Researching Difference in Sport and Physical Activity

Researching Difference in Sport and Physical Activity goes beyond the content of introductory research methods texts, to provide an insight into the methodological hurdles that are experienced when researching ‘difference’ in Sport and Physical Activity.

Contributors reflect upon how the rhetoric of research methodology transfers into the reality of data collection across ‘difference’. Presenting case studies of real research projects, the book covers a range of topics, such as:

• disability in sport and physical activity
• vulnerable children in sport and physical activity
• visual research tools when working with children in a primary school setting
• physical activity, sedentary behaviour and obesity through childhood
• diverse ethnic groups in sport and physical activity settings

Each chapter contends with practical issues of power and representation within the research process, to recognise how a researcher-participant relationship that considers those who are ‘othered’ serves to change the dynamics and processes of research.

This is an important resource for students of all sports related subjects and essential reading for anyone interested in the study of marginalised populations in sport and physical activity.

Richard Medcalf is Director of the Institute of Sport and Human Science at the University of Wolverhampton, UK and Vice-Chair of Sport4Life UK, a Birmingham based charity which exists to transform the lives of young people through the power of sport. He has published on issues primarily related to inclusive practice in sport and physical education.

Chris Mackintosh is Senior Lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK. He is a National Advisor to England Golf, the Sport and Recreation Alliance and Antigua and Barbuda government, and is working with the Japan 2020 Olympics as an invited Policy Advisor on ‘soft participation legacy’. He has worked with policy stakeholders including Sport England, The Equality and Human Rights Commission, FA, RFU, Rugby Football League and many local authorities on national strategies, and bespoke academic research projects. He was the lead Academic Advisor on the Outdoor recreation ‘Reconomics’ (2014) and Reconomics Plus (2017) reports that underpinned policy advocacy and two parliamentary debates on the value of outdoor recreation in the UK, and in 2017-2018 he undertook the independent review of the United Kingdom Coaching Certificate (UKCC).