Introducing Sport and Exercise Psychology By Aidan. P.
Moran
Figure 1:6, Research Methods in Sport and Exercise .
Psychology
In the previous section, I indicated that sport and exercise psychology is commonly regarded as an
applied science.If so, what research methods does it use As you might expect, there is a large toolbox of
research methods available to sport and exercise psychologists.One way of classifying these techniques
is to distinguish between traditional quantitative methods where measurement and statistical analysis
are used to make sense of the data and more recently developed qualitative approaches such as focus
groups and grounded theory see Camic, Rhodes and Yardley, 2003.Incidentally, reviews of qualitative
methods in sport and exercise psychology have been undertaken by Culver, Gilbert and Trudel 2003 and
Robson, Cripps and Steinberg 1996.
Best Line:
Included in this category are such methods as case studies which are intensive or in-depth analyses of
individuals, groups or events, naturalistic observation where researchers observe behaviour as it occurs
in its own natural environment, survey research where information is collected about the behaviour,
experiences or attitudes of many people using a series of questions about the topic of interest and
psychometric testing where differences between people on some psychological construct are assessed
using specially designed, standardised instruments.
Moran
Figure 1:6, Research Methods in Sport and Exercise .
Psychology
In the previous section, I indicated that sport and exercise psychology is commonly regarded as an
applied science.If so, what research methods does it use As you might expect, there is a large toolbox of
research methods available to sport and exercise psychologists.One way of classifying these techniques
is to distinguish between traditional quantitative methods where measurement and statistical analysis
are used to make sense of the data and more recently developed qualitative approaches such as focus
groups and grounded theory see Camic, Rhodes and Yardley, 2003.Incidentally, reviews of qualitative
methods in sport and exercise psychology have been undertaken by Culver, Gilbert and Trudel 2003 and
Robson, Cripps and Steinberg 1996.
Best Line:
Included in this category are such methods as case studies which are intensive or in-depth analyses of
individuals, groups or events, naturalistic observation where researchers observe behaviour as it occurs
in its own natural environment, survey research where information is collected about the behaviour,
experiences or attitudes of many people using a series of questions about the topic of interest and
psychometric testing where differences between people on some psychological construct are assessed
using specially designed, standardised instruments.
