SABERMETRICS OVER TIME: PERSUASION AND SYMBOLIC CONVERGENCE ACROSS A DIFFUSION OF INNOVATIONS

This study sought to examine the movement of advanced baseball analysis, or sabermetrics, as a case study of the phenomenon of the diffusion of innovations. It examined the nature and extent of the diffusion of the sabermetric approach to baseball, as well as the persuasive strategies that may have effected this progression. The study employed a content analysis of texts from sabermetricians to determine common features of their discourse and measured the frequency of the appearance of those features in texts originating from media, fans, and the baseball industry. It also measured different types of persuasive appeals and references to other work in sabermetric discourse to comprehend the persuasive strategies and tone of discussion in the movement. Findings of the study included a marked diffusion to the media and fans, a minimization of credibility-based persuasive appeals in sabermetric discourse, largely positive references to other texts, and shifts in data presentation that symbolize both the role of computerized media in the diffusion process as well as a "hardening orthodoxy" that shifts the movement's focus over time.

Grantor dc:publisher

Wake Forest University

Year dc:date.issued

2014

Author dc:creator

• Stoltz, Nathaniel

• baseball

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10339/39317

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:wakespace.lib.wfu.edu:10339/39317