Andrew C. Sparkes

Qualitative research in sport, exercise and health in the era of neoliberalism, audit and New Public Management: understanding the conditions for the (im)possibilities of a new paradigm dialogue

This article explores a key issue that was left mostly unsaid in a recent special edition of Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health that invited predominantly quantitative researchers to share their views on qualitative research with a view to stimulating dialogue. This key issue is that of power. To explore this unsaid, I offer some reflections on the wider social and political climate that is shaping the lived realities of both quantitative and qualitative researchers. I begin by noting the neoconservative backlash to qualitative research in recent years and the rise of methodological fundamentalism. Next, I consider how the work of all researchers in sport, exercise and health, whatever their paradigmatic persuasions is framed within a climate produced by an audit culture, New Public Management practices, and a neoliberal agenda. From this, I move on to argue that the shared somatic crisis faced by scholars in universities provides an opportunity for a coming together across difference and the possible emergence of a new paradigms dialogue based on a collective response to the powerful forces that shape contemporary academic life.

Chapter 8 Embodied Research Methodologies and Seeking the Senses in Sport and Physical Culture: A Fleshing out of Problems and Possibilities

Purpose – The purpose of this chapter is to differentiate between a sociology of the body and an embodied sociology, prior to considering what this might mean in methodological terms for those wishing to conduct research into the senses and the sensorium in sport and physical culture. Design/methodology/approach – The approach taken involves reviewing the work of those who have already engaged with the senses in sport and physical culture in order to highlight an important methodological challenge. This revolves around how researchers might seek to gain access to the senses of others and explore the sensorium in action. To illustrate how this challenge can be addressed, a number of studies that have utilised visual technologies in combination with interviews are examined and the potential this approach has in seeking the senses is considered. Findings – The findings confirm the interview as a multi-sensory event and the potential of visual technologies to provide access to the range of senses involved in sport and physical culture activities. Research limitations/implications – The limitations of traditional forms of inquiry and representational genres for both seeking the senses and communicating these to a range of different audiences are highlighted and alternatives are suggested. Originality/value – The chapters originality lies in its portrayal of unacknowledged potentialities for seeking the senses using standard methodologies, and how these might be developed further, in creative combination with more novel approaches, as part of a future shift towards more sensuous forms of scholarship in sport and physical culture.

Reflecting back and forwards: an evaluation of peer-reviewed reflective practice research in sport

Researchers in sport have claimed that reflective practice is important for competent practice. Evidence supporting this claim is sparse, highly theoretical and located within a variety of domains. The aim of this study was to assimilate and analyse the last 12 years of reflective practice literature within the sport domain in order to identify new areas of inquiry, emerging trends with regard to findings or methodology, and to identify implications for future research and practice. A sample of 68 papers published between 2001 and 2012 was examined, and investigated for the research locations, data collection methods utilised, and the professions and communities involved. The paper concludes with some suggestions for future research.

Chapter 4 Narrative Analysis in Sport and Physical Culture

Originality/value – The chapter provides a succinct introduction to why narratives matter, how narrative analysis as a craft might be practised and what theoretical assumptions underpin it. The authors also highlight innovative practices for deepening understandings of sport and physical culture. These include time-lining, mobile interviewing, analytical bracketing, crystallisation, meta-autoethnography and analysis as movement of thought.

Taking sporting autobiographies seriously as an analytical and pedagogical resource in sport, exercise and health

Abstract This article makes the case for taking sporting autobiographies seriously as both an analytical and pedagogical resource. First, the nature of autobiography is clarified and the interest shown by other disciplines in this genre is discussed. Next, the prevailing negative view of sporting autobiographies and the assumptions underlying them are outlined. These are then countered by the presentation of a more positive view that challenges a number of alleged ‘problems’ associated with sporting autobiographies that include being tainted by commercial commitments, the presence of the ghostwriter, and not being able to guarantee unmediated authenticity and ‘truth’. Various forms of narrative analysis (thematic, structural, performative/dialogical) are then described and examples of each of these being applied to sporting autobiographies are provided. Finally, attention is given to the use of sporting autobiographies as a pedagogical resource and the ways in which they might be productively used with students are discussed.

Sexual abuse and the grooming process in sport: Learning from Bella's story

ABSTRACT Through a process of collaborative autoethnography, we explore the experiences of one female athlete named Bella who was groomed and then sexually abused by her male coach. Bellas story signals how the structural conditions and power relationships embedded in competitive sporting environments, specifically the power invested in the coach, provide a unique sociocultural context that offers a number of potentialities for sexual abuse and exploitation to take place. We offer Bellas story as a pedagogical resource for those involved in the world of sport to both think about and with as part of a process of encouraging change at the individual and institutional levels.

Spinal Cord Injury, Sport, and the Narrative Possibilities of Posttraumatic Growth

Narratives are actors that do things in terms of shaping experience. They perform the work of subjectification informing people who they ought to be, who they might like to be, and who they can be (Frank, Health 10(4):421–440, 2006, Letting stories breathe: a socio-narratology. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 2010). In this chapter, we explore the ways in which the restitution and quest narratives as described by Frank (The wounded storyteller: body, illness, and ethics. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1995) work to give different meanings to the experiences of a small group of amateur sportsmen who have suffered catastrophic spinal cord injury (SCI) through playing the sport of rugby football union. As an actor, each narrative provides contrasting sets of metaphor, time tenses, and senses of hope for the narrative reconstruction of body-self relationships over time. While the restitution narrative is useful for certain purposes and sets of circumstance, our analysis suggests that the quest narrative holds the greater possibility of achieving the key features of posttraumatic growth.

Aging bodies and desistance from crime: Insights from the life stories of offenders.

The processes involved in the transition from crime to desistance, in relation to how those involved in criminal activity give meaning to their experiences of aging over time, has received little empirical scrutiny in the criminological literature. In this article, we unpack and flesh out the multiple meanings of age by drawing on a life story study of desistance from crime. Our analysis foregrounds the following key themes and the interactive parts they play in the process of desistence: general perceptions of aging (critical ages and the ambiguity of age); the significance of the aging body (crime as a young persons game, tiredness, and slowing down); age and risk assessment; and feelings of missing out and lost time with age. We conclude by suggesting that researchers into the phenomenon of desistance with an interest in maturation theory might benefit from integrating work undertaken in the sociology of embodiment and critical gerontology. A brief example of how this integration might operate is provided.

Me, Osteogenesis Imperfecta, and my classmates in physical education lessons: A case study of embodied pedagogy in action

ABSTRACT Pupils with disabilities have been found to experience a narrower physical education curriculum and participate less frequently than pupils without disabilities. A lack of knowledge, skills, relevant experiences and confidence amongst physical education (PE) teachers has been said to contribute to these differential educational experiences. This article adds to the paucity of research that analyses the PE experiences of pupils with disabilities while, at the same time, evaluating embodied pedagogy as a tool for better preparing PE teachers for their role as inclusive educators. Specifically, the article aims to: (1) explore the PE experiences of a university student named Violeta who lives with the condition of Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI); (2) analyse the views of a group of prospective teachers who participated in a PE lesson (Experience 1) which included Violeta; and (3) examine the perceptions of a group of prospective teachers who participated in a simulated attempt at embodied pedagogy (Experience 2). Data were gathered using field notes, observations and interviews with Violeta and the prospective teachers who participated in Experience 1 and Experience 2. The findings suggest that in both Experience 1 and 2, the prospective teachers developed a greater aware of OI and a more positive attitude towards inclusive PE. That said, the nature of the student learning experience and their ability to empathetically imagine themselves in, and through, the bodies of others that were different from themselves varied significantly in Experience 1 and 2. Such a contrast, especially in relation to notions of alterity, related to the presence or absence of the other as a corporeal entity involved in the lessons. Neither Experience 1 or 2 was found to be ‘better’ than the other, they simply provided different contexts, resources and opportunities for learning to take place. We discuss some implications of these differences for those wishing to engage in embodied forms of pedagogy as a way of helping prospective teachers to have the knowledge, skills and experience to develop a more inclusive culture in school PE.

‘It’s a part of me’: an ethnographic exploration of becoming a disabled sporting cyborg following spinal cord injury

Abstract In much research dealing with sport technologies and the process of cyborgification there is a significant lack of attention given to the experiences of athletes themselves. This is particularly so for disabled athletes. Against this backdrop of neglect, we draw on data generated from a 4-year ethnographic study that explored the experiences and meanings of disability sport for those who became involved in it following a spinal cord injury, and here we focus specifically on the process of becoming a disabled sporting cyborg. Our analysis reveals the following phases in this process: from taken-for-granted to techno-survival cyborgs; rehabilitation centres and becoming a technically competent cyborg; everyday life as an embodied cyborg; becoming a disabled sporting cyborg. The dynamics of each phase, how they relate to each other, and how they shape body-self-technology relationships over time are considered in detail. In closing we offer some reflections on the consequences of cyborgification and the implications of this process for constructions of ability and disability. We also raise questions regarding the structural and ethical implications of cyborgification, particularly in terms of the validation of certain kinds of bodies at the expense of others and the role of technology in reproducing social inequalities.