Sport, Which Style of Research,

¶ … sport, which style of research, qualitative or quantitative is best used to study sport and to report on sport?

Research style in sports research

The sports field is one of the oldest ones in human history, with a long standing tradition and a powerful meaning in the minds of the people. Throughout the past recent decades, more emphasis has come to be placed on the sports sector as a source of increased business revenues. Athletes are more and more sought after to sign and gain from endorsements; the hosting of notable sports events is also pursued in an effort to gain more reputation and advantages, and the sports clubs come to generate impressive sums of money from their games, advertisements, endorsements and so on.

The increasing financial success of the sports field is unequivocally supported by the high popularity of sports among the population. And as the populations and the business community's interest in sports increases, the academic community is also coming to place more emphasis on the field. In other words, the research in the field of sports is continually increasing.

In terms of sports research, a question that is being raised refers to the method that should be employed, referring specifically to the qualitative method vs. The quantitative method. In the case of qualitative research, this implies that the researcher observes the phenomenon and draws conclusion, which are then expressed with the usage of common language and textual presentations.

In the case of the quantitative research method, the researcher analyzes the phenomenon through more objective lenses as they employ facts and figures; the findings are supported by statistically processed data and they can be extrapolated to explain a wider phenomenon. In the case of qualitative research, the findings are only based on the observations of the researcher and they cannot be extrapolated to explain the wider phenomenon or the wider population (the Bangor University).

In such a setting then, the sports researchers often find themselves in a difficulty of choosing which research method to employ. And the difficulty is given by the fact that sports research can be viewed through both qualitative and quantitative lenses.

Through the angle of qualitative research, sports are viewed in a subjective manner, like it is always assessed by the population. The sports teams have their own fans, who are either divided by rivalry, or who are united by common support for their team. Sports is a field of teams, of passion, of values, competitiveness and fair play; it unites people from across the globe to watch an event and it holds them out of breath (Dunning and Coakley, 2000). These features of the sports field are best researched through the qualitative lenses.

Aside from the emotions and the values promoted by the sports field, it must also be noted that the sports efforts and results are quantifiable through numeric facts and figures. The sportsmen and the team enter competition to win prizes and they end up as winners, runner ups, or other positions, which are crucial in sports; they come in first place or second place and yet score that many goals. The performances of the sportsmen are records to be remembered for years to come and these are all quantitative variables, rather than qualitative.

Also, at the level of the increased attention offered by the business community on sports and sporting events, the measures used are again quantitative ones. Some examples in this sense include the money brought in by the investors in the sports teams, the number of people attracted by a sports event, the commercial value of a sports events and so on; for instance, the Olympic games can also be measured in terms of the investments allocated to improve the infrastructure in the region, the increase in the value of the properties in the region or the volume and value of the sales registered by merchants throughout the duration of the Olympics (Toohey and Veal, 2007).

All in all, aside from the actual sports scores, the quantitative approach is applicable since it best integrates other business and economic variables. But the sports field can also be assessed through the lenses of qualitative research, which further deepens the conundrum of whether to use qualitative or quantitative methods in sports research.

In assessing this dilemma, the professors at the Bangor University find that there is no universally valid answer, and that the independent researchers have to identify and implement the best research methods that are applicable in their given contexts. Their finding is based on the belief that each dimension of sports research is characterized by different elements, which help identify the most suitable research method.