A participant centred approach to understanding athletics in the UK: using 'mobile' methodologies

Abstract

This project investigates the state of grassroots athletics in the UK from the perspective of coaches and officials over the course of a calendar year. Utilising a longitudinal study design provides an effective means to understand how experiences vary in light of changing schedule of club training demands, organisational pressures and infrastructure and resource demands within the sport. The aims of the study are: 1) To discover what it means to be a coach and/or official within athletics in the UK; 2) To develop understanding and context to the complexities of (voluntary) working within athletics in the UK; and 3) To reveal perspectives of the athletics eco system to develop recommendations for future practice. Subsequently, there is a three 3-step approach to data collection: Step 1) Contextual participant generated photographs which will be accompanied by a piece of writing in a diary of the participants choosing. Step 2) Go-along interviews and observations with each participant. And Step 3: Photo elicitation interviews. Findings will be outlined from the halfway point of data collection and will focus on preliminary findings from Step 1 and Step 2 of the method