Investigation of communication skills and problem solving skills of volleyball referees

This study was conducted to examine the communication and problem-solving skills of volleyball referees working in Turkey. This is a descriptive study. The sample consisted of 307 volleyball referees, 87 female and 220 male, who volunteered to participate in the study. Data for the study were obtained online. A demographic information form, a communication skills scale, and a problem-solving scale were used in the study. SPSS 26.0 was used to analyze the data obtained from the scales. The data were examined for skewness and kurtosis, and a normal distribution was determined. A t-test was used to compare paired groups, a one-way ANOVA was used to compare more than two groups, and a Pearson correlation analysis was used to examine the relationship between communication skills and problem-solving skills. The analysis results showed that referees aged 39 and over had lower problem-solving skills than other age groups. Those with undergraduate and graduate degrees scored higher in problem-solving skills than high school graduates. Single referees scored higher on problem-solving skills than married referees. Referees who officiated 20 or fewer times a season scored higher on problem-solving skills than referees who officiated 21 or more times. Undergraduate referees scored higher on the EDSO and IKI subscales of communication than high school graduates. Male referees scored higher on the IITB subscale of the communication skills scale than female referees. Considering the number of tasks undertaken in a season, those who took 21 or more tasks received higher scores in TWO sub-dimensions of the communication skills scale compared to those who took 20 or less tasks. A moderate negative correlation was found between communication skills and problem-solving skills. As communication skills increase, problem solving skills decrease. As a result, according to this research, it was found that the communication and problem-solving skills of the referees were not statistically significant according to the variables of referee classification, place of residence, year of refereeing, whether they played volleyball before refereeing; but there was a statistically significant difference according to the variables of gender, age, marital status, number of duties per year and level of education. Keywords: Volleyball; Communication; Refereeing; Problem Solving.