Usefulness of multilevel modeling in sport management research: The case of voluntary roles in nonprofit sports clubs

In many areas of sport management, individual behavior is not only driven by individual characteristics but also by higher level contextual factors. For instance, voluntary engagement in nonprofit sports clubs is influenced by organizational characteristics. Such multilevel structures should not only be considered theoretically, as in ecological systems theory, but they also require appropriate statistical treatment. This study aims to demonstrate the usefulness of multilevel modeling using the case of voluntary roles (administrative, coach, referee) in nonprofit sports clubs. Survey data from German sports clubs (n?=?228) and their members (n?=?636) were collected and merged. The results of multilevel models show that organizational capacity is significantly associated with taking up different voluntary roles. However, the effects are lower and fewer organizational-level variables are significant compared with conventional regression analyses which neglect the hierarchical data structure. Hence, adequate statistical treatment is necessary for deriving accurate managerial implications.