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Research methods in physical education and youth sport

Over the past decade, there has been a growth in research methods books for those studying sport, physical activity and physical education. One noticeable aspect of this growth is a move towards texts focused more upon particular fields and disciplines, and it is within this context that Research Methods in Physical Education and Youth Sport has emerged. This volume guides the researcher throughout the whole research process, from thinking about research questions, to writing up and disseminating the findings. It does this through presenting 26 co-authored chapters, which are organised into five parts, these being (1) planning the research process, (2) methodology, (3) selecting methods, (4) data analysis and (5) communicating the research. Within this structure, qualitative and quantitative approaches are given relatively equal weighting, and there is a good balance in terms of what is covered, ranging from experimental designs at one end of the spectrum, to narrative analysis at the other. Chapters are also devoted to less common approaches, such as the use of visual methods and action research. As with any edited book, one of the issues is the extent to which the various chapters form a coherent whole. Although there are differences in the approach taken by various chapters, the book, as a whole, does work well as a consistent volume, although with some minor differences, for example some chapters suggest useful further reading, which is omitted from others. The text is, according to the editors, differentiated from other research methods texts by its approach whereby each chapter is co-authored by an experienced researcher alongside an emerging researcher who is undertaking work in an area related to that chapter, allowing some of the “real life” issues to emerge, and to contextualise some of the ideas presented. This is done in different ways, ranging from chapters where the voice of the emerging researcher is evident throughout, such as through the presentation of “conversations” between the authors, where the experiences of the emerging researcher contribute strongly, to those that are more generic for the most part, with a relatively brief reference to the work of the emerging researcher included as a case study. On the whole, this approach works well in some chapters, for example in the chapter on grounded theory, where the approach really does make a complex approach much more straightforward to the reader, but less so in others, where there is less interaction between authors. On the whole, however, the approach is a good one, and this is a key strength of the book in terms of making the concepts much clearer to the reader. Other strengths of the text are that is it well written throughout, and the examples used will be relevant and interesting to the reader. The writing style throughout is accessible to the novice researcher, and this is a text that will cover Educational Review Vol. 64, No. 3, August 2012, 401–404