Research Methods for Sports Studies is a comprehensive, engaging and practical text that provides a complete grounding in both qualitative and quantitative research methods for the sports studies student.

Table of Contents

• List of figures and tables
• Foreword by Chris Gratton
• Preface to the third edition
• 1 WHAT IS RESEARCH?
• Introduction
• What is ‘research’?
• The characteristics of research
• Why undertake research?
• The different types of research
• Pure and applied research
• Primary and secondary research
• Theoretical and empirical research
• Disciplinary approaches to sport research
• Some misconceptions about research
• Understanding sports research
• How to read research
• Summary
• Activity
• Further reading
• 2 RESEARCH TRADITIONS
• Introduction
• The nature of knowledge
• Quantitative and qualitative research
• Choosing quantitative or qualitative approaches
• Mixing quantitative and qualitative data
• Deductive and inductive research
• Two broad research traditions
• What approaches are suitable for my research?
• Summary
• Activity
• About your research project
• 3 THE RESEARCH PROCESS
• Introduction
• The research process
• Planning the research process
• Summary
• Activity
• Further reading
• 4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS, AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
• Introduction
• Coming up with a research question
• Focusing your research question
• Writing a research proposal
• Weaknesses in research proposals
• Summary
• Activity
• About your research project
• 5 REVIEWING THE LITERATURE
• Introduction
• Purposes of the literature review
• Quantitative and qualitative studies – the differing nature of the literature review
• Sources of literature
• Finding the literature
• Focusing your literature search
• Assessing the literature
• Assessing internet sites
• How do I know when I have collected enough literature?
• Writing up the literature review
• Structuring your literature review
• Referencing other authors
• Mistakes often made in the literature review
• Identifying secondary data
• How do I know if I have completed my literature review?
• Summary
• Activity
• About your research project
• Further reading
• 6 THEORIES, CONCEPTS AND VARIABLES
• Introduction
• Theories and theoretical frameworks
• Considering your approach
• Choosing an appropriate theory
• Concepts and conceptual frameworks
• Types of quantitative measurement
• Assessing quantitative research
• The relationship between reliability and validity
• Enhancing reliability and validity
• Assessing qualitative research
• Enhancing the quality of qualitative research
• Summary
• Activity
• About your research project
• 7 RESEARCH DESIGNS
• Introduction
• Experimental designs
• Cross-sectional/survey designs
• Time series designs
• Longitudinal designs
• Case study research
• Grounded theory designs
• Action research
• Ethnography
• Autoethnography
• Sampling issues
• Selecting a sample
• Determining the sample size
• Case study sampling
• Non-response bias
• What methods should I use to collect data from my sample?
• Triangulation
• Combining quantitative and qualitative approaches
• Ethical considerations in research design
• Assessing the ethics of your research
• Using ethics to improve your research
• Summary
• Activity
• About your research project
• Further reading
• 8 COLLECTING DATA I: THE QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY
• Introduction
• When is the use of a questionnaire appropriate?
• Advantages of using questionnaires
• Disadvantages of using questionnaires
• Using internet-based questionnaires
• Designing the questionnaire
• Ordering the questionnaire
• Designing internet surveys
• Enhancing the online survey experience
• Problems in questionnaire design
• Piloting the questionnaire
• Increasing your response rate
• The covering letter
• Administering the questionnaire at sporting events
• Following up non-respondents
• Summary
• Activity
• About your research project
• Further reading
• 9 COLLECTING DATA II: INTERVIEWS
• Introduction
• When is interviewing appropriate?
• The different types of interview
• Advantages of interviews
• Disadvantages of interviews
• Designing the interview guide
• Carrying out the interview
• Phenomenological interviews
• Narrative interviews
• Motivating the informant
• Asking sensitive questions
• Using visual methods within interviews
• Recording the interview
• Maximising the quality of the interview
• Telephone and online interviews
• Interviews and sample size
• The key informant interview
• Focus groups
• Summary
• Activity
• About your research project
• Further reading
• 10 COLLECTING DATA III: UNOBTRUSIVE METHODS – OBSERVATION AND CONTENT ANALYSIS
• Introduction
• Advantages of unobtrusive methods
• Disadvantages of unobtrusive methods
• Observation and participant observation
• When is observation appropriate?
• Advantages of observational methods
• Disadvantages of observational methods
• Carrying out an observational study
• Recording data
• Mistakes made in observational studies
• Content analysis
• Mistakes made in content analysis
• Summary
• Activity
• About your research project
• Further reading
• 11 COLLECTING DATA IV: ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH IN SPORT
• Introduction
• Characteristics of ethnography
• Undertaking a sport ethnography
• Ethnographic methods
• Ethical issues in sport ethnography
• Experiential ethnography
• Writing the ethnography
• Ethnography and student research
• Summary
• Activity
• About your research project
• Further reading
• 12 SPORT RESEARCH AND THE INTERNET
• Introduction
• Sources of data
• Undertaking a ‘netnography’
• Netnographic methods
• Assessing your data
• The ethics of online research
• Summary
• Activity
• About your research project
• Further reading
• 13 ANALYSING DATA I: QUANTITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS
• Introduction
• The use of computer software in quantitative analysis
• Data preparation
• Using SPSS for Windows
• Analysing data using SPSS for Windows
• Methods of analysis
• Descriptive statistics
• Inferential statistics
• Interpreting your results
• Tests of association
• Testing differences
• Choosing your test
• Reporting the findings
• A final word on statistics
• Mistakes sometimes made in quantitative analysis
• Summary
• About your research project
• Further reading
• 14 ANALYSING DATA II: QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS
• Introduction
• Stages of qualitative analysis
• Developing codes and themes
• Presenting your analysis
• Computer analysis and qualitative data
• Ensuring the trustworthiness of your data
• Summary
• Activity
• About your research project
• Further reading
• 15 WRITING THE RESEARCH REPORT
• Introduction
• Writing the research report
• Structuring the written report
• Language and writing style
• Assessing your own research report
• Defending your research
• Presenting your research
• Presenting a research poster
• Other ways of reporting your research
• Summary
• About your research project
• Further reading
• 16 PRACTICAL ISSUES
• Introduction
• The types of student research
• Initial considerations
• What characterises a good piece of student research?
• Originality and generalisability
• The research timescale
• Gaining collaboration and access
• The role of your tutor
• Common faults in student research
• Summary
• About your research project
• Further reading
• Bibliography