Developing rigor in qualitative research: problems and opportunities within sport and exercise psychology

Qualitative research has grown within sport and exercise psychology and is now widely conducted. The purpose of this review is to discuss three commonly used ways to demonstrate rigor when conducting or judging qualitative research in sport and exercise psychology. These are the method of member checking, the method of inter-rater reliability, and the notion of universal criteria. Problems with each method are first highlighted. Member checking and inter-rater reliability are shown to be ineffective for verification, trustworthiness, or reliability purposes. Next, universal criteria within the context of Tracy’s, heavily drawn on paper within sport and exercise psychology is problematized. Throughout the discussion of each method and universal criteria more suitable possibilities for conducting rigorous qualitative research are offered. The paper concludes that to support high-quality qualitative research, scholars – including journal editors and reviewers – need to change how rigor is developed and judged, rather than perpetuate the problems with how it has been commonly evaluated in the past. Recommendations for developing rigor when conducting and/or judging qualitative research within sport and exercise psychology are also offered

‘Stepping away from the computer and into the sweats': The construction and negotiation of exercise identities in a Norwegian public company

While research has found that a developed exercise identity enables individuals to view exercise participation as self- reinforcing, the social barriers to such exercise identity development and participation have not been fully addressed. The subsequent aim of this study was to explore some of the social complexities at play in terms of how company employees construct and manage their exercise identities within a work place setting. A case-study method was used to address the research issue over a nine-month period. The case to be studied included a sample of 72 employees from a Norwegian public company who participated in an on-going work-based exercise programme called ‘Exercise for all’. The principal means of data collection comprised participant observation, individual interviews and exercise logbooks. The data were subject to inductive analysis. The primary barriers to exercise participation included high levels of social comparison in a competitive working context, particularly in relation to ‘competent colleagues’, and feelings of guilt associated with partaking in ‘recreational’ activities during work hours. Strategies engaged with to overcome and negotiate such obstacles included justifying participation through a health-related discourse, and constructing a more distinct ‘worker-exerciser’ identity

Psychology and sociology in sport studies

This chapter aims to understand the intersections between sport and class that is crucial because virtually every experience of sport and physical movement is infused with class. ‘Social class, both on its own and in combination with gender, race/ethnicity, and other social characteristics, is the most important determinant of participation in sport and physical activity’. International attention to organized sport reached rarefied heights during the early Cold War Olympic Games era. The partitioning of Germany after World War II led to the development of the German Democratic Republic’s state-run sport system, which in many ways was the most advanced sport system of modern times. The chapter summarizes the perspectives of Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Pierre Bourdieu, because the work of these three theorists has been the most influential in terms of understanding class in the parent discipline of sociology

Opening the discussion

This is an Accepted Manuscript of a book chapter published by Routledge in Routledge International Handbook of Sport Psychology on 8 February 2016, available online: http://www.routledge.com/9781138022423.The Routledge International Handbook of Sport Psychology offers a comprehensive and authoritative guide to contemporary sport psychology in all its aspects

Prematurity rates during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic lockdown in Melbourne, Australia

Abstract not available.Alexia Matheson, Claire J. McGannon, Atul Malhotra, Kirsten R. Palmer, Alice E. Stewart, Euan M. Wallace, Ben W. Mol, Ryan J. Hodges, and Daniel L. Rolnik