Research Methods for Sports Studies

Editor/Author Jones, Ian
Publication Year: 2015
Publisher: Routledge

Single-User Purchase Price: $170.00
Unlimited-User Purchase Price: Not Available
ISBN: 978-0-41-574932-9
Category: Arts & Leisure - Sports
Image Count: 8
Book Status: Available
Table of Contents

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.

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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