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CHAPTER THREE<br />

METHODS AND PROCEDURES<br />

3.1 INTRODUCTION<br />

This chapter will outline the practicalities <strong>of</strong> the research employed and also discusses the<br />

research inventories and tests utilised to determine the outcome <strong>of</strong> this research study. Hence,<br />

the chapter commences with a detailed explanation <strong>of</strong> the research design adopted and <strong>of</strong> the<br />

participants recruited, then an explanation <strong>of</strong> the testing period, the description <strong>of</strong> the data<br />

collection process and procedures <strong>of</strong> each assessment included in the <strong>fitness</strong> test battery. The<br />

chapter concludes by describing the ethical aspects to be considered, as well as the statistical<br />

analysis to be used to analyse the data.<br />

3.2 RESEARCH DESIGN<br />

A quantitative approach was used in this study with the specific nature <strong>of</strong> the research being<br />

descriptive and comparative. The study was classified as descriptive as it aimed to achieve<br />

insight into the physical <strong>fitness</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>elite</strong> women’s <strong>rugby</strong> <strong>players</strong> in South Africa <strong>over</strong> a<br />

competitive season.<br />

3.3 PARTICIPANTS<br />

For the purpose <strong>of</strong> this study, 32 female <strong>rugby</strong> <strong>players</strong> selected for the South African Rugby<br />

High Performance Programme were recruited. These <strong>players</strong> were selected from the 2008<br />

Inter-provincial competition by National Selectors appointed by the South African Rugby<br />

44

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