Qualitative Research Methods in Sport, Exercise and Health: From process to product

TLDR

Qualitative inquiry is increasingly central to sport, exercise and health research, with students and researchers expected to understand and strategically apply its core assumptions and practices. The book aims to guide readers through the full qualitative research process—from conceptualization and planning to data collection, analysis, and reporting—while extending the field with innovative methodologies and novel reporting approaches. The authors illustrate the process with case studies and examples, discuss ethical considerations, and evaluate research quality from the perspective of its consumers. The book is essential reading for students, researchers, and professionals seeking to understand and conduct qualitative research in sport, exercise, and health contexts.

Abstract

Qualitative forms of inquiry are a dynamic and exciting area within contemporary research in sport, exercise and health. Students and researchers at all levels are now expected to understand qualitative approaches and be able to employ them in their work. In this comprehensive and in-depth introductory text, Andrew C. Sparkes and Brett Smith take the reader on a journey through the entire qualitative research process that begins with the conceptualization of ideas and the planning of a study, moves through the phases of data collection and analysis, and then explains how findings might be represented in various ways to different audiences. Ethical issues are also explored in detail, as well as the ways that the goodness of qualitative research might be judged by its consumers. The book is based on the view that researchers need to make principled, informed and strategic decisions about what, why, when, and how to use qualitative forms of inquiry. The nature of qualitative research is explained in terms of both its core assumptions and what practitioners actually do in the field when they collect data and subject it to analysis. Each chapter is vividly illustrated with cases and examples from published research, to demonstrate different qualitative approaches in action and their relative strengths and weaknesses. The book also extends the boundaries of qualitative research by exploring innovative contemporary methodologies and novel ways to report research findings. 　 Qualitative Research Methods in Sport, Exercise and Health　is essential reading for any student, researcher or professional who wishes to understand this form of inquiry and to engage in a research project within a sport, exercise or health context.