of conceptualizations of sport among

Hong Kong Muslim female and their motives for sport participation, qualitative

research was carry out after the quantitative study. Qualitative study also aimed at

providing an in-depth understanding of sport constraints perceived by Muslim female

and the sport constraints negotiation strategies among Muslim female in Hong Kong.

Both quantitative and qualitative studies were divided into the following sections:

(1) Instrument, (2) The Sample, (3) Procedures, and (4) Treatment of Data.

The methodological procedures of the quantitative study will explain first,

followed by the methodological procedures of the qualitative study.

Quantitative Method

Instrument

Since there was no previous studies data collection instrument was available, a

self-designed questionnaire was used as the method of collecting data (see Appendices

A & B). Procedure for developing the self-designed questionnaires consisted of

reviewing the journals and book chapters which were related to the research topic, the

Sport Participation Survey conducted by Hong Kong Sports Development Board

(from 1998 - 2001), and discussing with a Muslim female staff in Hong Kong Islamic

Youth Association. The questionnaire development and translation were supervised

by the advisor.

The questionnaire consisted of 18 questions, which was divided into 3 parts. In

the first part, the personal data included occupation, nationality, education level,

whether wore veil and traditional Islamic dress or not (instead of working days) were

collected (Appendices A & B).

The second part of the questionnaire measured the sport pattern of the Muslim

female. It emphasized on how frequent they participated in sport activities, how

much time they spent on sport activities each time in average, where they usually had

sport activities, who usually accompany them from sport participation and their dress

code for sport activities. At the same time, participants needed to indicate what

types of sport activities they usually participated in and what types of sport activities

they wished to participate in (see Appendice A and B).

The third part of the questionnaire examined the sport constraints of the Muslim

female encountered. A 5-point Likert Scale, range from 0 (no influence at all) to 4

(very large influence) was used. The constraints were conceptualized as composed

of 8 dimensions which were: (1) social-cultural, (2) religious, (3) physiological, (4)

affective, (5) resources, (6) interpersonal, and (7) intrapersonal, and (8) access. The

relevant items were placed randomly in part 3. Social-cultural constraint factor

accounted for 15% of item variance. This factor comprised three items, mainly

reflecting racial and cultural based constraints and uncomfortable feelings in social

settings. Religious constraint accounted for 15% of item variance. This factor

comprised three items, mainly reflecting religious obligations which might hinder

Muslim female in sport participation. Physiological constraint factor formed by four

constraint items – health problems, age and body shape – accounted for 20% of the

total item variance. Affective constraint factor comprise one item, mainly reflecting

their disinterest on sport, accounted for 5% of the total item variance. Resources

constraint factor comprised three items and accounted for 15% of the total item

variance. It reflected the difficulties in allocating resources, time and money, to

sport activities. Interpersonal constraint factor comprised three items, account 15%

of the total variance. This factor indicated the lack of encouragement, companion

and freedom to sport activities. Intrapersonal constraint factor comprise two items,

account 10% of the total variance. This factor indicated the negative conception of

an individual. Access constraint factor comprise one items, account 5% of the total

variance. This factor indicated the difficulties in accessing sport facilities.

Sample

In this study, a sample of 102 Muslim female aged 15 to 55 years old was

interviewed. Their nationalities were: 20.6% Chinese (n = 21), 5.9% Pakistani

(n = 6), 2% Malaysian (n = 2), 37.3% Indonesian (n = 38), and 34.3% Filipino (n = 35)

took part in quantitative survey.

Among those 102 Muslim female, 90.2% (n = 90) of the subjects wore veil in the

public and 76.5% (n = 78) of the subjects wore traditional Islamic dress in public.

While 52% (n = 53) of participants married, 45.1% (n = 46) of them were single.

Regarding the education acquirement, 4.9% (n = 5) acquired primary educational

level and 33.3% (n = 34) acquire post secondary or above.

Procedures

Researcher contacted with Hong Kong Islamic Youth Association and The

Chinese Muslim Cultural and Fraternal Association to obtain the permission of

conducting research in these two organizations in August, 2004. Questionnaires

(Chinese and English versions) sent to Hong Kong Islamic Youth Association for

approval, to see if the questions would make Muslim female feeling uneasy. After

the approval from the Hong Kong Islamic Youth Association, a pilot study was

conducted. There were 5 people involved in the pilot test, they were 2 Muslim

female staff in Hong Kong Islamic Youth Association and 3 researcher classmates.

In the pilot study, it was suggested that the questionnaire was easy to understand, but

there were a few typing mistakes.

In the main study, the questionnaires were distributed to the Muslim female who

came to Hong Kong Islamic Youth Association and The Chinese Muslim Cultural and

Fraternal Association for praying, fasting or gathering during the month of Ramadan

(15th October, 2004 to 16th November, 2004). The sample was obtained by using

convenient sampling and snowball sampling. Only those who were willing to

participate in the survey were interviewed. At first, the data was collected at Hong

Kong Islamic Youth Association, where Muslim female celebrated the Ramadan

festival. Two weeks later, researcher found that many of the Muslim female in Hong

Kong Islamic Youth Association were non-Chinese, researcher had communication

constraint with the Indonesian and Filipino Muslim female due to their relatively poor

Cantonese and English proficiency. I then went to the Chinese Muslim Cultural and

Fraternal Association for data collection. Unfortunately, only a few Muslim female

came to Chinese Muslim Cultural & Fraternal Association, and quite a lot of them

were senior adults which were excluded from the study.

Treatment of Data

Data collected were entered and analyzed by using SPSS statistic software

(version 12.0) and Microsoft Excel. Descriptive statistics such as frequency, mean,

standard deviation, etc. was utilized to describe the personal data (e.g., occupation,

nationality, educational level), sport pattern (e.g. frequency, duration, location,

companion), and religious behavior (e.g. whether wore veil and traditional Islamic

dress when appeared in public or took part in sport activities) of the Muslim female in

Hong Kong. Descriptive statistics was also utilized to describe the sport constraints

perceived by general Muslim female in Hong Kong.

Independent samples t-test was used to assess the significance of the difference

in sport constraints and total sport constraints between Muslim female 1) who took

part in sport during the previous 6 months and who did not take part in sport during

the previous 6 months, 2) who wore veil and traditional Islamic dress and who did not

wear veil and traditional Islamic dress and 3) who were Chinese and who were

non-Chinese.

One-way ANOVA was used to analyze the difference in perception of different

dimensions and total sport constraints in 3 age groups Muslim female (15-24, 25-40,

and 41-55).

The significant level was set at .05. For sport constraints dimensions, the

mean of each of the dimensions was calculated. The calculated mean scores were

using to analyze with other variable. Post-hoc test was run by using the multiple

range test of Turkey-HSD with significant level .05.

Qualitative Method

Instrument

Individual interviewing was the method to collect qualitative data of this study.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 Muslim female. A list of

open-ended questions was asked. The list of open-ended questions was designed to

explore the sport participation and constraints of the Muslim female more in-depth.

The questions focused on their motives to participate in sport activities, the

constraints they were perceived, sport constraints negotiation strategies, and other

related areas such as, their beliefs and attitudes towards sport in Islam. For example,

“What are the sport constraints that hinder your sport participation?” and “What are

you views on sport?” were some of the main questions asked in the interview (see

Appendices C & D)

Snowball sampling and convenience sampling methods were used and the

samples were obtained through the researcher’s contacted with the Hong Kong

Islamic Youth Association. Participants of different nationalities were selected.

Sample

The participants data set consisted of semi-structured interviews with 11 Muslim

female in Hong Kong who nationality were: Chinese (n = 5), Indonesia (n = 4),

Filipino (n = 1) and Sri Lankan (n = 1). The age of the participants ranged from 20s

to 60s (5 participants refused to provide their exact age). Three participants were

married. Their devotion to Islam were approximately from 3 to 60s years (5

participants devoted to Islam for 3-4 years and 6 participants devoted to Islam since

they were born). There were 7 participants wore veil and traditional Islamic dress

when they appeared in public. There were 3 participants only wore veil when they

appeared in public. Only one participant did not wear veil and traditional Islamic

dress when she appeared in public.

Procedures

The interview questions were set after the quantitative part of the study was

completed. Some of the interview questions were set, based on the significant

phenomena and the unexpected phenomena which came out from the quantitative

study result. Again, the interview questions were under the supervision of the

advisor.

The interviews were conducted at Hong Kong Islamic Youth Association,

subjects’ residents, cafe and restaurant. Researcher was using convening sampling

and snowball sampling.

The interview procedures were the same for all Muslim female participants.

Before the permission of the interview, an oral consent was obtained from each

interested participant. The participants gave more trust to the researcher if

researcher gave them some information of the study since the interviewee did not

know the rationale of the study and they did not know their rights during and after the

interview. The content of the oral consent included: (1) a brief description on the

purpose of the research and its content; (2) the participants’ right in withdrawing from

the interview at any time; (3) confidentiality and anonymity of interviewees’

information and data; and (4) the reasons for tape recording the interviews.

Prior to commencing the actual interview, written informed consent was given to

interested parties. This was an elaboration of the oral consent, but presented in a

written format (Appendix E). The content included the scope of the investigation

and the participants’ rights before, during and after the interview and research period.

Voluntary participation was emphasized in the consent as well, and participants had

every right to withdraw form the study whenever she felt uncomfortable during the

interview.

Although tape-recorded had been verbally explained, written in the consent and

reminded right before the starting of interviews, 2 out of 11 of the participants refused

to tape record during the interview. Therefore, only 9 of the interviews were

recorded. Investigators jotted notes and paid attention to the participants’ facial

expression during the interview. Since two of the interviewees refused to tape

recorded, investigator needed more time to jot down what they said during the

interviews. The investigator had every respect to the participant’s privacy during the

process. Moreover, all materials were kept privately and destroyed after completion

of the study. In the report, the interviewees’ names were changed to protect their

identities.

During the interviews, participants were given 5 - 10 minutes to go over the

interview questions on their own (see Appendices C and D). They could ask

questions whenever appropriate. After they had gone though the questions,

investigator asked the questions verbally to the participants. The participants were

encouraged to be actively involved and to interact with their feelings and opinions

during the interview.

Since researcher is keen in sport, researcher tried to do the following things to

avoid potential bias: 1) following the order of topics as outlined in the interview guide,

that is talking about the leisure in general first and sporting activities later; 2)

remaining neutral with feedback; 3) avoiding judgment of responses, and 4)

encouraging interviewees’ express their opinion and their elaboration. Interviews

were typically half and hour to one hour in length.

Treatment of Data

The tape-recorded interviews and notes I jotted during the interview were

transcribed. All interview transcripts were read carefully and typed in Excel. The

constant comparative method, which was proponed in 1967 by Glaser and Strauss,

was used for analyzing data. It was a systematic method for recording, coding and

analyzing data. Experiences and thoughts expressed by interviewees were

represented by a series of initial codes, which were developed by open coding and

axial coding. Open coding was performed during a first pass through collected data.

It is the process of “breaking down, examining, comparing, conceptualizing, and

categorizing data” (Strauss & Corbin, 1990, p.61). Axial coding is the second step

of data analysis. It is “a set of procedures whereby data are put back together in new

ways after open coding, by making connecting between categories. This is done by

utilizing a coding paradigm involving conditions, context, action/interactional

strategies and consequences.” (Strauss & Corbin, 1990, p.96). Etic and emic

descriptions were used to describe the results of analyses (Henderson, 1991). Etic

descriptions were used to communicate the summarized categories, themes or patterns,

whereas emic descriptions were actual words from the study participants. These

emic descriptions were used to demonstrate the examples and to further illustrate the

findings. Finally, the results of the inductive content analysis of interview responses

were presented.

As part of the process of verification, two of the interviewees were invited to

check parts of the coded data, to confirm if the researcher had interpreted their

meanings correctly. Also, two of the researcher’s friends were invited to do the

inter-coder reliability checks. That is, three people coded a sample of the data

separately, and then compared the codes with each other. This process confirmed the

reliability of the researcher’s coding process (Neuman, 1997).

Chapter 4

DATA ANALYSIS: QUANTITATIVE

The purpose of this study was to investigate the sport pattern and perceived

constraints of the Muslim female in Hong Kong. Correlation, descriptive statistic,

independent samples t-test and One-way ANOVA were used to analyze the data.

There are 3 parts in this chapter, they are: 1) examination of sport constraints

questions, 2) results, and 3) discussion.

Examination of Sport Constraints Questions

In the questionnaire, perceived sport constraints of the Muslim female was

conceptualized as composed of 8 dimensions. Constraints items related to the same

dimension were group together to calculate the constraints scores of each participant.

The mean score in each dimension was calculated by averaging scores of items in the

respective factors which was adapted from Tsai and Coleman (1999). In addition,

the relationship between each of perceived sport constraint dimensions and total sport

constraints were examined by comparing the correlation. The result reflected that

each of dimensions was positively correlated to the total sport constraint (r ranged

from .554 to .759). Therefore, the perceived constraint dimensions were believed to

be valid measure of perceived sport constraints (see Table 1).

Table 1

Correlation between each dimension of perceived sport constraint and the total perceived sport constraints Total Leisure Constraints Pearson Correlation P Social-cultural .716 .000* Religious .682 .000* Physiological .554 .000* Affective .580 .000* Resources .566 .000* Intrapersonal .699 .000* Interpersonal .759 .000* Access .610 .000* * Correlation is significant at the .05 level (2-tailed)

Results

The second part of this chapter present the following results from:

1. Description of the personal data, including age, marital status, occupation,

nationality and educational level.

2. Description of the sport pattern, including the sport participation rate, the sport

activities the informants usually participated in; frequency, duration, location,

companion of them when took part in sport activities, and whether the informant

liked or disliked sport. Favourite sport activities that Muslim female liked to

participate in was also mentioned.

3. Description of the religious behavior of the Muslim female in Hong Kong,

include whether they wore veil and traditional Islamic dress when they appeared

in public and when they participated in sport activities.

4. Description of the relative importance of the perceived sport constraints among

Muslim female.

5. A result from Independent samples t-test between Muslim who took part in sport

during the previous 6 months and who did not take part in sport during the

previous 6 months on different dimensions of the perceived sport constraints and

the total sport constraints.

6. A result from Independent samples t-test between Muslim female who wore veil

in public and Muslim female who did not wear veil in public on different

dimensions of the perceived sport constraints and the total sport constraints.

7. A result from Independent Samples t-test between Muslim female who wore

traditional Islamic dress in public and Muslim female who did not wear

traditional Islamic dress in public on different dimensions of the perceived sport

constraints and the total sport constraints.

8. A result from independent samples t-test between Chinese Muslim female and

non-Chinese (Pakistani, Malaysian, Indonesian and Filipino) Muslim female in

Hong Kong on different dimensions of the perceived sport constraints and the

total sport constraints.

9. A result from One-way ANOVA, which analyzes difference in perception of

different dimensions and total sport constraints in 3 age groups Muslim female

(15-24 years old, 25-40 years old and 41-64 years old).

Description of personal information

There were 102 Muslim female took part in this study. Their age mean was

31.9 and ranged from 15 to 55 (SD = 7.75).

The martial status of the participants was: unmarried, 45.1% (n = 46), married,

52.0% (n = 53), divorce, 1% (n = 1) and widow, 2% (n = 2).

The employment status of the participants was: domestic helper, 64.7% (n = 66),

clerk/service, 15.7% (n = 16), housewife, 13.7% (n = 14), professional, 3.9% (n = 4)

and students, 2.0% (n = 2).

There were five different nationalities Muslim female in Hong Kong took part in

this survey. They were: 20.6% Chinese (n = 21), 5.9% Pakistani (n = 6), 37.3%

Indonesian (n = 38), 34.3% Filipino (n = 35), and 2% Malaysian (n = 2).

The educational level of the participants was: 4.9% primary educational level

(n = 5), 24.6% lower secondary educational level (n = 22), 38.2% upper secondary

educational level (n = 39), 2.0% matriculation educational level (n = 2) and 33.3%

post secondary and above educational level (n = 34).

Description of Sport Pattern

Among those 102 Muslim female, there were 47.1% (n = 48) of them

participated in sport activities during the last 6 months.

The sport participation habit of Muslim female who took part in sport can

categorize into three groups: 25.5% (n = 26) were the occasional participants, 11.8%

(n = 12) of the participants were moderate participants, and 9.8% (n = 10) of the

participants were active participants.

The average duration of time of the Muslim female took part in sport activities

were: less then 15 minutes in average 16.7% (n = 8); 15-30 minutes in average ,20.8%

(n = 10); 30-45 minutes in average, 25% (n = 12); 45-60 minutes in average 14.6% (n

= 7); more then 60 minutes in average, 22.9% (n = 11).

The top five sporting activities among the Muslim female who took part in

during the past six months were: walking 33.3% (n = 16), volleyball 29.2% (n = 14),

jogging 25% (n = 12), basketball 20.8% (n = 10) and badminton 18.8% (n = 9) (see

Table 2).

Table 2

Frequency and percentages of sport activities participants usually took part in Sporting Activities

Frequency Percentage (%)

Walking 16 33.3 Volleyball 14 29.2 Jogging 12 25 Basketball 10 20.8 Badminton 9 18.8 Tennis 5 10.4 Swimming 4 8.3 Hiking 4 8.3 Aerobic 3 6.3 Yoga 3 6.3 Cycling 3 6.3 Table tennis 2 4.2 Tai Chi 2 4.2 Exercise 2 4.2 Softball 1 2.1 Rope Skipping 1 2.1 Squash 1 2.1 Track and Field 1 2.1 Lawn-bowl 1 2.1

Among those 48 participants who took part in sport activities during last 3

months, the most common places for them to participate in sport activities were: park,

56.3%; others, e.g. home, South China Athletic Association, etc. 27.1%; LCSD,

25.0%; Islamic organization, 14.6%; outdoor, 12.5%; private club, 10.4% and school,

6.3%.

The sport companion of those Muslim female were: 15.7% herself, (n = 16);

10.8% mosque brother or sister, (n = 11); 7.8 % close relatives, (n = 8); 10.4% friends,

(n = 5); and 8.3 % classmates/colleagues and employer, (n = 8).

Among 102 Muslim female, only14.7% (n = 15) of the participants disliked sport.

For those who liked sport, they were asked to identify the sport activities they wished

to participate in. There were 27 sport activities concluded from this study. The top

five sport activities they wished to take part in were: badminton, (47.1%), volleyball

(39.1%), walking, (35.6%), jogging, (34.5%) and swimming (27.6%). There were

also a few participants said that they wished to participate in bowling, cycling, scuba

diving, etc. (see Table 3).

Table 3

Frequency and percentage of sport activities wished to engaged in Sport activities Frequency Percentage (%)

Badminton 41 47.1 Volleyball 34 39.1 Walking 31 35.6 Jogging 30 34.5 Swimming 24 27.6 Basketball 18 20.7 Rope Skipping 16 18.4 Bowling 13 14.9 Cycling 12 13.8 Aerobic 10 11.5 Tennis 10 11.5 Table tennis 10 11.5 Hiking 9 10.3 Rope 7 8.0 Football 5 5.7 Golf 3 3.4 Squash 2 2.3 Snooker 2 2.3 Gymnastics 2 2.3 Wu Shu 2 2.3 Softball 1 1.1 Scuba Diving 1 1.1 Tai Chi 1 1.1 Skating 1 1.1 Exercise 1 1.1 Handball 1 1.1 Weight Training 0 0 Canoeing 0 0 Athletic 0 0 Rugby 0 0

Description of Religious Behavior

Among these 102 participants, 90.2% (n = 92) of them wore veil in public

(except the working days). Also, among this sample group, 76.5% (n = 78) of them

wore traditional Islamic dress when they appeared in public (except the working

days).

Among the sport participants, 56.3% wore veil when they participated sport

activities in public and 41.7% wore traditional Islamic dress when they participated in

sport activities.

Description of Relative Importance of Perceived Leisure Constraints

Table 4 shows that the relative importance of each dimension of perceived

constraints. The importance of each perceived constraint factor dimension was

calculated by averaging the scores of items in the respective factors. Access

constraint had the highest mean score (Mean = 2.14), followed by resource constraint

(Mean = 1.45), social-cultural constraints (Mean = 1.34); religious constraints (Mean

= 1.31); affective constraint (Mean=1.14), intrapersonal constraints (Mean=1.09),

interpersonal constraints (Mean = 1.01) and physiological constraints (Mean = 0.84)

(see Table 4).

At the same time, Table 4 also shows the mean and standard deviation of each

item of sport constraints perceived by Muslim female.

Table 4

Description of sport constraints perceived by Muslim female (both Chinese and non-Chinese) Factor Mean Min. Max. SD

Item Social-cultural 1.34 0 3.33 1.52

Language barriers 1.82 0 4 1.74 People look at me with strange eyes 1.27 0 4 1.38

because of my dress code Not feeling welcome .93 0 4 1.11

Religious 1.31 0 3.67 .99 Playing sport interrupt my praying time .98 0 4 1.39 Islamic dress code 1.58 0 4 1.49 Feel uneasy to be watched by male when 1.38 0 4 1.42 playing sport in public Physiological .84 0 3 .76 Health condition 1.13 0 4 1.34 Age (e.g. being too old) .67 0 4 1.08 Body shape (e.g. being too fat) .96 0 4 1.07 Afraid of sport injuries .60 0 4 .926 Affective 1.14 0 4 1.32 Lack interested in sport activities 1.14 0 4 1.32 Resources 1.45 0 4 .92 Busy with work/study 1.91 0 4 1.34 Busy with housework/taking care of 1.70 0 4 1.41 brothers and sisters/elderly 0 4 Spending on sport activities .75 0 4 1.09 Intrapersonal 1.09 0 4 .93 Lack of sport role model 1.18 0 4 1.21 I am not a sporty female 1.00 0 4 1.15 Interpersonal 1.01 0 4 1.03 Lack of encouragement from family .69 0 4 1.11 members Lack of companion 1.21 0 4 1.37 Lack of freedom to go out for sport on my 1.13 0 4 1.36 own Access 2.14 0 4 1.52 Lack of appropriate facilities (e.g. 2.14 0 4 1.52 segregating different areas, special time Session for females) 0 = no influence at all to 4 = very large influence

Differences in Perceived Constraints of the Muslim Female Engaged in and not

Engaged in Sport Activities

According to the result of independent samples t-test, there was significant mean

difference between the Muslim female engaged in sport activities and the Muslim

female who did not engaged in sport activities in social-cultural (t = -3.52, p = .001),

affective (t = -3.77, p = .000), resources constraints (t = -2.22, p = .029) and total sport

constraints (t = -2.89, p = .005). However, there were no significant mean different

between them in other dimension of sport constraints (see Table 5). That was mean

Muslim female who engaged in sport activities had less sport constraints compared

with Muslim female who did not engaged in sport activities.

Differences in Perceived Constraints of the Muslim Female Wore Veil in Public and

not Wear Veil in Public

According to the result of independent samples t-test, there were significant

differences between Muslim female who wore veil and who did not wear veil when

presented in public in social-cultural constraints (t = 2.34, p = .021). However, there

were no significant mean difference between Muslim who wore veil and Muslim who

did not wear veil in other dimensions of sport constraints and also in total sport

constraint (t = 1.71, p = .09). The mean of the Muslim female who wore veil in

public in total sport constraints was 1.33, and Muslim females who did not wear veil

was .94 (see Table 6).

Differences in Perceived Constraints of the Muslim Female Who Wore Traditional

Islamic Dress and Who Did not Wear Traditional Islamic Dress When They Were

Appeared in Public


mean different in social-cultural constraints (t = 2.49, p = .014), physiological

constraints, (t = 2.00, p = .048), affective constraint, (t = 2.03, p = .045), interpersonal

constraint (t = 2.28, p = .025) and total sport constraints (t = 2.06, p = .042) between

Muslim female who wore tradition Islamic dress and who did not wear traditional

dress when present in public. However, there were no significant mean difference

between them in perceived other dimension of sport constraints (see Table 7).

Difference in Perceived Constraints of the Muslim Female Who were Chinese and

non- Chinese


mean different in social-cultural constraints (t = -5.91, p = .000 ), religious constraints

(t = -3.07, p = .003), physiological constraints, (t = -2.27, p = .026), affective

constraint, (t = -3.28, p = .001), intrapersonal constraints (t = -2.52, p = .014),

interpersonal constraint (t = -3.28, p = .001) and total sport constraints (t = -4.38, p

= .000) between Chinese Muslim female and non-Chinese Muslim female. However,

there were no significant mean difference between them in perceived resources

constraints and access constraint (see Table 8). That was mean Chinese Muslim

female had less sport constraints compared with non-Chinese female.

Table 5

Independent samples t-test for sport constraints between Muslim who took part in sport and who did not take part in sport Sport Constraints n M SD t P Social-cultural Engage in sport 48 .97 .89 -3.52 .001*Did not engage in sport 54 1.68 1.13 Religious Engage in sport 48 1.18 .96 -1.29 .201 Did not engage in sport 54 1.43 1.01 Physiological Engage in sport 48 .79 .71 -.65 .516 Did not engage in sport 54 .88 .80 Affective Engage in sport 48 .65 1.12 -3.77 .000*Did not engage in sport 54 1.57 1.34 Resources Engage in sport 48 1.24 .97 -2.22 .029*Did not engage in sport 54 1.64 .85 Intrapersonal Engage in sport 48 .92 .87 -1.77 .080 Did not engage in sport 54 1.24 .97 Interpersonal Engage in sport 48 .83 1.00 -1.69 .095 Did not engage in sport 54 1.17 1.03 Access Engage in sport 48 2.15 1.60 .053 .958 Did not engage in sport 54 2.13 1.47 Total sport constraint Engage in sport 48 1.09 .68 -2.89 .005*Did not engage in sport 54 1.47 .65 *p

Table 6

Independent samples t-test for sport constraints between Muslim female who wore veil and who did not wear veil Sport Constraints n M SD t P Social-cultural Wore veil 92 1.42 1.06 2.34 .021*Did not wear veil 10 .60 1.05 Religious Wore veil 92 1.35 .98 1.17 .245 Did not wear veil 10 .97 1.04 Physiological Wore veil 92 .85 .76 .50 .620 Did not wear veil 10 .72 .77 Affective Wore veil 92 1.20 1.32 1.36 .177 Did not wear veil 10 .60 1.26 Resources Wore veil 92 1.49 .94 1.16 .249 Did not wear veil 10 1.13 .76 Intrapersonal Wore veil 92 1.11 .91 .67 .505 Did not wear veil 10 .90 1.17 Interpersonal Wore veil 92 1.06 1.03 1.66 .101 Did not wear veil 10 .50 .85 Access Wore veil 92 2.14 1.51 .081 .936 Did not wear veil 10 2.10 1.73 Total sport constraint Wore veil 92 1.33 .67 1.71 .090 Did not wear veil 10 .94 .73 *p

Table 7

Independent samples t-test for sport constraints between Muslim female who wore traditional Islamic dress and who did not wear traditional Islamic dress Sport Constraints n M SD t P Social-cultural Wore traditional Islamic dress 78 1.49 1.03 2.49 .014*Did not wear traditional Islamic dress 24 .88 1.12 Religious Wore traditional Islamic dress 78 1.39 1.00 1.39 .168 Did not wear traditional Islamic dress 24 1.07 .94 Physiological Wore traditional Islamic dress 78 .92 .79 2.00 .048*Did not wear traditional Islamic dress 24 .57 .58 Affective Wore traditional Islamic dress 78 1.29 1.39 2.03 .045*Did not wear traditional Islamic dress 24 .67 .92 Resources Wore traditional Islamic dress 78 1.44 .88 -.192 .848 Did not wear traditional Islamic dress 24 1.49 1.06 Intrapersonal Wore traditional Islamic dress 78 1.11 .92 .40 .688 Did not wear traditional Islamic dress 24 1.02 1.01 Interpersonal Wore traditional Islamic dress 78 1.13 1.07 2.28 .025*Did not wear traditional Islamic dress 24 .60 .75 Access Wore traditional Islamic dress 78 2.17 1.50 .35 .727 Did not wear traditional Islamic dress 24 2.04 1.63 Total sport constraint Wore traditional Islamic dress 78 1.37 .70 2.06 .042*Did not wear traditional Islamic dress 24 1.04 .57 *p

Table 8

Independent samples t-test for sport constraints between Chinese Muslim female and non-Chinese Muslim female Sport Constraints n M SD t P Social-cultural Chinese 21 .27 .36 -5.91 .000*Non-Chinese 81 1.62 1.03 . Religious Chinese 21 .75 .57 -3.07 .003*Non-Chinese 81 1.46 1.02 Physiological Chinese 21 .51 .52 -2.27 .026*Non-Chinese 81 .92 .79 Affective Chinese 21 .33 .66 -3.28 .001*Non-Chinese 81 1.35 1.37 Resources Chinese 21 1.27 .78 -1.03 .307 Non-Chinese 81 1.50 .96 Intrapersonal Chinese 21 .64 .62 -2.52 .014*Non-Chinese 81 1.20 .97 Interpersonal Chinese 21 .38 .58 -3.28 .001*Non-Chinese 81 1.17 1.06 Access Chinese 21 1.86 1.82 -.95 .347 Non-Chinese 81 2.21 1.44 Total sport constraints Chinese 21 .75 .48 -4.38 .000*Non-Chinese 81 1.43 .66 *p

One Way-ANOVA test on the Three Age Groups Muslim Female

In this part, 3 age groups of Muslim female were compared with each other.

One-Way ANOVA test was utilized. Turkey HSD was utilized to analysis the data.

The resulted indicated that there were no significant mean difference among 3 age

groups Muslim female in each dimension of sport constraints and total sport

constraints (see Table 9-18). The result showed that Muslim in between 15-24 had

the largest sport constraints and Muslim female who aged between 40 and 55 had the

least sport constraints.

Table 9

One-Way ANOVA Comparing sport constraints scores for three age groups Muslim female Sport Constraints SS MS F Sig. Social Cultural Between group 3.22 1.61 1.39 .254 Within groups 114.44 1.16 Total 117.66 Religious Between group 1.42 .71 .72 .49 Within groups 97.43 .98 Total 98.85 Physiological Between group 1.01 .51 .88 .42 Within groups 56.57 .57 Total 57.58 Affective Between group 2.25 1.12 .64 .53 Within groups 173.83 1.76 Total 176.08 Resources Between group 1.44 .72 .84 .44 Within groups 84.74 .86 Total 86.18 Intrapersonal Between group 2.18 1.09 1.25 .29 Within groups 86.03 .87 Total 88.21 Interpersonal Between group 4.50 2.25 2.18 .118 Within groups 101.95 1.03 Total 106.44 *p

Table 9 (Continue)

Sport Constraints SS MS F Sig. Access Between group 6.57 3.29 1.43 .244 Within groups 227.51 2.30 Total 234.08 Total sport constraint Between group .871 .44 .92 .401 Within groups 46.69 .47 Total 47.56 *p

Table 12 Post Hoc test (Turkey HSD) of physiological constraints among Muslim female in different age groups Age group n Subset for alpha=.05 1 Age 15-24 9 .64 Age 41-55 12 .65 Age 25-40 81 .89 Sig. .65 Table 13 Post Hoc test (Turkey HSD) of affective constraint among Muslim female in different age groups Age group n Subset for alpha=.05 1 Age 41-55 12 .75 Age 25-40 81 1.17 Age 15-24 9 1.33 Sig. .47 Table 14 Post Hoc test (Turkey HSD) of resources constraints among Muslim female in different age groups Age group n Subset for alpha=.05 1 Age 25-40 81 1.41 Age 15-24 9 1.44 Age 40-55 12 1.78 Sig. .53

Table 15 Post Hoc test (Turkey HSD) of intrapersonal constraints among Muslim female in different age groups Age group n Subset for alpha=.05 1 Age 25-40 81 1.04 Age 41-55 12 1.08 Age 15-24 9 1.56 Sig. .30 Table 16 Post Hoc test (Turkey HSD) of interpersonal constraints among Muslim female in different age groups Age group n Subset for alpha=.05 1 2 Age 41-55 12 .67 Age 25-40 81 .99 .99 Age 15-24 9 1.59 Sig. .665 .25 . Table 17 Post Hoc test (Turkey HSD) of access constraints among Muslim female in different age groups Age group n Subset for alpha=.05 1 Age 25-40 81 2.02 Age 41-55 12 2.33 Age 15-24 9 2.89 Sig. .28

Table 18 Post Hoc test (Turkey HSD) of total constraints among Muslim female in different age groups Age group n Subset for alpha=.05 1 Age 41-55 12 1.14 Age 25-40 81 1.28 Age 15-24 9 1.55 Sig. .251

Discussion

The finding of this study suggest that Muslim female in Hong Kong show a fair

proportion (47%) of sport participation which this finding was similar with the finding

conducted by Hong Kong Sports Development Board (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001) who

had found that Hong Kong female had 43% of sport participation rate in 2001. It is

possible that Muslim female in Hong Kong have relatively less sport constraints

compared with Muslim female in Islamic countries since Muslim female in Hong

Kong maybe more adapt the mix eastern and western culture.

Difference of Relatively Important Sport Constraints Perceived by

Chinese Muslim Female and non-Chinese Muslim Female

As expected, Muslim female in Hong Kong whose origin was non-Chinese

perceived more sport constraints compared with Chinese in each dimension of sport

constraints and total sport constraints. The most important sport constraints

perceived by overall Muslim female in this study were access constraint and resources

constraints. Social-cultural constraints, religious constraints, affective constraint,

intrapersonal constraints, interpersonal and physiological constraints rank from 3 to 8.

Access constraint was the most important perceived constraint perceived by

Chinese and non-Chinese participants in this study. It was related to the lack of

appropriate facilities. Actually, lots of sport facilities provided by Leisure and

Cultural Services Department and private sports and recreation centers could not meet

Muslim female need. The setting of the sport facilities in Hong Kong sports and

recreation organizations violate the rules of modesty from Islamic point of view

(personal communication, 2004). For example, it was very difficult for the Muslim

female to swim in Hong Kong since lots of swimming pools were outdoor, without

sex segregation, had male lifeguards carried job duties, and inappropriate showering

area (some of the showering area did not have a locked door). In this study,

swimming only rank at 7 for the sport activities they had participate in. The finding

was different from survey conducted by Hong Kong Sports Development Board (2001)

that swimming was the most popular sport activities among female in Hong Kong.

Both Chinese and non-Chinese Muslim in this study perceived large resources

constraint. Resources constraints in this study included the lack of time and money.

The findings showed that participants in this study perceived large time constraint.

Many studies showed that women face more time constraints compared with male

since they needed to carry family duties and provide company for husbands or father

(e.g., Lovell, 1991). Muslim female may even need to spend more time on their

family since there is strong family tide among Muslim family (Stodolska &

Livengood, in press). However, this study had a different idea to explain why

Muslim female in Hong Kong perceived time constraint. In this study, more than

half of the participants were domestic helpers. Domestic helpers in Hong Kong need

to work from day to night, and they can only escape from work on public holidays.

Therefore, it was not surprising that they had time constraint. But interestingly,

although more than half of the participants were domestic helpers and their wage were

relatively low, this study showed that participants in this study had very low level of

financial const

Documents

SPORT PATTERN AND PERCEIVED CONSTRAINTS · most common activities among the Muslim female were walking and volleyball. The most important sport constraints perceived by Muslim female