Using Ethnography in Applied Sport Psychology

The acceptance of qualitative research in applied sport psychology is growing steadily, yet there are continued calls for greater methodological diversity in this research. To this end, we offer ethnography to extend and enhance our understanding of applied sport psychology. Ethnography is aimed toward understanding the culture of a particular group from the perspective of the group members. The group culture, then, will lend insight into the behaviors, values, emotions, and mental states of group members. Ethnographers employ multiple methods to gain a comprehensive understanding of the social environment and perceptions of the members of the social group. In this paper, we discuss the epistemological and methodological foundations of ethnography. Then, using research examples related to applied sport psychology, we describe processes involved ethnographic research. Finally, we explore the issues of representation and legitimacy in ethnography.

[1]  B. Berg.  Qualitative Research Methods for the Social Sciences , 1989 .

[2]  J. Cȏté,et al.  The Knowledge of High-Performance Gymnastic Coaches: Methodological Framework , 1995 .

[3]  S. Biddle,et al.  Research methods in sport and exercise psychology: quantitative and qualitative issues , 2001, Journal of sports sciences.

[4]  A. Sparkes.  Writing People: Reflections on the Dual Crises of Representation and Legitimation in Qualitative Inquiry , 1995 .

[5]  B. Wheaton.  “Just Do It”: Consumption, Commitment, and Identity in the Windsurfing Subculture , 2000 .

[6]  Linda Naylor Dench.  Telling Tales in Sport and Physical Activity: A Qualitative Journey , 2003 .

[7]  N. Denzin,et al.  Introduction: The Discipline and Practice of Qualitative Research. , 2005 .

[8]  N. Denzin,et al.  Handbook of Qualitative Research , 1994 .

[9]  C. Brackenridge.  MANAGING MYSELF , 1999 .

[10]  P. Markula.  Firm but Shapely, Fit but Sexy, Strong but Thin: The Postmodern Aerobicizing Female Bodies , 1995 .

[11]  A. Sparkes.  Validity in Qualitative Inquiry and the Problem of Criteria: Implications for Sport Psychology , 1998 .

[12]  C. Skelton,et al.  Feminist research in theory and practice , 2003 .

[13]  Martyn Hammersley,et al.  Ethnography : Principles in Practice , 1983 .

[14]  Mike Ball,et al.  Technologies of realism? Ethnographic uses of photography and film , 2007 .

[15]  M. Volman,et al.  Getting Smart: Feminist Research and Pedagogy with/in the Postmodern , 1994 .

[16]  N. Holt,et al.  An ethnographic study of cohesiveness in a college soccer team over a season. , 2001 .

[17]  W. Strean,et al.  Issues of Qualitative Research Methods and Presentation , 1997 .

[18]  Patricia Ann Schechter,et al.  Introduction to the project , 2003 .

[19]  K. Broad.  The Gendered Unapologetic: Queer Resistance in Women’s Sport , 2001 .

[20]  S. Butts.  Good to the last drop: understanding surfers' motivations , 2001 .

[21]  Thomas A. Schwandt.  Farewell to Criteriology , 1996 .

[22]  Harry F. Wolcott.  MAKING A STUDY “MORE ETHNOGRAPHIC” , 1990 .

[23]  G. Faulkner,et al.  Exercise as Therapy for Schizophrenia: An Ethnographic Study , 1999 .

[24]  S. Fagerhaugh,et al.  Participant Observation , 1979 .

[25]  D. Stephens.  Predictors of Aggressive Tendencies in Girls' Basketball: An Examination of Beginning and Advanced Participants in a Summer Skills Camp , 2001, Research quarterly for exercise and sport.

[26]  Kristin L. Anderson,et al.  Snowboarding: The Construction of Gender in an Emerging Sport , 1999 .

[27]  Pierre Trudel,et al.  Role of the Coach: How Model Youth Team Sport Coaches Frame Their Roles , 2004 .

[28]  Harry F. Wolcott,et al.  Writing Up Qualitative Research , 1990 .

[29]  Catherine A. Emihovich.  The Unknown City: The Lives of Poor and Working‐Class Young Adults. , 1999 .

[30]  W. Rubinstein,et al.  Qualitative Cancer Genetic Counseling Research, Part I: Ethnography in a Cancer Clinic , 2001, Journal of Genetic Counseling.

[31]  V. Krane,et al.  Reaching for gold and the price of glory: a motivational case study of an Elite Gymnast. , 1997 .

[32]  K. Ravizza.  SportPsych Consultation Issues in Professional Baseball , 1990 .

[33]  Elizabeth Adams St. Pierre,et al.  Writing: A method of inquiry. , 1994 .

[34]  J. Lofland,et al.  ANALYTIC ETHNOGRAPHY , 1995 .

[35]  Lois W. Sayrs.  Interviews : an introduction to qualitative research interviewing , 1996 .

[36]  P. M. Hendryx-Bedalov,et al.  Ethnography , 1998 .

[37]  S. Wilkinson.  Focus Groups , 1999 .

[38]  Pierre Trudel,et al.  A decade of qualitative research in sport psychology journals: 1990-1999. , 2003 .

[39]  Margaret Anzul,et al.  Doing Qualitative Research: Circles Within Circles , 1991 .

[40]  J. Genest,et al.  Clinical research. , 1990, CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne.

[41]  R. A. May,et al.  The Sticky Situation of Sportsmanship , 2001 .

[42]  Pamela Jordan.  Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques , 1994 .

[43]  E. Guba,et al.  Paradigmatic Controversies, Contradictions, and Emerging Confluences. , 2005 .

[44]  W. Rubinstein,et al.  Qualitative Cancer Genetic Counseling Research, Part II: Findings from a Exploratory Ethnographic Study in a Cancer Clinic , 2001, Journal of Genetic Counseling.

[45]  A. Poczwardowski,et al.  The athlete and coach: Their relationship and its meaning. Methodological concerns and research process , 2002 .

[46]  B. Beal.  Alternative masculinity and its effects on gender relations in the subculture of skateboarding. , 1996 .

[47]  T. Horn,et al.  Advances in Sport Psychology , 2002 .

[48]  N. Denzin,et al.  The discipline and practice of qualitative research [Introduction]. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The handbook of qualitative research (2nd ed. , 2000 .

[49]  L. Newman,et al.  Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods: A Guidebook and Resource, Third Edition. , 1999 .

[50]  Judith A. Cook,et al.  Beyond methodology : feminist scholarship as lived research , 1992 .

[51]  I. Hodder.  The Interpretation of Documents and Material Culture , 1994 .

[52]  K. Ravizza,et al.  An In-depth Study of Former Elite Figure Skaters: I. Introduction to the Project , 1989 .

[53]  Julie Rothsteion.  Good to the Last Drop , 1992, Hastings Center Report.

[54]  M. Fine,et al.  The Unknown City: The Lives of Poor and Working-Class Young Adults , 1999 .

[55]  W. Strean.  Possibilities for Qualitative Research in Sport Psychology , 1998 .

[56]  P. Howe.  AN ETHNOGRAPHY OF PAIN AND INJURY IN PROFESSIONAL RUGBY UNION , 2001 .

[57]  J. H. Frey,et al.  The Interview: From Structured Questions to Negotiated Text , 2000 .

[58]  A. Dewar.  Would All the Generic Women in Sport Please Stand Up? Challenges Facing Feminist Sport Sociology , 1993 .

[59]  S. D. Saleh,et al.  Dimensions of Leader Behavior in Sports: Development of a Leadership Scale , 1980 .

[60]  Rainer Martens,et al.  Science, Knowledge, and Sport Psychology , 1987 .

[61]  A. Coffey.  The Ethnographic Self , 1999 .

[62]  W. Strean,et al.  Reflecting on initiating sport psychology consultation: a self-narrative of neophyte practice. , 2001 .

[63]  R. Emerson,et al.  Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes , 1995 .