METHODOLOGY

Sample and Data Collection
During the period January 4–5, 2007, self-administered questionnaires were mailed to a nationwide sample of 30,000 households from the consumer mail panel of NFO Research, Inc. One individual over the age of 6 in each household was pre-selected to complete a four-page questionnaire booklet. Where the designated respondent was a young child, the parent was instructed to fill out the booklet for him or her.

No incentives were offered, nor were reminder cards mailed to respondents. At the conclusion of the fieldwork, 15,176 booklets had been returned, for a response rate of 56%. A total of 16,148 usable individual questionnaires comprised the final sample, so each respondent in the study represents 16,565 people in the U.S. population of 267,499,000.

An effort was made to skew the targeted sample toward respondents who were more likely to be active sports participants (i.e. younger males, etc.). A comparison of the final composition with U.S. population parameters is contained on the following page.

Survey Instrument
Each household received a 4-page 8" x 14" questionnaire booklet targeting one individual aged 6 or older as the designated respondent. For exactly one-half the sample the 103 sports/activities were presented alphabetically by category; for the other half the list was reversed. In addition to the 3-page battery of questions on sports participation behavior, the instrument also addressed health clubs and other topics relative to exercise and physical fitness.

Sample Balancing Procedure
The sample was balanced to reflect the non-institutionalized population over six years of age within the 48 continental United States. This was accomplished through a five-variable weighting procedure based on the most recent Census update containing all of the required demographic variables—the March 2006 Current Population Survey. The following census targets were used in the sample balancing program:

    1. Age Within Gender (18 cells)
    2. Race (5 cells)
    3. Geographic region (4 cells)
    4. Household Income (6 cells)

The sample data are projected to the universe (U.S. population) in each table.