Dr. Kihl's research interests focus on the central tenets of ethics, policy, and sports governance. She is interested in how we can assist sport organizations in fulfilling their social responsibility role(s) in their respective communities. As such, she is interested in social responsibility decision making, implementation and evaluation; corruption in sport, specifically its causes, its impact, and integrity systems. Through her research, she has developed various theoretical frameworks that explain the causes of individual corruption, the impact of sport corruption on various organizational stakeholders, and an integrity system that promotes and safeguards integrity. Last, Dr. Kihl is exploring athlete representation, its meaning in different sport governance contexts, quality representation, relationships between different types of representatives, and how representation generates power.
Dr. Kihl is a former President of the North American Society for Sport Management, serves on the editorial board for the Journal of Sport Management, and serves on the USA Dance ethics committee.
