The passage given below is followed by four summaries. Choose the option that best captures the author's position.
The early optimism about sport's deterrent effects on delinquency was premature as researchers failed to find any consistent relationships between sports participation and deviance. As the initial studies were based upon cross-sectional data and the effects captured were short-term, it was problematic to test and verify the temporal sequencing of events suggested by the deterrence theory. The correlation between sport and delinquency could not be disentangled from class and cultural variables known. Choosing individuals to play sports in the first place was problematic, which became more acute in the subsequent decades as researchers began to document just how closely sports participation was linked to social class indicators.
- Sports participation is linked to class and cultural variables such as education, income, and social capital
- Contradicting the previous optimism, latter researchers have proved that there is no consistent relationship between sports participation and deviance
- Statistical and empirical weaknesses stand in the way of inferring any relationship between sports participation and deviance
- There is a direct relationship between sport participation and delinquency but it needs more empirical evidence