Research Methods for Sport Management

Just over 10 years ago, those seeking an introductory text to sport research within the social sciences had few options, often having to resort to generic research methods texts. Since then, however, there has been a steady increase in publications intended to support undergraduate and postgraduate learning. Although I would argue there is a case to suggest that saturation in the area of generic sport research texts has been reached, this is a view clearly not shared by publishers, with this text emerging less than a year after Veal and Darcy's (2014) Research Methods in Sport Studies and Sport Management: A Practical Guide, both published by Routledge. Thus this text finds itself within what is now a relatively crowded marketplace, and as such will rely upon providing something different to what is already in existence. Within the area of research methods, however, this isn't always an easy task, and it is often all too easy to present the same content, albeit packaged in a different way. As I will outline below, this text does – at times – provide something different. As to whether it is different enough to capture the market remains to be seen.

The book is divided into four parts. Part One examines the idea of the research process, exploring the process itself, as well as associated aspects such as developing questions, identifying and searching for literature and research ethics. This section succeeds in providing a clear introduction; however, at times I felt that the authors perhaps tried to include too much within a limited space, with Chapter 3 being a good example of this, where the key issues of identifying a research problem, reviewing the literature and ethical considerations were dealt with over the course of only 17 pages. Here I felt that the text would have benefitted from greater detail on each area, especially in terms of how to construct a literature review, which is something that is a perennial weakness of many students at the early stages of their research careers. I would also welcome greater depth in terms of the ethical issues surrounding research, which were covered in a single side, and I feel certainly would merit greater detail and discussion given that ethical considerations are paramount in all forms of research. I am not sure that the text would give students a clear understanding of the nature, importance and role of ethics in sport research, and this is an area that any future edition should consider essential.

Part Two of the book covers qualitative research approaches, and this is – I felt – the strongest section. One key strength of the book is its coverage of a comprehensive range of topics not always evident within competing texts. Thus, I was pleased to see content on aspects such as action research, discourse analysis, ethnomethodology, netnography, autoethnography, ethnodrama and phenomenography, as well as a chapter on gender as a methodology in sport management research, a welcome introduction to feminist methodology for students. The authors also present a clear introduction to phenomenology, which is certainly to be applauded, given its reputation (in many students’ eyes) as an often impenetrable concept. It is the content within the chapters that cover these topics that are a real strength of the text, content which perhaps gives it a critical edge over its competitors, especially in terms of its breadth of coverage. Chapter 14 also adds something new by outlining a number of ‘emerging qualitative approaches’. The authors are correct to say that sport management research is – especially at the undergraduate level – seen as neutral and apolitical, and this chapter outlines a number of approaches to counter this, such as whiteness studies, critical race theory, diaspora studies and disability studies as examples, areas often ignored within other volumes. One minor criticism given this, however, is that I felt, again, perhaps too much was covered here at times, and maybe the chapter would have had greater impact if fewer approaches had been presented, allowing more depth. The readings provided in this chapter were also mostly unpublished doctoral theses from the USA which I found curious, and would certainly welcome alternative sources in any future editions.

Part Three of the text covers quantitative research, and this section provides a clear introduction to the key concepts and principles. Given the more ‘straightforward’ nature of quantitative approaches, it is clearly more difficult to differentiate such content from what is already out there, but what the authors do achieve, however, is a very accessible section, especially to the novice researcher. The chapters dealing with inferential statistics, for example, are especially user friendly, and provide a good overview for those new to the idea of quantitative analysis.

The text concludes with Part Four, which examines ‘alternative approaches to sport management research’. I was not sure about either the placement or the heading for this part. The two alternative approaches put forward are those of mixed-methods research, and internet-based research, and having these at the end of the text seemed almost an afterthought. The idea that these actually are ‘alternative’ is perhaps open to question (I would argue that they are more appropriately seen as ‘mainstream’ now?), and I felt that they would be better integrated within the earlier main body of the book?

One surprising omission given the target market was that of detail upon how to write, present and disseminate research. This is something that I feel the audience for the book would have welcomed, yet was generally absent. Even some limited attention to this would have been a real addition to the text, and perhaps this would have been a better way to conclude than the ‘alternative approaches highlighted above. It is still the case for many students that being able to undertake excellent research isn't enough, and having to be able to present and disseminate research findings remains a crucial aspect, and more explicit guidance on this would, I am sure, be welcomed.

Overall, this is a good addition to the research methods in sport catalogue. Its focus seems much more upon ‘what is’ research rather than ‘how to’, and thus some readers might prefer a more practical guide to actually carrying out research, but it covers a lot of ground as yet unexplored in other similar books, and introduces new researchers to a varied range of ideas and concepts. Thus, to summarise, my concerns don't relate at all to the content of the book, which I feel is generally an excellent resource, and could be even better with a couple of additions and amendments. They are more to do with how the book finds the market it deserves in light of wider competition, which I hope it does. I will certainly be adding it to my reading lists.