Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The last two decades have witnessed a proliferation of qualitative research in sport and exercise. The Routledge Handbook of Qualitative Research in Sport and Exercise is the first book to offer an in-depth survey of established and emerging qualitative methods, from conceptual first principles to practice and process.

Written and edited by a team of world-leading researchers, and some of the best emerging talents, the book introduces a range of research traditions within which qualitative researchers work. It explores the different methods used to collect and analyse data, offering rationales for why each method might be chosen and guidance on how to employ each technique successfully. It also introduces important contemporary debates and goes further than any other book in exploring new methods, concepts, and future directions, such as sensory research, digital research, visual methods, and how qualitative research can generate impact.

Cutting-edge, timely and comprehensive, the Routledge Handbook of Qualitative Research in Sport and Exercise is an essential reference for any student or scholar using qualitative methods in sport and exercise-related research.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• About the editors (p. ix)
• List of illustrations (p. x)
• Notes on contributors (p. xii)
• Acknowledgements (p. xxi)
• 1 Introduction: an invitation to qualitative research (p. 1)
• Part I Traditions of qualitative research (p. 9)
• 2 Breathing in life: phenomenological perspectives on sport and exercise (p. 11)
• 3 Doing grounded theory in sport and exercise (p. 24)
• 4 Narrative inquiry: from cardinal to marginal ... and back? (p. 37)
• 5 Ethnography (p. 49)
• 6 Case studies (p. 62)
• 7 Feminisms (p. 75)
• 8 Embarking on community-based participatory action research: a methodology that emerges from (and in) communities (p. 88)
• Part II Collecting qualitative data (p. 101)
• 9 Interviews: qualitative interviewing in the sport and exercise sciences (p. 103)
• 10 Conducting observations in sport and exercise settings (p. 124)
• 11 Visual research methods (p. 139)
• 12 Media research: from text to context (p. 152)
• 13 Using material objects and artifacts in research (p. 164)
• 14 Documents of life: from diaries to autobiographies to biographical objects (p. 177)
• Part III Analysing qualitative data (p. 189)
• 15 Using thematic analysis in sport and exercise research (p. 191)
• 16 Phenomenological analysis in sport and exercise (p. 206)
• 17 Interpretative phenomenological analysis in sport and exercise: getting at experience (p. 219)
• 18 Critical discourse analysis in sport and exercise: what, why and how (p. 230)
• 19 Conversation analysis in sport and exercise (p. 243)
• 20 Narrative analysis in sport and exercise: how can it be done? (p. 260)
• 21 Synthesizing qualitative research: meta-synthesis in sport and exercise (p. 274)
• Part IV Representation, evaluation and ethics (p. 289)
• 22 In defence of realist tales (p. 291)
• 23 Creative analytical practices (p. 302)
• 24 Ethics in sport and exercise research: from research ethics committees to ethics in the field (p. 316)
• 25 Rethinking 'validity' and 'trustworthiness' in qualitative inquiry: how might we judge the quality' of qualitative research in sport and exercise sciences? (p. 330)
• Part V Opening up qualitative research practices in sport and exercise (p. 341)
• 26 Researching the senses in sport and exercise (p. 343)
• 27 The Web and digital qualitative methods: researching online and researching the online in sport and exercise studies (p. 355)
• 28 Pluralistic data analysis: theory and practice (p. 368)
• 29 Mixed methods research in sport and exercise: integrating qualitative research (p. 382)
• 30 The role of theory, interpretation and critical thought within qualitative sport and exercise research (p. 397)
• 31 Teaching qualitative research (p. 409)
• 32 Knowledge, not numbers: qualitative research and impact in sport, exercise and health (p. 424)
• 33 Moving between world views: indigenous physical cultures through Indigenous eyes (p. 438)
• Part VI Future visions (p. 443)
• 34 Thinking about the future: challenges and possibilities (p. 445)
• 35 A look at the future of qualitative methodology through the prism of athlete career research (p. 450)
• 36 Qualitative research in search of 'truth' and agency: challenges and opportunities for qualitative research (p. 462)
• 37 Challenges and opportunities for qualitative research: future directions (p. 466)
• 38 Embracing the messiness of qualitative research: challenges and opportunities for qualitative researchers in sport and exercise (p. 472)
• Index (p. 476)

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Brett Smith, PhD, is Professor of Physical Activity and Health in the School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Birmingham, UK. His research focuses on disability, sport and physical activity. He is also interested in qualitative inquiry and its possibilities for social change. Brett is Associate Editor of Psychology of Sport and Exercise and serves actively on seven editorial boards, including the Sociology of Sport Journal and Sport, Exercise and Performance Psychology. He is co-author of Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health: From Process to Product. He is also co-editor of the Routledge book series on Qualitative Research in Sport and Physical Activity. Brett is the founder and former Editor-in-Chief of the international journal Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health.
Andrew C. Sparkes, PhD and professor, is currently with the Institute for Sport, Physical Activity and Leisure at Leeds Beckett University, UK. His research interests are inspired by a continuing fascination with the ways that people inhabit and experience their bodies differently over time, and in a variety of contexts. To explore such experiences he draws on life history, ethnography, auto-ethnography and narrative approaches. Andrew is co-author of Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health: From Process to Product, and co-editor of Advances in Biographical Methods: Creative Applications, both published by Routledge.