Capturing the essence of grounded theory: the importance of understanding commonalities and variants

This paper aims to capture the essence of grounded theory (GT) by setting out its commonalities and variants and, importantly, the implications of the latter for the implementation of the former, and for the truth claims and the contributions to knowledge that a GT study might make. Firstly, three ontological and epistemological variants of GT are outlined. Secondly, the commonalities of GT are set out as eight core elements of GT methodology that are individually necessary, but only sufficient collectively, to define a GT study. These elements are: an iterative process; theoretical sampling; theoretical sensitivity; codes, memos and concepts; constant comparison; theoretical saturation; fit, work, relevance and modifiability; and substantive theory. Thirdly, the implications of the ontological and epistemological variants of GT for, firstly, the implementation of the core common elements of the methodology and, secondly, the truth claims and contributions to knowledge that might be made, are discussed. Finally, the paper concludes by arguing that published GT studies in sport, exercise and health research have not always explicitly demonstrated a full understand of the commonalities and variants of GT, and that researchers publishing GT studies must take responsibility for doing this

Football friends: adolescent boys’ friendships inside an English professional football (soccer) academy.

This qualitative research draws on data from semi-structured, in-depth interviews to examine the friendships of twelve adolescent (14 and 15-year-old) boys within a professional football club Academy: a setting marked by competition for places. Findings highlight how boys fail to develop ‘deep’ friendships with other boys inside the club; their peer-relationships, even when described as ‘friendships,’ are devoid of trust and emotional intimacy. Instead, ‘being mates’ is experienced within parameters of instrumentalism and individualism leading to superficial and inauthentic friendships. There is some indication that boys developed closer friendships with boys outside of the Academy, suggesting that competition is implicated negatively in friendship-building and hinders the capabilities of these boys to develop close friendships with teammates. Concluding this paper, we acknowledge limitations of our data, discuss implications and challenges for football academies, and highlight directions for future research

Whatever happened to the third paradigm? Exploring mixed methods research designs in sport and exercise psychology

In the past, quantitative and qualitative approaches to research were portrayed as being incompatible, if not mutually exclusive. More recently, however, researchers have explored the possible complementarity of these approaches through mixed methods research (MMR) the so-called third research paradigm. The purpose of this paper is to explore the nature and implications of mixed methods designs for research in sport and exercise psychology. Having sketched the nature and origins of MMR, we highlight some advantages it offers to researchers in sport and exercise psychology. After that, we conclude by identifying some barriers to progress in using mixed methods research in this latter field.Author has checked copyrightkpw13/5/1