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QMiP Bulletin Issue 14 Autumn 2012 Special Issue: Focus on Sport and Performance 2

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CALL FOR PAPERS Qualitative Methods in Psychology Bulletin The QMiP Bulletin is published on behalf of the British Psychological Society Qualitative Methods in Psychology Section, and welcomes submissions on any aspect of qualitative psychology, including peer-reviewed content. Articles dealing with theoretical, methodological and/or empirical matters are particularly welcomed, as are literature reviews. Articles for peer-review should typically be between 2000 and 4000 words in length, and will be sent for peer-review to at least two expert reviewers. All submissions should be sent in the first instance by email to the editor, Victoria Tischler, at: [email protected] For further details, please see the author instructions on the website:

http://qmip.bps.org.uk/ Front cover photograph courtesy of Caroline Wakefield.

Editorial Helen Owton

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T IS A PRIVILEGE to be passed the Olympic QMiP Torch and welcome you to the second of two special issues with a focus on sport and performance. As you read this, the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics have come to a close and many athletes, coaches, parents and volunteers are resting their mentally, physically, emotionally exhausted body-selves. ‘It’s all over, what now?’ I feel the hype still buzzing in the backdrop with more thoughts lingering about what more there is to say, feel, and think about sport and psychology. Whilst athletes are preparing for their next sporting event, equally, researchers in sport psychology are preparing for their next venture, their next research project. But wait! Before you endeavour on to your next project, pause… amidst the hectic madness of life, find a quiet spot overlooking the sparkling calm sea or perhaps enjoy reading this in the ‘quiet carriage’ on the train as you watch the green landscape travelling on by outside the window. Sit back, unwind, take a deep breath and soak up this special issue which contains seven peer-reviewed papers (five of which have a sports focus), alongside the usual range of research, commentary and reviews, some of which also have a sports focus for this special edition. The papers represent work from a range of authors with very different levels of experience, ranging from experts in their field through to new researchers having their work published for the first time. I would now like to introduce you to the final ‘line-up’ for QMiP Bulletin 14, Autumn, 2012. Firstly, Arabella Ashfield, Jim McKenna, and Susan Backhouse aim to provide an empirically derived conceptualisation of ‘flourishing’ through qualitative methods with their paper, A phenomenological analysis of flourishing in elite athletes. Next we have a

QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn, 2012 © The British Psychological Society

paper from Andrew Brownrigg, Viv Burr, Abigail Locke and Alex Bridger entitled: ‘You don’t know what’s around the corner’: A qualitative study of professional footballers facing career transition, exploring the experiences of eight former professional footballers and proposing various strategies in order to assist professional footballers as they transition out of their sport. Melissa Day and Joanne Hudson offer a methodological paper entitled Sport and Performance focus: I don’t wanna talk about it: Athlete growth through writing, emphasising the value of diary writing and expressive writing as methods of data collection whilst also highlighting the therapeutic effects and benefits that may be acquired in the process of writing. Following on from this is Gavin Sullivan’s paper, Qualitative investigations of mega-sport events: Exploring individual, groupbased and collective emotions in response to elite athletic success. This paper explores various areas in which qualitative psychology can contribute to understanding events during the 2012 Olympic games and their impact. I am delighted to introduce Caroline Wakefield and Sal Watt’s paper entitled ‘There will always be a part of you that longs to return’: A reflective photo elicitation of an Iron Man triathlon, which employs creative analytic practice (CAP) to investigate the achievement of completing an Iron Man triathlon through photo elicitation. I further acknowledge them for their generosity for the additional use of their photo on the front cover. Whilst the edition focuses on sport and performance we also have a selection of papers and articles without a sports focus. Firstly, we have a methodological paper from Jenny Mercer entitled Reflecting on the use of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis with focus groups which presents some arguments in favour of using this method and draws 1

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from examples of published research. For this edition, Nigel King contributes the View from the Top: Sudden Impact offering food for thought about the impact of qualitative psychology research within the academic world. Additionally, Victoria Tischler offers another Creative Psychologist column with some superb images to accompany and add to the very visual flavour for this edition. Finally we have a couple of commentaries to complement this edition – one from Jacqui Akhurst and another from Abigail Locke with a focus on qualitative research in sport and exercise psychology.

I would like to give an enormous thank you to all the authors and reviewers for their valuable contributions who have helped make this second special sports edition possible. We have had such wonderful and encouraging responses to this sports theme hence why we felt obliged to produce two inspiring editions with this focus. I hope you have found these two editions as enjoyable and thought-provoking as I have. In the spirit of the Olympics Relay, once you have read this edition, may I ask you to pass it on to your fellow colleagues (as opposed to sell it on ebay!) Helen Owton Associate Editor University of Exeter. E-mail: [email protected]

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QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012

Message from the Chair Rachel Shaw

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’VE HAD A BUSY FIRST YEAR as QMiP Chair so far, which is fantastic! We held our biennial conference as part of the British Psychological Society’s Annual Conference this year in London. QMiP’s programme was jammed full of fascinating posters, individual presentations, symposia and workshops which inspired insightful discussions and fostered ideas for the future. Many presenters shared with us their use of innovative in sometimes very unusual contexts or with hard to reach groups, illustrating the growth of qualitative research in psychology across the health and social sciences. We were also delighted to have invited Professor Wendy Hollway as the QMiP nominated keynote speaker at the Annual Conference. Wendy helped us celebrate our achievements as a Society Section alongside reflecting back on the impact of her own career and the development of qualitative methods in psychology over the years. And our work never stops as we’re in the throws of planning our next conference which is to be held at the University of Huddersfield from the 4–6 September 2013. As a taster, our AGM in September this year will be at Huddersfield accompanied by a research seminar hosted by Professor Nigel King, Dr Abigail Locke and others. By the time you read this we’ll have said farewell to some very valuable committee members who have served their time. It is with sadness that I say adieu to Professor Peter Ashworth, Professor Paul Flowers, Dr Siobhan Hugh-Jones and Dr Irmgard Tischner…and with hope that I welcome new members to the committee. In the next Issue I’ll formally welcome those who joined us at the AGM in September.


It is with great pleasure that I can confirm the winners of two of our prizes: Dr Carl Macrae (London School of Economics) won the Early Career Scholar prize with his paper ‘Making risks visible: Identifying and interpreting threats to airline flight safety’, Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 82, 273–293 (2009); and Cathy Davies (Brunel University) won the Undergraduate Project Prise for her work on the ‘Experience of Homelessness’. We have received 17 submissions for the Undergraduate Project prize this year, which is great news. By the time you read this the committee will have made a short list and those shortlisted projects in full to determine the winner for 2012. We look forward to announcing the winner in the next issue of QMiP Bulletin. There’s nothing much more for me to extend warm thanks to the QMiP Bulletin Editorial Board for all their hard work and special thanks go to Helen Owton for editing what is a high calibre second volume of our Focus on Sport and Performance special issues. The contributions include high quality qualitative research in different areas which give us insight into the lives of those performing and competing on a professional level. We have two reviews from this year’s conference which will give those who couldn’t make an idea of the range of presentations and the feel of the conference. There are also a number of book reviews covering topics related to sports but also more general methodological issues and so helping to guide your reading choices. Rachel Shaw QMiP Chair Aston University. E-mail: [email protected]

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Sport and Performance focus

The athlete’s experience of flourishing Arabella Ashfield, Jim McKenna & Susan Backhouse Positive psychology aims to study what makes life worth living. However, one of its key concepts, flourishing, is described as being mentally healthy, while for others it involves other positive psychological constructs such as growth, generativity, optimal functioning and resilience. This diversity suggests a lack of conceptual clarity. Descriptions have originated from investigations into subjective well-being and psychological functioning, with quantitative methods having dominated empirical research. The current study aims to provide an empirically derived conceptualisation of flourishing through qualitative methods. Inductive content analysis was carried out on semi-structured interviews with national or development team athletes competing at international level with an average age of 21.3 years. Findings characterised flourishing firstly, by internally-focused attributes, feelings and affective states; and secondly, by the fulfilment of areas of life which are perceived as important to the athlete. Overall, flourishing is described as an individually-specific notion of optimal well-being, which shares factors contributing to subjective well-being and to happiness. Strengths and weaknesses of the study and implications for applied practitioners are discussed along with directions for future research.

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HE PAST TWO DECADES have seen the burgeoning field of positive psychology start to redress the balance of psychology’s overlong focus on pathology and human weaknesses. It has shed light on positive emotion, with an overarching aim to study positive subjective experience, positive individual traits, and what makes life worth living (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). Sport psychology has paralleled general psychology, with its focus on areas with negative associations, such as stress, anxiety, and coping (Williams et al.. 2008) and what can only be called a reactive approach to addressing failures in sporting performance and the shortfalls of an athlete’s environment. Thus, despite the potential for positive emotional experiences within sport to help sport psychologists overcome difficulties that can be experienced during athletes’ careers and ease their transition out of elite sport, little attention has been paid to investigating such positive experiences, beyond their more immediate links to athletic performance. Positive psychology has begun to have an impact within sport psychology research through, for example, the construct of

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‘resilience’. The construct describes resilient individuals as those who exceed a previous state of functioning having ‘bounced back’ from adversity (Galli & Vealey, 2008). Investigations into resilience in athletes is often linked to returning from slumps in performance, and/or from injury (Galli & Vealey, 2008). However, although resilient individuals have been found to possess positive adaptive behaviours, the foundations of the construct remain concerned with negative circumstances. The study reported here explores the positive psychology construct of flourishing which at present is highly varied in definition and conceptualisation. One useful starting point is Fredrickson and Losada’s (2005, p.678) description of flourishing as ‘within an optimal range of human functioning, one that connotes goodness, generativity, growth and resilience’. Flourishing has also been seen as synonymous with being mentally healthy according to seminal work by Keyes (2002), while a flourishing individual has been described as ‘truly living’ (Keyes & Haidt, 2003, p.6). In addition, it has been claimed that flourishing possesses concepQMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012 © The British Psychological Society

The athlete’s experience of flourishing

tual similarities with well-being (Ryan & Deci, 2001; Ryff & Singer, 2000) and evidence has been adduced that resilience, personal growth, goal striving, and good interpersonal relationships all contribute to human flourishing (Emmons et al., 2003; Keyes, 1998; Ryff & Singer, 2000). At present, the experience of flourishing remains elusive, but current research at least emphasises the positive emotional, psychological and social functioning of humans, whereby life is seen as meaningful, coherent, and involves engaging in fulfilling relationships (Demir, 2010; Keyes, 2002; Ryff & Singer, 2000).

The dominance of quantitative methods and multiple definitions in flourishing research Currently, flourishing has been measured in a variety of populations (Fredrickson & Losada, 2005; Keyes, 2002, 2006, 2007), though almost exclusively through quantitative methods. The dominance of a quantitative approach has, in part, been dictated by flourishing being seen as synonymous with mental health (Keyes, 2002) which tends to be assessed using a combination of diagnostic scales and lends itself to researching large data sets (Keyes, 2002). Yet this reliance on quantitative methods has constrained any understanding of how flourishing is felt and experienced by the individual. Empirical research has accordingly not established the human experience of flourishing, or the nuances of how individuals differ. Rather, it symptomises and quantifies flourishing as mental health, or provides descriptions which share conceptual ground with existing constructs (Catalino & Fredrickson, 2011; Fredrickson & Losada, 2005; Keyes, 2002). The variability in these descriptions of flourishing indicates a lack of consensus about what characterises flourishing, to the point that it is unclear how far researchers may be investigating the same phenomenon. The variety of definitions suggests a lack of conceptual clarity, as many are derived from QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012

research into psychological functioning or subjective well-being, rather than research into understanding the human experience. Indeed, there are few recent studies on the lived experience of flourishing (Bergland & Kirkevold, 2005, 2006; Gilroy, 2005; Stanford, 2006). Furthermore, no research has yet investigated flourishing in the athlete population, despite the lives of athletes providing fertile ground to explore notions of living well, not least since successful athletes appear to have a clear life purpose (Lundqvist, 2011) while also upholding fruitful and meaningful relationships. Questions surrounding what contributes to the good life have long been in the realm of philosophy (Stutzer, 2010). However, more recently positive psychology has provided the empirical foundations for understanding elements of individual experience, including happiness and satisfaction (Diener, 1984; Nistor, 2011). Subjective wellbeing (SWB), also known as happiness, is defined as an individual’s self-evaluation of their lives both currently and over a longer period of time, such as a year. Judgements are made about overall life satisfaction, or fulfilment and satisfaction with domains of life such as work or marriage (Diener et al., 2003). Psychological well-being advocates several characteristics which also possess similarities with the good life, namely: positive relations with others, autonomy, selfacceptance, environmental mastery, purpose in life, and personal growth (Ryff, 1989). Flourishing can be seen as encompassing all of these components but this alone does not distinguish it from other constructs. There remains a lack of distinction due to an absence of empirical research focused on its conceptualisation, even though flourishing continues to appear desirable because of its potential benefit to the sporting world. By understanding how flourishing is experienced, gains may be made by facilitating athletes to create environments where they can flourish, which may then lead to enhanced athletic performance. Therefore, 5

Arabella Ashfield, Jim McKenna & Susan Backhouse

the current study aimed to characterise the flourishing experience of the athlete and to use qualitative methods to gain greater conceptual clarity.

Methods In the current study, flourishing was viewed as potentially encompassing a variety of life areas, including the athlete’s chosen sport. The need to retain an extensive and open scope justified adopting this broad perspective. To facilitate this conceptualisation process a phenomenological approach to semi-structured interviews was adopted: they were participant-led, so that a variety of flourishing experiences could be described, regardless of their specificity to sport. The subjective evaluation of flourishing further necessitated recruiting an athletic population who varied in their competitive standard so that the flourishing experiences were not confined to the highest achievers and high profile successes. Thirdly, we adapted Rigdon and Epting’s (1985) description of optimal functioning as ‘At our best’ (p.429) to ‘you at your best’. This jargon-free participant-friendly phrase alluded to the positivity inherent to our expectations of flourishing accounts, yet was sufficiently open for participant interpretations. All told, the aim was to facilitate expression of the broadest notion of flourishing, potentially freeing it from the confines of specific experiences.

Sampling Participants were united by being current international-level competitors, competing either full-time as part of national or development teams, or combining international competition with study or part-time work. The sample comprised seven participants (two female), drawn from alpine and freestyle skiing, tennis and artistic gymnastics. The age range was 20 and 24 years (average 21.3).

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Recruitment The purposeful sample consisted of athletes known by the researcher or introduced informally by contacts in the sports. Institutional ethical approval was granted and athletes who were articulate and were not hesitant to speak and share ideas so that rich and detailed accounts could be gained were approached and invited to take part (Creswell, 2007). Participants received an informal brief about the study, followed by a more detailed information sheet and consent form, which all signed. Despite the phenomenological approach to interviewing, unexpectedly all participants increasingly embarked on self reflection and interpretation of why they felt they had flourished. Participants also appeared to struggle with an apparent enormity of the notion of ‘me at my best’ in expressing distinctly positive life experiences. This led to an evolving study design involving a two-stage interview approach (Fossey et al., 2002). Two interviews per participant were conducted between one and four months apart, enabling greater engagement in the emotional and philosophical density engendered by the concept. This methodological challenge of needing participants to engage in an emotionally dense subject area and to articulate the depths of their positive life experiences was also reflected in the average length of the interviews. Each round of interviews averaged 30 minutes per person. New recollections and interpretations recalled in interview two were combined with those identified in interview one. By the end of the second interview stage data saturation was reached and no new information was forthcoming from any participants (Patton, 2002). The first author became familiar with the data through transcribing the interviews verbatim and reading and re-reading the transcripts (Hennink, 2011). Inductive content analysis was carried out and phrases in the themes were identified using a sensitising framework of existing positive QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012


psychology constructs, factors associated with flourishing and elements known to characterise positive emotional experiences such as achievement, meaning and purpose. The inductive content analysis allowed themes to emerge from the data rather than being forced into pre-determined categories (Biddle et al., 2001), thereby enhancing conceptual clarity. Descriptions from both interviews formed themes, which led into meaning clusters and in turn two domains.

Findings The semi-structured interviews yielded a total of 18 themes, comprising five meaning clusters separated into two higher order domains, the ‘characteristics of flourishing’ domain and the ‘important areas of the athlete’s life’ domain. The first domain contains internally-focused attributes, feelings and affective states experienced by athletes. The meaning clusters within this domain present the personal, consistent and predominantly positive characteristics of flourishing and optimal living. Illustrative quotes are presented for each theme contained within each of the five meaning clusters. Meaning clusters are presented in italics in single inverted commas; names, places and identifiable features in the quotes are indicated ‘[ ]’ to retain participant anonymity. ‘Future focused’: Determined ‘I was really focused on what I was doing, I was determined to pull it out the bag and get it right, and there wasn’t a hint of negative thought. I was just, I was going to do it, so that was that really’. (Sam, Men’s artistic gymnast sports scholar, age 20) Eager ‘I feel like I’ve a goal in life rather than, so I feel like I’ve got a tie, something to work towards. So that’s making me feel better, I’ve got something to do in life rather than not.’ (Sam, Men’s artistic gymnast sports scholar, age 20) QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012

Meaning clusters revolve around the common experiences of athletes such as striving for success, challenge associated with sport, feelings of confidence and more generally, feeling happy. ‘Being challenged’: Challenge ‘I’ve got to have some sort of challenge or got to have some sort or direction in where I’m going or what I’m doing.’ (Joe, Alpine skier, development team and part-time coach and instructor, age 21) Continual Challenges ‘Now I’ve started University I love it because I’m having to think a lot more, kind of tests me, I think the challenge as well, makes me enjoy it’. (Amy, tennis player sports scholar, age 21) ‘Being confident’: Confidence in my ability ‘…feeling confident with everything about me as a self…like being confident with where I am and my sport, confident with my sport, confident with my whole persona’. (Ellie, freestyle skier and part-time instructor, age 24) Personal Confidence ‘I know I am confident in myself now, in the last year that I’m, this sounds really bad but I’m a really good at my sport, I’m confident in myself, and I know I am’ (Joe, Alpine skier, development team and part-time coach and instructor, age 21) ‘Happy’: Feeling at one with myself ‘I think it’s really important to just be, to be happy, and I think that in a way, ok yeah you’re happy when your training is going well, you’re happy when your feeling fit, but you need to be happy like just feeling happy with yourself.’ (Ellie, freestyle skier and parttime instructor, age 24)

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Feeling of excitement ‘Just feels amazing, like untouchable, I just walk around with this massive grin on my face. I feel I’m on top right now’. (Evan, National team alpine skier, age 22) Feeling of contentment ‘When I think about last year, I’m just buzzing, just you know like dead happy with it, and just can’t believe that everything worked out and it has improved my performance a lot and I was just really happy with, not even just the way I was performing, just the way everything went.’ (Joe, Alpine skier, development team and part-time coach and instructor, age 21) Enjoyment of being an athlete and training ‘…but I still loved it, loved the travelling and loved the competition more than anything’. ‘On court stuff I did best when I was just happy with myself I think, definitely and that I was happy with what I was doing.’ (Amy, tennis player sports scholar, age 21) Flourishing accounts revealed that having a positive attitude was a characteristic of flourishing. However, the data are equivocal in establishing whether possessing a positive attitude caused the individual to feel at their best or whether being at their best caused the positivity. Having a positive attitude ‘I think when my parents see that I’m going for something, I’m positive, basically positive is a key thing because I can be negative a lot of the time, but I’m a lot more positive when I’m at my best, so I think everyone else sees that as well, and my parents and my girlfriend, so yeah, positive’. (Who said this quotation?) ‘I think being positive was the main thing and I swear it helps in life in general as well.’ (Sam, Men’s artistic gymnast sports scholar, age 20)

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These positively-toned characteristics, feelings, and affect states recurred through the recounting of flourishing both intra and inter-individually. The quotes show how the experience of flourishing is wider than just sporting performances, encompassing life as a whole. However, the ‘sense of achievement’ theme indicates how a key element of the athletes’ flourishing experience orientates around their sport. Despite aiming for personal sporting successes, surprise at such achievements was characteristic of the experience for athletes, suggesting an optimal nature to flourishing. ‘Achievement’: Sense of Achievement ‘I just pulled out two amazing competitions, I think the fact they came out of nowhere, although I was ready previously, I was really down because I was injured and then I pulled out those smashing competitions, just made me feel awesome, just buzzing from it.’ (Sam, Men’s artistic gymnast sports scholar, age 20) Surprise at Achievement ‘I knew I could do well at the champs…but I didn’t kind of, it was a shock because I didn’t sort of see it coming’ (Evan, National team alpine skier, age 22) ‘to do something and be actually on the world stage be, really, like quite good at it, it was quite a shock’ (Ellie, freestyle skier and part-time instructor, age 24) The following theme reflects how flourishing occurs when experiencing a minimal number of distractions - the athlete focuses very clearly on a single issue. Being worry free ‘If I’ve got nothing else to think about, other than lets say my training then I know I’ll be on the ball and I’ll be thinking only about that. When I don’t have to worry about money or even socialising with my friends or Uni, that’s gone now, it’s good. That’s me at QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012


my best.’ (Tim, Men’s artistic gymnast sports scholar, age 20) ‘When other stuff is going on, I can’t completely focus on what I’m doing. And it kind of emotionally affects you because if you get a phone call from someone which is really quite like, kind of maybe an attitude which you totally don’t agree with maybe, say for example the [major competition] criteria it’s like, oh then [governing authority] come along and say no, no we’re gonna make it twice as hard, and you think well am I going to be able to achieve this? And that’s your goal, so you’re constantly thinking about that and you’re getting annoyed by that, so you’re not even thinking about your competition and you’re like kind of just getting more anxious about the fact that these people are annoying you so you’re not kind of thinking and focusing on your competition.’ (Ellie, freestyle skier and parttime instructor, age 24) The ‘important areas of the athlete’s life’ domain reflects themes that are perceived as important to the athlete and through interaction with them can impact upon flourishing. Friendships and family ‘When I end up going back to my mum and dad, sister, brother or whatever I’m kind of, it’s not just about how the sport is going, it’s not just about how my performances have been it’s quite nice to just, like kind of get away from that, it’s just being totally chilled, cos I mean you can relax and stuff within the sport and that, but you’ve always got that kind of, it’s always still there, if you know what I mean. Like, it’s always gonna be there, but when you go, or when I’ve, I find when I go sort of see my parents, or, like sister or brother or whatever it’s kind of nice just to, it’s not, the sport isn’t the be all and end all when it comes to hanging out with them…kind of get away sometimes.’ (Evan, National team alpine skier, age 22)


Social balance ‘…socially being happy, I don’t want to be in a situation where you’re kind of stuck with your peers, you’re getting miserable or all you’ve got to do is just train every day... I want to do my sport, I want to train… and I really do enjoy training, but if there’s a day when I’m not feeling like I want to train, you will do it because you’re training but I don’t want to be in a bubble where you’re stuck with other people, you want to escape from it and have your social life as well to release steam and stuff like that’. (Ellie, freestyle skier and part-time instructor, age 24) It can be inferred from the above themes that relationships underpin having legitimate time to escape from the sport and that maintaining such relationships as well as maintaining a balance in lifestyle is characteristic of flourishing. My relationship with my coach ‘I just know, I just know that’s important [coach-athlete relationship] – I think, well it has been this year, and I think that has been the key to my improvements this year, confidence and all the rest’. (Joe, Alpine skier and part-time coach and instructor, development team, age 21) Planned and busy with success ‘Well I had graduated from the foundation degree and I won an academic prize in that so I was really happy with that and training just seemed to be going well, got offered a job abroad, so everything seems really good, things were happening, got to go to [Asia] to compete which was amazing so…’ (Tim, Men’s artistic gymnast sports scholar, age 20) Correct training environment for me ‘I’m just enjoying it a lot more again, because I think I kind of lost the love for the sport when I was training with [other team] guys, I just took it too seriously and there is intense pressure and I couldn’t deal with that and I just didn’t perform.’ (Joe, Alpine 9


skier, development team and part-time coach and instructor, age 21) This domain incorporates the individual’s interactions with different environments, their lifestyle, relationships and the impact these aspects have on the experience of flourishing. The perceived importance of these areas varied, thus the importance attributed to one life area will be greater than another for one individual and the balance will differ between individuals. Recollections by participants suggested that for flourishing to occur, each area needs to be fulfilled and perceived to be at its respective optimum. For example, good relationships with family and friends may be perceived to be of greater importance than a good relationship with the coach. Accounts differed between participants indicating the opposite may be the case for another athlete.

Discussion The purpose of this study was to investigate the flourishing experiences of athletes with the aim of achieving greater conceptual clarity. Similarities can be drawn between flourishing as described by the athletes, and subjective well-being (SWB) and happiness. The perceived importance of life areas can be likened to how value acts as a moderator in subjective well-being (Oishi et al,. 1999); an individual’s value-orientation moderates the sense of satisfaction in any activity. Thus, in the current study importance acts as a moderator in experiencing flourishing; flourishing occurs when important areas of life are optimised. Furthermore, flourishing is replete with positive moods and emotions; this is also a characteristic of SWB (Diener et al., 2003). Overall, for these athletes, flourishing consisted of positive feelings and affective states and the fulfillment of areas of perceived importance. The single negative theme, ‘Being worry free’ also posits similarities with the minimal experience of negative affect required to experience high SWB (Eid & Larsen, 2008). SWB is also gauged by an internal frame of 10

reference whereby the individual’s subjective interpretation of well-being dictates the measure of SWB (Diener et al., 1997). This individualised and subjective evaluation is replicated in the current accounts of flourishing. However, flourishing remains distinct by being an experience of an optimal phenomenon integrating reflection on a whole life. In contrast, SWB is a conscious evaluation and judgment about satisfaction with life as a whole or specific aspects of one’s life, which may be perceived to be high or low (Diener et al,. 1997). Furthermore, SWB is referred to as happiness (Diener et al., 2003), and other factors contribute to happiness beyond a subjective assessment, such as personal growth, fulfilment, and pursuit of meaning in life (Morgan & Farsides, 2009; Nistor, 2011). However, while happiness may be superficial and transient, flourishing appears to encapsulate a greater depth of meaning. Striving for personally meaningful and challenging goals gives purpose to an individual’s life and has been well documented as a significant contributor to happiness and well-being (Colebrook, 2007; Emmons, Keyes & Haidt, 2003; McGregor & Little, 1998; Tay & Diener, 2011). These principles of happiness and well-being are subsumed within the themes of the ‘characteristics of flourishing’ domain, where participants express a sense of purpose and direction combined with positive living. Moreover, athletes’ conceptions of flourishing are similar – but not identical to – other notions within positive psychology. For example, the specific construct of generativity is absent from the current data. The relative youth of the participants and their current focus on individual sporting pursuits may explain the absence of expressions of concern for future generations (Emmons, Keyes & Haidt, 2003). This is contrary to the Fredrickson & Losada (2005) description of flourishing. However, according to the mental health continuum (Keyes, 2002), flourishing individuals would not experience bouts of anxiety or depression and this QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012


resonates with the findings of the current study. Overall, SWB, happiness and psychological well-being refer to estimations of emotions or functioning on a level described as ‘good’, whereas flourishing appears to exceed good and is understood in relation to a personalised notion of what is optimal. Findings show the maintenance of relationships influence the flourishing experience. This is supported by Demir (2010), Ryff (1989), and Ryff & Singer (2000), who emphasise how meaningful relationships contribute to happiness and psychological well-being. Furthermore, family and friends often play a large role in supporting an athlete, while the coach-athlete relationship can influence both well-being and performance (Becker, 2009). The data from the present study show that a facilitative sporting environment and schedule are also influential in experiencing flourishing. Pipe (2001) suggests that sporting cultures themselves may be harmful to an athlete and this too is evidenced in the current findings, where the absence of flourishing was reported as resulting from dislike of a training structure or organisational decisions. Having the appropriate balance of being busy (or having a carefully planned schedule) and socialising with friends is a delicate, and often important, balance for athletes to achieve (cf. Forsyth & Catley, 2007). Achieving the optimal level of perceived fulfilment for the athlete and managing life stressors can have a wide-reaching impact upon athlete well-being (Spano, 2008). This too is critical in experiencing flourishing. A qualitative approach has provided a rich characterisation of the previously unexplored experience of flourishing. A reasonable understanding of the role that perceived importance has to play has also been achieved; sports scholars also highlight how flourishing encompasses what is perceived as important at the time, like academic progress. Important areas identified by these athletes were their sport and, for some athletes, other areas of life such as university or key relationships. Notably, and QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012

unexpectedly, flourishing was achieved through these ‘importance’ domains, irrespective of athletic performance. This underlines how flourishing is holistic and not a domain-specific concept. A specific strength of the study was to analyse the accounts using a sensitising framework of existing constructs derived from positive psychology. This facilitated considering flourishing as flexible and having a conceptually broad meaning that any and all life domains could potentially impact upon. The data have shown not just that flourishing involves many different life domains, but also that it involves a perception of their fulfilment. For this sample, each individual’s relative successes in their chosen sport, academic career and general life progression were closely associated with their experience of flourishing. However, the finding that flourishing (at least in sport) is associated with what is deemed important in one’s life also presents a potential limitation; linked to sampling, the narrow age range of the participants and their status as active competitors limited interpretations to a specific time-frame in an athlete’s life. What is not known is how athletes feel and behave as their performance level decreases and/or they cease to compete. Future research into the flourishing experiences of retired athletes could usefully establish if and how these experiences alter once competing is no longer perceived as an important feature in life and does not play a dominant role in life. The current findings relate purely to competing athletes; further research into the flourishing experiences of retired athletes would also provide valuable knowledge for practitioners working with athletes transitioning out of elite sport.

Conclusion This study has made an original contribution to the literature by investigating flourishing using qualitative methods in a high-level athletic population. Greater conceptual clarity has been achieved by evidencing how flourishing is an experience which goes 11


beyond the existing descriptions of living well, to a greater concern for to living optimally with meaning and purpose. Evidence has been provided for flourishing to be defined as an individually-specific notion of optimal well-being. Furthermore, this study provides a step towards understanding the factors associated with athlete flourishing. By investing time in understanding the importance an athlete attaches to different life areas, coaches, psychologists and performance lifestyle advisors may be able to create environments which facilitate flourishing (and which may lead to enhanced performance). Appreciating the individualised nature of flourishing also requires that those working with athletes adapt their approach to consider how the wider environment may impact upon both athlete flourishing and athlete well-being.

Correspondence Arabella Ashfield Academy of Sport & Physical Activity, Faculty of Health and Wellbeing, Sheffield Hallam University. Email: [email protected]

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‘You don’t know what’s around the corner’: A qualitative study of professional footballers in England facing career transition Andrew Brownrigg, Viv Burr, Abigail Locke & Alex Bridger Career transition in sport is a rapidly growing area within the field of sport psychology. Interest in this area has been fuelled by the need for an increased number of professional athletes seeking support and assistance during transition from sport. However, whilst research in this field has focused in on a wide range of sports, specific research on retirement in professional football has been limited. Because of this it is argued that current research may fail to consider specific issues associated with the transition from professional football. Therefore, in an attempt to add to the existing body of research, the current study aimed to provide an in-depth insight into how professional footballers understand their ‘lived-world’ during exit from their sport. A total of eight former professional footballers, who were at the time experiencing the possibility of career-transition, were interviewed in two separate focus group discussions. The interviews were analysed using interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA). The key findings from the research show that a lack of control over their lives, lack of pre-planning and preparation for retirement as well as support and ability to seek it led professional footballers to experience heightened levels of anxiety, uncertainty and fear for their futures, and an unexpected sense of rejection during career transition. These findings have implications for support organisations and those interested in the life-long welfare of professional footballers. It is proposed that an emphasis on pre-planning and preparation, provisions of support and encouraging help-seeking may aid professional footballers during the process out of their sport.

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VER THE PAST FEW DECADES, issues surrounding career transition have become an increased topic of investigation within the field of sport psychology (Lavallee, 2005; Stambulova, Stephan & Japhag 2005; Warriner & Lavallee, 2008; Wylleman, Alfermann & Lavallee 2004). The term Athletic Career (Alfermann & Stambulova, 2007) is used to describe an athlete’s multi-year sport activity. Athletic career termination or retirement is, according to Alfermann and Stambulova (2007), the clearest example of a normative and even inevitable transition. Athletes consider themselves retired when they are no longer competing at the level they had once achieved (Lavallee, 2005). In contrast, a non-normative transition is considered to be a transition that does not generally follow 14

any type of plan or schedule and is the result of events that occur in an athlete’s life to which she/he responds. These types of transitions are often unpredicted and unanticipated. Examples of a non-normative transition would be de-selection from a team or failing to qualify for a competition (Wylleman, Theeboom & Lavallee, 2004). Furthermore, Wylleman et al. (2004, p.15) describes ‘drop out’ as the process by which ‘an athlete endures a premature or off-time career termination at a developmentally atypical point in life’, and thus fails to reach his/her potential. Therefore, one can see that irrespective of the type, a transition results from a change in circumstances that can directly impact on an individual’s social, personal and sporting life (Wylleman et al., 2004). QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012 © The British Psychological Society

‘You don’t know what’s around the corner’

Historic and contemporary research into sport career transition has highlighted how, in some cases, the retiring athlete can suffer severe adjustment difficulties upon leaving elite participation. These transitional difficulties are seen to be particularly problematic in athletes who have been forced to disengage due to unexpected factors such as injury or de-selection (Webb, Nasco & Riley, 1998). Such associated psychological difficulties reported by elite-athletes during involuntarily retirement include depression, eating disorders (Blinde & Stratta, 1992; Ogilvie & Howe, 1982), decreased self-confidence (Sinclair & Orlick, 1993), feelings of anger and/or anxiety (Alfermann, 2000), lower self-control (Werthner & Orlick, 1986), and problems with body-self relationship due to injury (Sparkes, 1998; Sparkes and Smith, 2004). To date, research suggests that the onset of such adjustment difficulties can be explained in relation to ‘symbolic loss’ (Brown & Potrac, 2009). This is when the retiring athlete loses the sole focus on what has been their overall being for much of their lives, including their sporting identity (Sparkes, 1998), physical proficiency (Lavallee & Robinson, 2007), the adulation and worshiping from others (Brown & Potrac, 2009; Sparkes, 1998), camaraderie with team-mates (Lally, 2007), and the extreme ‘highs’ associated with elite-performance (Totterdell, 1999). Whilst it is acknowledged that previous research helps to provide a broad understanding of sporting-career transition as a whole, it may fail to capture issues specific to professional football and professional footballers. As an example, it could be argued that the experienced world of an English professional footballer is in some ways different to that of a collegiate athlete in the US. Such comparisons are evident when one considers the differences within each sport regarding how athletes are schooled prior to them entering their sport. During this period, the collegiate athlete is expected to be fully integrated into a balanced educational/sporting development system (i.e. QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012

combination of full-time education programme and full time sports development programme), whereas the professional footballer in England is predominantly ‘schooled’ within a sporting development programme (i.e. only one day a week dedicated to an education programme). Further differences can be identified when comparing the career transitional experiences of Olympic athletes and professional footballers. For instance, when an Olympian faces the transition from their sport it is usually the case that they will never compete again at elite level. However, this is not always the case for the professional footballer. The majority of elite-footballers in England choose to make the transition into semi-professional football upon exiting their sport. When playing at this non-league level, ex-professional players still have the opportunity of being ‘talent spotted’ by professional clubs and in some cases ex-players are given the opportunity to re-compete again at the professional level. Thus, it could be argued that the transition from professional football does not always spell retirement for the professional footballer. Until approximately 40 years ago, little attention had been given to the well-being of professional athletes by leading professionals and governing bodies (Gordan, 1995). Interest in this area has grown rapidly over the years due in large to a significant increase in the number of elite athletes needing the support and assistance of sport psychologists during transition from sport (Lavallee, 2005). However, to date, research specifically on career-transition in professional football has been extremely limited. In an extensive review conducted by Lavallee and Wylleman (2000) of past research on career transition in sport between 1950 and 1998, there was only one specific reference to a ‘football study’ (Mihovilovic, 1968). Since the work of Mihovilovic (1968), other than one study by Lavallee (2005) which showed how life-development intervention can positively assist footballers who are experiencing adjustment difficulties during 15

Andrew Brownrigg, Viv Burr, Abigail Locke & Alex Bridger

retirement, there appears to have been no further research specifically focussing on career transition in football. Therefore, it is argued that, for the most part, research on sport career transition has focussed on sporting domains other than professional football. The current study aimed to explore the experiences of professional footballers during career transition. The research questions were: ● What is it like to experience being a professional footballer? ● What it is like for professional footballers to experience career transition? The study, therefore, aims to add to the existing body of research on sporting-career transition by providing in-depth insight into how professional footballers understand their ‘lived world’ during exit from their sport.

Methodology The study adopted a phenomenological approach. Phenomenology is concerned with understanding the lived world of a particular population (Langdridge, 2007), in this case professional footballers during career transition. Specifically, the research used the hermeneutic or ‘interpretative’ branch of phenomenology (Heidegger, 1927, 1962), which attends to the lived experiences of participants as interpreted by the researcher, and is widely adopted in qualitative research (e.g. Lally, 2007; Roncaglia, 2006; Warriner, 2008). Sampling and recruitment The study used purposive sampling, which is often utilised in idiographic approaches where the researcher is seeking to recruit individuals who share the experience being investigated (Langdridge, 2007). The participants were recruited via the Professional Footballers Association (PFA). Consent was obtained from the PFA to approach a group of professional footballers who were attending the organisation’s annual ‘Making the Transition’ programme. This aims to 16

help players in career transition by helping them develop second career pathways. These players were ‘unattached’ to a professional football team, and thus facing the possibility of career transition. Nine players were invited to take part in the study and, of these, eight agreed to participate. Data collection The data was collected using focus group interviews. Focus groups are well suited to exploring sensitive topics, because the group context can encourage personal disclosure (Frith, 2000). A topic guide for the interviews was devised, focusing on issues such as identity, support and pre-planning for retirement. Examples of interview questions were: ‘What is it like to be a professional footballer?’, ‘What are your views on the level of support available to professional footballers during their careers?’, ‘What are your views on the level of support available to players after their careers?’ and ‘What are your views on professional footballers planning in advance for retirement?’ The interviews were audio recorded and later transcribed. Participants The participants were all former professional footballers between the ages of 30 and 36, with over a decade of experience and had played between 100 and 400+ games. Eight of the players originated from the UK and Ireland, and one was from Eastern Europe. Pseudonyms were used for each player, professional club and relevant place names in order to protect the identities of the participants. Andrew and Tim had represented their country at international level on several occasions. At the time of the interviews, most of the participants had been in career transition for up to one year. Focus Group 1 (FG1) comprised Chris, Andrew, John, Rich, Alex and Ian. Focus Group 2 (FG2) comprised Liam, Noel, Tim and Ian. Ian was also a current employee of the PFA. It was agreed that he would be involved in both groups so that he could monitor the QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012


players’ responses, something which would help him in his role at the PFA, as well as contribute to the discussions as an ex-professional footballer.

Analysis and findings Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA; Smith & Osborn, 2003) was seen as an appropriate method of analysis for the data as it allowed a rich interpretation of the players’ experiences of career transition. IPA is a widely used method of qualitative data analysis, and its theoretical roots in interpretative phenomenology render it consistent with the epistemological approach underlying the research. Focus groups are not commonly associated with IPA, as this method is sometimes seen as compromising the individualistic focus of phenomenology and the concern to understand personal experience. However, Smith (2004) has argued that collective discussions, such as focus groups, may legitimately be used as a means of generating data for IPA analysis. The transcripts were analysed using the standard principles of IPA (Smith, 2004). In particular, a two stage analysis of group discussions was utilised, where the researcher looks, initially, for group patterns within the data before returning to explore the individual accounts. Four themes were developed from the preliminary analysis of the transcripts. The themes discussed below are: a lack of control over their lives; handling pressures: the known versus the unknown; support and help-seeking; and unfulfilled expectations and anticipating the future. A lack of control over their lives The players indicated on a number of occasions that they felt a lack of control as professional footballers, especially over their careers. The players’ career successes were more often than not attributed to things which were not of their making. Such talk is evident in Chris’s (FG1) experiences:


‘…I was 19 working 12-hour shifts then all of a sudden I get signed up by an English Premier League team. It was just beyond my wildest dreams, as well, so I think I feel very blessed for a start and I am not a religious person at all, but I think some of it is luck without a shadow of a doubt you are just lucky to be in a certain place at a certain time…’ (Chris: FG1) Chris, when discussing his pathway into the professional game, also talks about this opportunity as something of great importance to him – it is beyond his ‘wildest dreams’. However, in his vivid account of his experiences he doesn’t talk about success as something which he himself has achieved. He instead refers to his situation as being something which occurred due to other factors which were not within his control – like being blessed or being lucky. Rich (FG1) also talks about this perceived limited control as a professional footballer in terms of luck. When talking about the difficulties he had during his career he relates how he has struggled in the absence of the good luck that he sees other players benefiting from: ‘…I am tired of it. I have worked very hard when I’ve been injured and you know some players they get the luck, being in the right place at the right time. I am not that guy, I have had to work for every single thing I’ve got and as my career has shown I have not played the highest level where I wanted to play so…’ (Rich: FG1) Likewise, Tim (FG2) talks about a certain lack of control with regards to his career: ‘…you know its swings and roundabouts, stuff you can’t control. I think I learnt that quite early on stuff you can’t control. I was very… you know… whatever happens accept it, deal with it, and how do I move on…’ (Tim: FG2) Through his account, Tim suggests that professional footballers have to find a way of accepting and dealing with their lack of control over certain aspects of their professional lives, such as injuries. These players clearly feel that the progress of their careers is to a large extent dependent upon things over which they have little or no control, such as being selected because they were ‘in the right place at the right time’, or avoiding injury. 17


However, this is not to say that these men are simply unable to deal with the pressures of playing professional football. As illustrated in the second theme, they feel well able to deal with such pressures where they perceive that they have some level of control. It is lack of control and uncertainty which is problematic for them. Handling pressures: The known versus the unknown What was common in the players’ accounts across both groups was the ways in which the participants talked about the differing pressures that they experience. When talking about the pressures within football the players often highlighted how they felt they could readily handle their situation. For example John (FG1) talks about his experiences of pressure specifically in relation to being ‘on the pitch training ground around the club: ‘…on the pitch training ground around the club throughout your career I have never really… pressure was never really a word, pressure was not something really that cropped up…’ (John: FG1) Similarly, Chris (FG1) reiterates this when he talks about his happiness when performing as a footballer: ‘…as soon as you get on that pitch I don’t feel any pressure at all, I go out and play with a smile on my face…’ Chris (FG1) Across both of these accounts the players indicate that pressure is not something which really affects them when they are playing professional football. John (FG1) further talks about handling pressure as a pro-footballer. ‘…I can handle 20 or 30 thousand fans roaring and shouting at you, I can handle one or two players team one or two managers expecting or demanding or what, because I place them demands on myself, I always found playing on a pitch was a comfort zone for me because I knew exactly…I was in control of what was going to happen or what could happen and I had some sort of hand in it…’ (John: FG1). 18

John talks enthusiastically about the demands which are involved in performing as a professional footballer, and how he could cope with his situation because he felt that he had some level of control over the situation. However, when talking about career transition John relates the pressure that he experiences that comes with uncertainty about the future: ‘…at the minute I am starting to realise what pressure is because as one or two of the lads, Alex as well, have spoke of the wife and kids you don’t know what’s around the corner, you don’t know where the next wage is going to come from, you don’t know what lies ahead…’ (John: FG1). John makes reference to his family and in particular the worry of whether he is going to be able to look after them financially in the future. The worry of uncertainty was something which arose in the experiences of the players on numerous occasions; take, for example, Tim’s (FG2) account: ‘…I don’t know how it is for everyone else, but there is also a sense of fear because this is coming into the unknown…’ Tim (FG2) Like John, Noel (FG2) also talks about his fear about his family: ‘…you are always in fear for your family, you know, I have obviously been the main breadwinner for however many years… you have got to try and keep that going and look after your kids and that, like…’ (Noel: FG2). Perceptions of support: Availability and problems seeking it Whilst some of the players clearly felt that there was a lack of support from within the clubs, there was also a strong suggestion that players themselves are reluctant to ask for help and that this may in part be due to the culture of professional football. Initially, the reaction from focus group one to this topic was (ironic) laughter and then an acknowledgement from Alex that: ‘…I don’t think the clubs are bothered about anything…’ (Alex: FG1) which led John (FG1) to propose that professional footballers are: QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012


‘…used and abused, I think that’s what…’ John (FG1) It would seem, initially, that the players were in general agreement that there was limited personal support available to them during their careers, and that this led some to feel a certain sense of mistreatment. However, Alex does go on to imply that support was available to him, even though he felt that this was somewhat dependent on his personal circumstances: ‘…I think the only time I have had support is only because…I was born in Kingsley, I have known one of the directors of Kingsley, that’s it and through this he will support certain things and stuff…but that’s only because I am from Kingsley, that’s the only reason why there is support there otherwise we are just pieces of meat basically…’ (Alex: FG1). What is interesting from Alex’s experiences was that despite this perceived preferential treatment he still feels that professional footballers are treated by their employers as a commodity, or ‘pieces of meat’. However, some participants do suggest that support is available, though players may be reluctant to access it: ‘…I would say there is plenty, loads of support out there, but, I don’t know whether it is a footballer, or an instinct, or whether it is a pride thing but you tend to never go and ask for the support or for the help…’ (John: FG1) Alex supports this sentiment in the following turn on talk: ‘… I tend to agree…you never have a situation where you would go to the chairman or something like that, it’s just not we do basically…I just don’t think you are pushed into that way, whether or not they don’t kind of make themselves available, and say come to me if you need anything or stuff like that…maybe it’s there, but we have never been programmed…you have never been told to seek that kind of advice or guidance from them…’ (Alex: FG1). Indeed, Tim (FG2) highlights that the culture of professional football may discourage players from opening up to others: QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012

‘…it’s almost how you have been brought up in football you don’t really like to give away too much…there’s a lot of politics in football…almost invisible politics if you like, because you’re always up against the guy next to you, he’s in your position or someone else is in your position which could affect the team- you or them- in what you say, you know…you have always got to weigh up how much I can give, how much I can tell the truth…’ (Tim: FG2). Likewise, Liam (FG2) talks about players not having many people in whom they can trust: ‘…it’s a trust thing even those who are your closest friends, footballers probably don’t have a lot of close, close friends…’ Liam (FG2) Interestingly, Noel (FG2) talks about the experience of taking part in the interviews in a positive manner, and in particular the opportunity to discuss difficulties: ‘…I think even this here [the focus group interview], I have probably never talked like this to anyone, you know what I mean? I have never talked candidly about, you know, this is what I have found hard…’ (Noel: FG2). Unfulfilled expectations and anticipating the future Some players talked candidly and emotively about how they felt a sense of rejection during career transition. These players express unfulfilled expectations, not only in terms of support, but also in terms of their employability. Take for example John’s (FG1) experiences during career transition: ‘…I don’t see any of them now picking up the phone or patting me on the back and saying we owe you this we’ll look after you because you looked after us…’ (John: FG1). Similarly, Chris (FG1) also expresses a sense of rejection: ‘…I am just finding now how harsh it is really is I think during the week when you’re playing and everything, you’re everyone’s best mate and now when you’re coming to the end of your career…they are all chucking you in the bin because of your age or injuries or whatever they’re not really that interested…’ (Chris: FG1).

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Alex (FG1) also talks about feeling forgotten: ‘…yeah and you are just waiting for your agent to ring; they’ve still not rung so you give them a little text just to try and make sure he hasn’t forgot about you…’ (Alex: FG1). In addition, Chris (FG1) feels let down; he thought that his prior career success would have counted for more: ‘…you are expecting to get emails like that, because you have played so many games and you have done reasonably well…I am hoping that a decent clubs around my local area comes in, so I don’t have to move or anything and there’s nothing coming in at all…’ (Chris: FG1). It seems that players within focus group one show that they are beginning to experience career transition from professional football, and the possible exit from their sport, as a ‘harsh reality’. This career transitioning experience from sport seems to be leaving some players feeling rejected and this treatment feels somewhat unexpected. The players feel that their past glories and achievements, as well as they themselves, are being dismissed and this is not something they were prepared for. It is argued that the players’ experiences bear some resemblance to what Adler and Adler (1989, p.303) refer to as the ‘glorified self’; an identity narrowing which can take place amongst athletes as they become seduced by the celebrity and fame that is afforded to them as sports stars. This self-narrowing leads some athletes to focus predominantly on their glorified athletic identity at the expense of or investment in other aspects of self, including their future selves. Indeed, the players appear unprepared for the nature of career transition, and this is borne out by their responses when they were specifically asked about the need to prepare in advance for career transition. Tim (FG2) admits that he has delayed thinking about it: ‘…you kind of think, you know…I have got a another year don’t worry about it you know I got another couple of years then before you know it has come on top of you but to be fair with 20

myself I have tried to look at it since I was 13 and stuff like that I don’t think people really realise what it is actually going to be like…’ (Tim: FG2). Furthermore, Rich (FG1) suggests that, even when their contracts are almost finished, players feel a strong need to focus on their footballing future rather than career transition: ‘…I think also when you’re in the last year of your contract…you’re still not thinking about it, you’re still thinking I need to get my head down and concentrate even more doubly hard on the football…to get a new contract…’ (Rich: FG1). Chris (FG1) also suggests that players don’t anticipate how quickly their time as a professional player will pass: ‘…because if you think about it you play from let’s say 19 to 36, so you say 17 years or whatever it is you think you got plenty of time…but, it soon draws to a close…’ (Chris: FG1). Tim (FG2) also expresses how he has thought about the need to plan for career transition because of his age, yet still has not done anything about this: ‘…everyone would say to me ‘you know it will never last forever’ and you know you are getting old when you are picking up injuries, and you think you know in a couple of years I am not going to be here, I am not going to have this. I am still at this situation now where really I haven’t done a great deal about it, but I am on the right lines…’ (Tim: FG2). Noel (FG2) believes that the lack of planning for career transitions is because players don’t want to contemplate it: ‘…I think we all put it to the back of our minds, we’ll think about that one later…’ Noel (FG2)

Discussion The research has highlighted a number of important issues surrounding what it is like to be a professional footballer during career transition. The players who took part in this research indicated that they felt a lack of control over their careers; the highs and lows of their professional lives were regarded as QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012


due to luck rather than their own actions. Although they felt able to cope with the pressures and demands of playing professional football, the uncertainty arising from this lack of control was seen to produce fear and anxiety about the future. They experienced the reality of career transition as a harsh one, a reality which they had not anticipated and which left them feeling a sense of rejection. At the same time, the players felt that that there was limited support available to them during their careers and that the culture of professional football may discourage helpseeking. Furthermore, although they acknowledged the desirability of planning for their career after sport, players reported a tendency to avoid doing this. Previous research has suggested a number of adjustment difficulties experienced by elite-athletes during career transition, including identity crisis (Baillie & Danish, 1992; Crook & Robertson, 1991; Pearson & Petitpas 1990), lower self-control (Werthner & Orlick, 1986) and alcohol and drug abuse (Mihovilovic, 1968). However, this largely quantitative research has not shed light on the possible reasons for these adjustment difficulties. Previous research indicates that the presence or absence of control can have a profound effect on an individual’s health and well-being (Averill, 1973; Miller,1979) and low levels of personal control in the workplace have been found to be psychologically harmful to individuals (e.g. Evans & Carrere, 1991; Ganster & Fusilier, 1989). It may be argued that the perceived lack of control, anxiety and fear for the future, feelings of rejection and difficulties with support and help-seeking reported here are important factors in understanding the difficulties reported by previous research with elite-athletes. As pointed out in the introduction, professional footballers are unlike many other elite athletes because they do not necessarily face the end of their careers when their contracts are terminated; they hope that they will be offered further employment in the game. However, it may be argued that this uncerQMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012

tainty adds to the anxiety they experience and that it encourages them to focus on the possibility of a continued career rather than on planning for retirement. If players preplanned for career transition then some of their difficulties may be prevented. Indeed research suggests that those who pre-plan for retirement (e.g. Noone, Stephens & Alpass, 2009; Reitzes & Mutran, 2004), or career transition in sport (e.g. Alfermann, Stambulova & Zemaityte, 2006) are seen to navigate through the process of career transition more successfully. Although professional footballers may feel the need to show a focus on and commitment to their sporting development while in the game, greater attention to players’ personal development may not only help them to better plan for retirement but actually enhance the development of their sporting excellence too (Miller & Kerr, 2002). The current study set out to build on previous research by identifying some of the difficulties in elite sports transition, providing insight into how professional footballers, in particular, experience career transition. Through a phenomenological analysis, the key issues appeared to be preplanning and preparation for retirement, provision of support and encouraging helpseeking. These findings will be of value to support organisations and those interested in the life-long welfare of professional players. The qualitative findings reported here have provided a rich insight into the lived experiences of professional footballers. However, the research was small in scale and the findings may therefore be limited in their scope of application. Future research needs to investigate the issues of career transition in a more diverse population of players than was possible here, as well as investigating in more depth the relationship between these experiences and the psychological difficulties reported by previous research.

Correspondence Andrew Brownrigg University of Huddersfield. E-mail: [email protected] 21


References Adler, P.A. & Adler, P. (1989). The glorified self: The aggrandisement and the construction of self. Social Psychology Quarterly, 52, 299–310. Alfermann, D. (2000). Causes and consequences of sport career termination. In D. Lavallee & P. Wylleman (Eds.), Career transitions in sport: International perspectives (pp.45–58). Morgantown, WV: Fitness Information Technology. Alfermann, D., Stambulova, A. & Zemaityte, A. (2006). Reactions to sport career termination: A crossnational comparison of German, Lithuanian and Russian athletes. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 5(1), 61–75. Alfermann, D. & Stambulova, N. (2007). Career transition and career termination. In G. Tenenbaum & R. Eklund, (Eds), Handbook of sport psychology (3rd ed., pp. 712–733). New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Averill, J.R. (1973). Personal control over aversive stimuli and its relationship to stress. Psychological Bulletin, 80, 286–303. Baillie, P.H.F. & Danish, S.J. (1992). Understanding the career transition of athletes. The Sport Psychologist, 6, 77–98. Brown, B. & Potrac, P. (2009). ‘You’ve not made the grade, son’: De-selection and identity disruption in elite level youth football. Soccer and Society, 10(2), 143–159. Blinde, E. & Stratta, T. (1992). The ‘sport career death’ of college athletes: Involuntary and unanticipated sports exits. Journal of Sport Behaviour, 15, 3–20. Crook, J.M. & Robertson, S.E. (1991). Transitions out of elite sport. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 22, 115–127. Evans, G.W. & Carrere, S. (1991). Traffic congestion, perceived control, and psychophysiological stress among urban bus drivers. Journal of Applied Psychology, 76, 658–663. Frith, H. (2000). Focusing on sex: Using focus groups in sex research. Sexualities, 3, 275–297. Ganster, D.C. & Fusilier, M.R. (1989). Control in the workplace. In C.L. Cooper & I.T. Robertson (Eds.), International review of industrial and organisational psychology. Chichester, UK: Wiley. Gordon, S. (1995). Career transitions in competitive sport. In T. Morris & J. Summers (Eds.), Sport psychology: Theory, applications and issues (pp.474– 501). Brisbane: Jacaranda Wiley. Heidegger, M. (1927, 1962). Being and time (J. Macquarrie & E.Robinson, Trans.). New York: Seabury. (Original work published 1927.) Husserl, E. (1931). Ideas: General introduction to pure phenomenology (W.R. Boyce Gibson, Trans.). London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd.

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Lally, P. (2007). Identity and athletic retirement: a prospective study. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 8, 85–99. Langdridge, D. (2007). Phenomenological psychology: Theory, research and method. Harlow, England: Pearson Prentice Hall. Lavallee, D. (2005). The effect of a life development intervention on sports career transition adjustment. The Sport Psychologist, 19, 193–202. Lavallee, D. & Robinson, H. (2007). In pursuit of an identity: A qualitative exploration of retirement from women’s artistic gymnastics. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 8, 119–141. Lavallee, D. & Wylleman, P. (2000). Career transitions in sport: International perspectives. Morgantown, WV: Fitness Information Technology. Mihovilovic, M. (1968). The status of former sportsmen. International Review of Sport Sociology, 3, 73–93. Miller, S.M. (1979). Controllability and human stress: Method, evidence and theory. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 17, 287–304. Miller, P.S. & Kerr, G.A. (2002). Conceptualising excellence: Past, present, and future. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 14, 140–153. Noone, J.H., Stephens, C. & Alpass, F.M. (2009). Pre-retirement planning and well-being in later life: A prospective study. Research on Aging, 31(3), 295–317. Ogilvie, B. & Howe, M. (1982). Career crisis in sport. In T. Orlick, J. Partington & J. Salmela (Eds.), Mental training for coaches and athletes (pp.176–183). Ottawa: Coaching Association of Canada. Pearson, R. & Petitpas, A. (1990). Transition of athletes: Pitfalls and prevention. Journal of Counselling and Development, 69, 7–10. Reitzes, D.C. & Mutran, E.J. (2004). The transition to retirement: Stages and factors that influence retirement adjustment. The International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 59(1), 63–84. Sinclair, D.A. & Orlick, T. (1993). Positive transitions from high-performance sport. The Sport Psychologist, 7, 138–150. Smith, J.A. (2004). Reflecting on the development of interpretative phenomenological analysis and its contribution to qualitative research in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 1, 39–54. Smith, J.A. & Osborn, M. (2003). Interpretative phenomenological analysis. In J.A. Smith (Ed.), Qualitative psychology: A practical guide to methods. London: Sage. Sparkes, A.C. (1998). Athletic identity: An Achilles’ heel to the survival of self. Qualitative Health Research, 8, 644–664.


‘You don’t know what’s around the corner’ Roncaglia, I, (2008). The ballet dancing profession: A career transition model. Australian Journal of Career Development, 17(1), 50–59. Smith, B. & Sparkes, A.C. (2004). Becoming disabled through sport: Narrative types, metaphors and the reconstruction of selves. In P. Twohig & V. Kalitzkus (Eds.), Interdisciplinary perspectives on health, illness and disease (pp.67–82). New York: Rodopi. Stambulova, N., Stephan, Y. & Japhag, U. (2005). Athletic retirement: A cross-national comparison of elite French and Swedish athletes. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 8, 101–118. Totterdell, P. (1999). Mood scores: Mood and performance in professional cricketers. British Journal of Psychology, 90, 317–332. Warriner, K. & Lavallee, D. (2008). The retirement of elite female gymnasts: Self-identity and the physical self. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 20, 301–317


Webb, W.M. Nasco, S. Riley, S. & Headrick, R. (1998). Athlete identity and reactions to retirement from sports. Journal of Sport Behaviour, 21, 338–362. Werthner, P. & Orlick, T. (1986). Retirement experiences of successful Olympic athletes. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 17, 337–363. Willig, C. (2008). Introducing qualitative research in psychology: Adventures in theory and method. Maidenhead: Open University Press. Wylleman, P., Alfermann, D. & Lavallee, D. (2004). Career transitions in sport: European perspectives. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 5, 7– 20. Wylleman, P., Theeboom, M. & Lavallee, D. (2004). Successful athletic careers. In C. Spielberger (Eds.), Encyclopedia of applied psychology (Vol. 3, pp.511–517). New York: Elsevier.

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Reflections on using writing in sport and exercise psychology research and practice Melissa Day & Joanne Hudson In recent years, a number of researchers have highlighted the difficulties that may be associated with capturing the dynamic nature of the sports environment, particularly when using one-off, static interviews (e.g. Culver, Gilbert & Trudel, 2003; Krane & Baird, 2005). The use of writing in sport and exercise psychology is an emerging method that may provide a more flexible approach to data collection. While writing has become common practice for the researcher themselves (through the use of reflective journals or reflective writing), it is surprising that this method has been used far less frequently for participant data collection. Authors such as Smith, Allen Collinson, Phoenix, Brown, and Sparkes (2009) have demonstrated the valuable insights that have been gained from reflective journals written by the researcher, providing extracts which highlight not only their research dilemmas but which also show how the researcher begins to make sense of their experiences. Furthermore, others, such as Allen Collinson and Hockey (2001) have demonstrated the on-going experiences that can be captured through the use of research logs in ethnographic research. Nevertheless it may be proposed that while the benefits of writing from the perspective of a researcher have been strongly advocated and accepted, the use of similar participant-led strategies has been slow to follow. In this article we aim to highlight the potential value of using the written word. Initially we explore this as a tool for data collection, but we also further propose that the value in this method does not only lie in its ability to collect data but also in the therapeutic effects and benefits that may be accrued in the process of writing. We focus on two similar but distinct forms of writing, first, diary writing and second, expressive writing. These forms of writing were employed in two previous studies (Day & Thatcher, 2009; Hudson & Day, 2012) which used narrative analysis, the first paper focusing on form and the second on content. The data presented here were not published in the original papers but serve to underpin our arguments and suggestions made here.

Why use a diary approach? S McFee (2009) suggested, it is widely recognised that the questions addressed by research will be reciprocally related to the methods that are used. Thus we need to consider the sporting context that we are aiming to capture in our research questions. The sports environment provides us with a dynamic, ever changing context. Consequently, it may be suggested that static research strategies only provide us with a snapshot perspective at one given moment in time. Lazarus (1995, 1999) endorsed this viewpoint, proposing that methods that use just a single form of assessment are unlikely to capture sufficient and appropriate information. He suggested that

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concepts such as stress should be viewed as a process that occurs over time and as relationships change. In order to account for this he suggested that a longitudinal approach will capture potentially changing as well as stable variables. Research has endorsed this suggestion, for example, fluctuations in stress were examined by Almeida and Kessler (1998), who demonstrated the usefulness of diary methods in capturing daily changes. Furthermore, research in the sporting context has recognised the value of using diaries, either to log fluctuations during performance (e.g. Nicholls et al., 2005) or over longer periods of time (e.g. Levy et al., 2009). As such, the strength of QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012 © The British Psychological Society

Reflections on using writing in sport and exercise psychology research and practice

using this approach is highlighted by Randall and Phoenix’s (2009) commentary on the problem with truth in qualitative interviews. They note that ‘stories are told in particular situations to particular listeners for particular reasons’ (p.126). Consequently, one may reflect that the use of diary methods allows for a range of stories to be told, to a variety of intended listeners, and for a variety of reasons. While it may be expected that diaries allow for a range of stories to be told, our proposition that diaries may be written for a variety of intended listeners may seem unusual. But our reflections are based on our own research experiences (Day & Thatcher, 2009), which indicated that participants’ writing was directed towards two main types of audience. These types of audience were real (e.g. addressed to the researcher) and imagined (e.g. directed towards the coach). Here the term imagined is used carefully, noting that it is not the existence of the coach that is in question, but the notion that they will ever read the material that is written. Thus the participant is able to create an imaginary audience and is often able to converse about topics that have been unspoken. The following extract from our initial paper on sporting stressors highlights the use of this imagined audience: This is doing neither of us any good. Whether you agree or not, I can guarantee this is doing me no good… I swear you are doing this on purpose to mess with my head, but what’s the point. I want to go home but I can’t tell you, it will make things worse but there is seriously no point in me being here. This extract is taken from a diary entry described by the participant (an elite level trampolinist) as a particularly stressful training session. Here, the imagined audience is the coach, and our participant’s diary entry highlights the difficulties of initiating any actual discussion. Instead, the diary entry is directed towards the coach and the participant is unrestricted in her conversation. While there are multiple ways in which we QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012

could interpret the above extract, we choose to highlight the monological voice of this participant (Frank, 2012). The participant takes into account the perspective of the coach (‘whether you agree or not’), but the dialogue is closed, speaking to the other but not imagining their response. One alternative to this imagined audience is that the diary entry is addressed to the researcher. As with most forms of qualitative research, the diary method invites the participant to tell their story, and accordingly the researcher often fills the role of listener to the narrated story. Again, given the monological voice most often used in the diary approach, the researcher becomes a passive listener. The following diary extract demonstrates the use of the researcher as the intended audience. I wish I had green eyes. Then I would be the perfect green eyed monster. I don’t even know why I am jealous. You probably think I’m such a horrible person for thinking and writing what I do ... I will dig myself a hole I think!! Somewhere hot, maybe Greece or Cyprus or Italy!!! Full of interesting places and lots of sun, better than being here. I’m sure you’d agree. While much of the qualitative research in sport and exercise psychology uses a rigid, structured format, resulting in high levels of researcher control (Smith, 2010) this method can exonerate the control held by the researcher. Thus when using this method we concur with suggestions from Smith and Deemer (2000) that the qualitative researcher must learn to live with uncertainty, but we further propose that when using this method in particular, the researcher must also discard expectations that the data collected will fit neatly into predetermined research questions. Our final suggestion on the use of diary writing as a method was that stories will be told for a variety of reasons. On reflection from our 2009 study, there were two outstanding, but contrasting, reasons for writing. The first reason was to vent emotions or experiences. In doing this, 25

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writing appeared hurried; sentences were staccato; and often attempted to create vicarious experiences of emotions for the reader. An example of this is shown in the extract below, written by a male elite trampolinist: I have never felt this scared ever before. I never get scared. Everything is really scaring me and I don’t know why? I’m frightened, my heart is pumping very fast. This is making me even more scared. My imagination is running wild and I can’t stop it. Everything I do to stop it doesn’t work. I just want to stop now but I can’t. I need to train for the competition on Sunday. I don’t know why this is happening. This extract creates a fast pace for the reader, with concise sentences that jump from one point to another. In contrast to this approach to diary writing, a second key reason for writing was that diary entries were seen as a means of reflecting, clarifying, and developing strategies to cope. These served the purpose of meaning making and often sought to either find or highlight changes. In such diary entries the writing style was calm and well considered. The quotation below emphasises how one participant reflected and developed clarity through her writing: I’ve realised that I’m no longer jealous, in fact I’m just getting on with my own thing. It’s a circle, and I think I can see that now and maybe I’d never really seen that before. If I refer back to 6th of June I can see that I seem to just go through the same stages. This time I’m no longer sad because that was related to my relationships but when it comes to training I seem to be stuck in this cycle. As suggested by Neimeyer (2005), reflecting on moments or stories that are influential may help the individual to understand recurrent themes and subsequently foster psychological growth. As the above extract demonstrates, writing may serve to increase awareness of life themes as the individual is asked to reflect on their experiences.

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Writing as a Therapeutic Intervention As our reflections on writing as a method begin to suggest, the benefits of writing not only lie in the depth of data collected, but also in the potential benefits to participants. Thus, we now consider the use of writing as an intervention to help individuals cope with some form of stressor. In particular, we discuss expressive writing, which is also referred to as emotional disclosure as the writer is encouraged to write about ‘their deepest thoughts and feelings’ concerning an event or experience of significance to them. Most often, but not exclusively, the event is negatively toned; for instance, an illness, an ongoing stressor such as a dysfunctional relationship, or a single traumatic event such as a bereavement (see Frattaroli, 2006, for a review). There are of course similarities between diary writing and expressive writing but these forms of writing are fundamentally different. Whilst the content of both is led by the writer, expressive writing explicitly encourages and directs the writer to focus on emotions, thoughts and feelings about a specific event or experience across multiple sessions (usually three to five) within a specific time limit for writing (usually 20 minutes). Thus the more structured approach of expressive writing differs from traditional participant led diary writing.

Why use expressive writing? As we might expect, writing about a personally stressful event often results in some short-term disequilibrium and negative affect (e.g. Warner et al., 2006). Indeed, we observed this in our own study that explored expressive writing about competitive sports stressors (Hudson & Day, 2012). Over the longer term, though, the benefits of expressive writing have been shown to be widespread, both in terms of who has experienced them and how. For instance, groups including children, cancer patients, adolescents with asthma, and individuals diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder have reported a range of improveQMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012


ments in both mental and physical health (e.g. Frattaroli, 2006; Smyth, Hockemeyer, & Tulloch, 2008; Soliday, Garofalo & Rogers, 2006). Of the substantial body of literature on expressive writing we were, however, only able to locate a handful of studies (e.g. Byrne-Davis et al., 2006) that did not focus on quantitative outcomes but instead used qualitative methods to explore the subjective experience of writing and its benefits for the writer. Hence, we felt that a qualitative study that would enable us to add the writer’s voice to the existing body of research would offer new insight. Given the potential for athletes to face a range of ongoing and acute stressors and emotions, we were also somewhat surprised to find only two published studies that have explored the use of expressive writing with athletes (Mankad & Gordon, 2010; Mankad, Gordon & Wallman, 2009). We therefore conducted a qualitative study of athletes’ expressive writing about competitive sports stressors they had faced to gain some insight into their experiences and perceptions of expressive writing (Hudson & Day, 2012). In interviews following their six expressive writing sessions, our 16 participants discussed the benefits of expressive writing for helping them to cope with both ongoing stressors such as a serious injury, or previously experienced but unresolved stressors such as failing to successfully relocate overseas to train and compete. These athletes discussed how both writing content and process offered benefits, and specifically, the expressive writing paradigm itself. Writing has been suggested previously by Lyubomirsky, Sousa and Dickerhoof (2002) to offer benefits over and above simply discussing an event and comments from our participants echoed this sentiment: I felt like I could let go as such because sometimes it’s hard to find the words and get it all out when you’re talking about it but when you’re writing you go hell for leather and you can get it all out of you…


They also felt that writing within the parameters of the expressive writing paradigm conferred benefits with its clearly defined format. The imposed time limit, researcher delivered instructions and multiple writing sessions provided a structure that supported most of the athletes’ writing in a number of ways. The relatively short multiple sessions were felt to facilitate both focus during and reflection in between writing sessions. The instructions also gave them a focus on what to write and encouraged them to adopt different perspectives across multiple sessions: …when you’re [the researcher] doing the instructions you say these different things like think about it like your views of the world, the views of coaches and every session I’d think about something else because I’d think, ah, I didn’t say it like that in the last one and you bang it out so you’re getting it from all aspects as such so like doing it for six or seven you kind of, like one of them you might go from your own point of view or the point of view of your father or whatever, your friends or your coach and that was good because it made me feel, get it from all angles in my head whether it was right or wrong but in my head they were the different views. From a content perspective, the main benefit appeared to be an opportunity for growth through self-discovery, facilitated by athlete reflection on themselves and the stressor from a range of previously unconsidered perspectives. We observed this process of self-development in comparisons between the initial and final narratives of all but two of the athletes. The athletes’ initial writing illustrated the difficulty they faced in assimilating the stressor into their dominant and desired views of themselves: I went home and felt distraught and felt like I was no good, even though, my father was saying that it wasn’t my fault. But I always wanted to be like my dad, who was a brilliant defender, and have people talk about me in the same light that they talk about my dad in, so I still felt like I let him down. 27

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In their final narrative, the majority of the athletes were able to assimilate the stressor into their self-narrative. They explained the processes they experienced in the intervening sessions of expressive writing that enabled this assimilation and narrative shift. These included confronting the stressor, problem solving, re-evaluation and shifting perspective on the stressor, self-reflection, and, experiencing, managing and releasing emotions associated with the stressor. Collectively, these reflect the deep cognitive processing required for expressive writing to be effective (Vrielynck, Philippot & Rimé, 2010). From a practitioner perspective, our analyses of the athletes’ narrative accounts of their experiences helped us to understand their stories from a holistic perspective. We could quite clearly see how their stressful experiences disrupted their views of themselves and did not align with their dominant self images. As practitioners we can both identify consultancy experiences where this is difficult, maybe because of limited rapport with an athlete or because the athlete is not used to articulating such deep self reflections verbally to others. For some, written disclosure and articulation may be easier and might help the practitioner to better understand their story: I think writing it down felt a lot better because I’ve spoke about it so much I think having it written down and actually seeing your feelings wrote into it, it felt better to talk about it like that. I feel like a load’s come off actually, I can see things a bit more simply. Another helpful element of the narratives was their ability to vividly present the barriers which prevented two of the athletes in our study from assimilating the stressor into their self-narrative. It is likely that the athlete him/herself is not aware of these barriers and, therefore, verbally articulating them could be difficult, but analysis of narratives might help to reveal these to the practitioner. Clearly, follow-up work is essential with these athletes regardless of the fact that 28

they found the process of expressive writing helpful. For instance, one athlete whose final narrative showed that she was still unable to assimilate the stressor into her sense of self discussed feeling stronger and being more aware of the impact of the event on her within and outside sport: ‘I feel stronger now for sure, I feel less upset and more like sort of moving on from it’. The concluding paragraph of her written narrative, in contrast, paints a somewhat different picture where there is still selfdevelopment work to be done: I suppose I know that if I had stayed I would be a fantastic player now, I went from one hour of training a week here and I was quite good to five or so hours a week there, and fitness on top. I think I would have been so good if I had stuck with it, and I hate it here because its back to an hour a week with people who cant [sic] barely play and that makes me upset. That I threw all that away, and by the time I felt ready and perhaps strong enough emotionally to play years had passed and now there is no game to play. Expressive writing may offer a paradigm that is somewhat new to sport and exercise psychology research and practice that might help researchers and practitioners to understand the athlete and their experience through their written narratives. It might also provide a platform to facilitate selfdiscovery and development in some athletes. Much research needs to be done within a sports context to advance understanding of its application, including its use within sports teams, with others involved in sport (e.g. coaches and support staff), its effects within consultancy, and how best to use this as an intervention in this context.

Concluding thoughts As we now turn full circle we look back on our opening comments on the value and benefits associated with reflective journals used by the researcher. Many published studies cite that the use of a reflective journal allows the researcher to clarify their QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012


thoughts, envisage emerging themes, or reflect on their interview experiences; allowing them to develop their skills and make meaning of their experiences. Yet for us this presents an interesting paradox, that while interviewing becomes a process for the interviewer, it may remain a one off snapshot of the participant’s world; essentially it is one story told to one listener. Thus while the importance of understanding the process of data collection for the researcher has been well acknowledged, it is surprising that less emphasis is placed on capturing the changing world of the participant. In this article we have aimed to highlight the benefits of an alternative, process driven approach through the use of two methods;

diary writing and expressive writing. While each method differs in the structure and approach taken, the emphasis of both is on allowing the participant to tell their story, giving them the opportunity to make meaning of events. As a consequence, these methods allow an insight into a range of stories and experiences, often told as they happen, and addressed to a variety of audiences. For us, this captures the very essence of the ever-changing context of sport.

Correspondence Dr Joanne Hudson Department of Sport & Exercise Science, Aberystwyth University. Email: [email protected]

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Levy, A., Nicholls, A., Marchant, D. & Polman, R. (2009). Organisational stressors, coping, and coping effectiveness: A longitudinal study with an elite coach. International Journal of Sports Science and Coaching, 4, 31–45. McFee, G. (2009). The epistemology of qualitative research into sport: Ethical and erotetic? Qualitative Research in Sport and Exercise, 1, 297–311. Neimeyer, R.A. (2005). Re-storying loss: Fostering growth in the post-traumatic narrative. In L.G. Calhoun & R.G. Tedeschi (Eds.), Handbook of posttraumatic growth (pp.68–80). New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum. Nicholls, A.R., Holt, N.L., Polman, R.C.J. & James, D.W.G. (2005), Stress, coping, and coping effectiveness among international adolescent golfers. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 17, 333–340. Randall, W.L. & Phoenix, C. (2009). The problem with truth in qualitative interviews: Reflections from a narrative perspective. Qualitative Research in Sport and Exercise, 1, 125–140. Smith, B. (2010). Narrative inquiry: Ongoing conversations and questions for sport and exercise psychology research. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 3, 87–107. Smith, B., Allen Collinson, J., Phoenix, C., Brown, D. & Sparkes, A. (2009). Dialogue, monologue, and boundary crossing within research encounters: A performative narrative analysis. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 7, 342–358. Smith, J. K. & Deemer, J. K. (2000). The problem of criteria in the age of relativism. In N.K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (2nd ed., pp.877–898). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

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Melissa Day & Joanne Hudson Smyth, J. M., Hockemeyer, J. R. & Tulloch, H. (2008). Expressive writing and post-traumatic stress disorder: Effects on trauma symptoms, mood states, and cortisol reactivity. British Journal of Health Psychology, 13, 85–93. Soliday, E., Garofalo, J.P. & Rogers, D. (2006). Expressive writing intervention for adolescents’ somatic symptoms and mood. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 33, 792–801.

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Vrielynck, N., Philippot, P. & Rimé, B. (2010). Level of processing modulates benefits of writing about stressful events: Comparing generic and specific recall. Cognition and Emotion, 24, 1117–1132. Warner, L.J., Lumley, M.A., Casey, R.J., Pierantoni, W., Salazar, R., Zoratti, E.M.,Enberg, R. & Simon, M. (2006). Health effects of written emotional disclosure in adolescents: A randomised, controlled trial. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 31, 557–568.



Qualitative investigations of mega-sport events: Exploring individual, group-based and collective emotions in response to elite athletic success Gavin Sullivan Mega-sport events such as the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) Football World Cup and the Olympics are occasions when winning and losing create intense emotions in participants and observers. The wealth of existing theoretical and empirical material produced by social and psychological researchers on these topics might appear to reduce the potential for qualitative researchers to contribute to and even lead further research efforts. This paper introduces three areas in which qualitative psychology can contribute to understanding events during the London 2012 Olympic games and their impact: individual pride and related emotions experienced by elite athletic performers; explorations of the diverse forms of viewer impact and possibilities for group-based emotion; and instances of collective emotion (e.g. such as widespread pride, patriotism and nationalism in the host nation). Examples of projects that could be conducted are provided. An overarching framework is presented for qualitative research that engages with and critiques relevant quantitative research findings, establishes links to existing qualitative research results, and is reflexive about issues such as methodological plurality.

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EGA-SPORT EVENTS such as the FIFA World Cup and the Olympics are occasions when large television viewing audiences heighten the emotionality, involvement and enthusiasm of the occasion (Kersting, 2007; Sullivan, 2009; Waitt, 2003). For athletes, participation in mega-sports events and the resulting media attention can generate a wide range of emotions, especially when success occurs. For the host nation, a long process of bidding, being granted and then planning to host the games often leads to an extended period of national reflection and debate about security, legacy issues, medal counts and the contemporary relevance of national identity. In this paper, the aim is to outline how qualitative psychology can contribute in specific ways to understanding the emotional aspects of successful sporting performance during mega-sport events (in relation to both local and international audiences).


In the first part, the use of qualitative methods to examine and understand individual and team responses to sporting success will be outlined using examples of comparable achievements. The argument here is to reinforce a thoroughly social and relational account of the emotions experienced by participants and the need for further work to explore the discursive management of self and identity implications of winning (and performing well but not winning). In part two, possibilities for qualitative research on the emotional impact on viewers of mega-sport events are explored. An important consideration here is to examine the circumstances prior to and after the mega-sport event, rather than to focus solely on the emotions that occur during the event. Part three explores the potential for qualitative research to study group-based and collective emotions, focusing on the ‘red-hot topic’ (Dixon & 31

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Condor, 2011, p.121) of collective emotions and particularly, the dynamics of positive collective emotion. In what follows, methodological pluralism is encouraged: including combinations of quantitative and qualitative methods or a minimum of two qualitative approaches. This account of the relevance of qualitative research to understanding the individual and collective emotional impact of megasport events includes interpretative phenomenological, discursive, thematic, narrative and ethnographic approaches, amongst others. The importance of engaging with research based on experimental and quantitative methods is illustrated with specific examples while the advantages of in-depth qualitative interviewing and theory-driven analysis over studies based on participant self-reports, quantification of observations and coding according to pre-existing categories is emphasised. Hooper, Burwitz and Hodkinson (2003), for example, have argued that qualitative approaches are needed in order to understanding positive emotions and elite athletic performance. The situation might have improved in sport and exercise psychology since a survey by Culver, Gilbert and Trudel (2003) concluded that efforts to include qualitative methods in the years 1990 to 1999 had been conservative. However, use of qualitative research to understand the emotions of elite athletes and the collective emotional effects of their successes on audiences is not evident in mainstream emotion and social psychology journals. The research described below is selective and does not constitute a thorough review of qualitative research of emotional effects of successful performances by elite athletes. Acknowledging that qualitative research is still not widely accepted in all areas of psychology and this state of affairs requires some reflection. One reason appears to be that qualitative research does not fit clearly into three sets of core psychological research activities; namely, theoretical/conceptual analysis, observation/experimentation and quantifica32

tion/mathematisation (Machado & Silva, 2007). Nevertheless, this paper emphasises how qualitative research challenges, extends and completes the results of empirical work based on observation/experimentation and quantification/mathematisation.

Emotional reactions to sporting success and failure It is common during events like the Olympics to see and be moved by images and narratives that capture the drama of competition. Photos of competitors’ tears of disappointment or triumph dominate newspapers during the event and news reports focus on the moments when a personal or team triumph is confirmed. The emotional features of winning and losing have, not surprisingly, attracted the attention of researchers. Most of the research is embedded within experimental and observational approaches to emotion that have little room for discursive dimensions of meaningmaking. For example, Tracy and Robins (2004) efforts to develop and refine the recognition and coding of non-verbal features of prototypical pride, which largely correspond with images of arms raised in triumph at the point of victory, emphasise the advantages of avoiding verbal and, ultimately, discursive features of pride: ‘a behavioral coding scheme would be of great use for future research, as it would allow for the circumvention of self-report’ (p.790). Further work by Tracy and Matsumoto (2008) using a neo-Darwinian framework has gained further attention, in part due to the claim that expressions of pride in victory and shame in failure are both ‘likely to be innate’ (p.11655). This conclusion was inferred from the empirical finding that congenitally blind athletes displayed behavioural configurations reliably associated with pride and shame. Studies like this imply that what people say is unimportant and assume that exploring the discursive features and contexts of their activities is beset with problems. However, some quantitative research QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012

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suggests that the meaning that people make of a successful outcome is intimately connected with the form and intensity of their spontaneous emotional expressions and relative to the achievements of others. McGraw, Mellors and Tetlock (2005), for instance, analysed the emotional reactions of gold, silver, bronze and non-medalists from video recordings of television footage from the Sydney 2000 Olympics. They concluded that prior expectations (based on expert predictions not participant self-report) have powerful effects on emotional intensity which, in their study, ranged along one dimension from agony to ecstasy. McGraw et al. (2005) summarised their complex set of results as follows: ‘Gold medallists were extremely elated, with only a slight influence of expectations. Silver medallists were elated, except when they expected gold. Bronze medallists were happy, except when their expectations were higher’ (p.442). From a qualitative psychology perspective, it is clear that the unidimensional ratings of emotional intensity and valence used by McGraw et al. cannot distinguish the specific emotions the participants felt at the moment they won and, subsequently, on the medal stand. Plausible candidates for the medallists’ feelings include pride, euphoria, joy, relief or a complex mixture of some of these. In addition, even if self-report emotion scores could somehow be collected at both points in a study (e.g. at an athletics final in London 2012), the feelings of athletes and the personal and identity implications of their finishing position would still not be adequately captured. At a minimum then, a study that generated appropriately rich and nuanced data should include a research interview or, at the very least, a good approximation of one such as a postevent press interview. Any study would need to take into account the time-course of athlete emotional reactions and seek to understand how qualitative changes in the experience of success occur. Of course, there is quantitative research that has already established that emotions QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012

occur (and change) after success. For example, McGraw et al. (2004) observed that ‘emotions were more intense immediately after the event than later on the medal stand’ (p.439). However, a more appropriate way of understanding the complex positive and sometimes mixed positive and negative emotions that can occur with elite sporting success would be to engage in a discursive case study of naturalistic examples. Sullivan (2011a) analysed the positive but mixed emotional expression of a professional golf player winning the USPGA tournament using Mascolo’s (2009) Wittgensteininspired discursive approach. The materials for analysis included the initial television broadcast footage of the golfer’s reactions to winning and then, after a break of 12 minutes to complete formalities and check his score, during the trophy presentation and televised live interview. The analysis shows that even the intense emotion upon winning, which briefly corresponded with the arms raised, small smile, head raised behavioural features of prototypical pride (Tracy & Robins, 2004), is not a discoursefree behavioural ‘slice’ of golfer Michael Campbell’s life. In fact what follows is a more complex sequence of movement, gesture and facial expression which showed that his display of pride was not held for long as he then pulled his cap over his face and began to cry. Rather than summarise the extensive analysis of a complex reaction which included wiping away what might be called tears of joy, it is important to note that interactions with other people immediately after the victory and the positive atmosphere created by the local audience both play an important role in rejecting other interpretations of Campbell's emotions, such as that this was an instance of shame. A further point is that there is an exchange between Campbell and his caddy that resulted in a second display of overwhelming emotion. Under the gaze of a large local and international television audience, Campbell’s emotions were revealed in a later interview 33

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to be caused by thinking of his family ‘... all my relations back home, relatives back home watching me, all the people back home watching me, I could feel that. I could feel them how proud they were of me. And that started me off’ (ASAP Sports, 2005). Although the US PGA Open tournament is not a mega-sport event, the example indicates how the emotions of winning athletes in the 2012 Olympics are likely to be magnified further by being the objects of public support and admiration as well as, perhaps initially, imagining the effect they have had on their friends, family and national group.

Studies of diverse viewer effects Anecdotal evidence suggests that the emotions of winning athletes often have contagious and imitative effects on viewers, such as tears during the playing of national anthems, even if audiences do not share the nationality of the athlete. While audiences can admire and be deeply impressed by any winning performance, the involvement of group identity is important to feeling pride instead of other positive emotions (e.g. being happy for an athlete). Social identity theory (SIT) appears to explain how fans and supporters of national representative athletes and teams come to share in the triumphs of elite athletes with whom they might otherwise feel no connection. However, it has been argued that people not only identify themselves as members of particular groups, they also experience emotions based on group membership. Smith, Seger and Mackie’s (2007) intergroup emotion theory is an extension of SIT that attempts to account for situations in which cognitive appraisals produce groupbased feelings and collective action tendencies. Smith et al.’s examples of group-based feelings imply the importance of televised sport while also picturing the individual in isolation: People are elated when their favorite football team upsets a stronger team, saddened and angry when their team loses a game, and disgusted when the winning 34

team’s fans drunkenly riot in the street – all without personally leaving the couch. (p.431) The central feature of Smith et al.’s theory, which they use to account for positive and negative group-based emotions, is identification. They argue that ‘people who identify more strongly with a group should experience and express group emotions to a greater extent than weak identifiers, a prediction that is particularly clear for positive group emotions (e.g. happiness, pride)’ (p.432). They also note that ‘group pride motivates people to approach other ingroup members or to increase their level of identification with the group’ (p.433) and experiencing positive group-based emotions will lead group members to show ‘stronger biases favoring the ingroup over the outgroup’ (p.433). The individualistic focus of SIT and IET has encouraged more nuanced and subtle accounts of group-based pride and identification developed on the basis of qualitative and discursive approaches. Abell et al. (2007) found that amongst the general public ‘one common strategy involved ‘explaining away’ one’s support for the England team by treating this as the consequence of an accident of birth’ (p.2014). Abell et al.’s (2007) work suggests that a one dimensional notion of identification cannot capture the relationship between a national team and all members of a nation. People who have a low level of identification with the English national football team might still have a strong emotional attachment to England. Abell et al. concluded that support for the English national team does not map ‘onto claims to patriotic sentiment in any straightforward way’ (97). However, with regard to the effects of viewing mega-sport events, Abell et al. did not examine how much individual feelings of national pride could change as a result of a significant national team victory (e.g. in a World Cup), nor did they ask whether experiencing positive crowd emotions affected their feelings of closeness to their national group. Discursive QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012


approaches might appear to have little to say on these matters. Billig’s (1995) account of banal nationalism and the linguistic background to national identity pays little attention to the forms of ‘hot nationalism’ which tend to be prominent during mega-sport events. Quantitative studies in several countries have attempted to examine aggregate changes in the emotions of group members. Many of these studies have focused on attitudes rather than emotions and used selfreport scales. From a quantitative perspective, for example, Luhtanen and Crocker’s (1992) Collective Self-Esteem scale should capture emotions that occur in group settings or when celebrating a victory with other members of one’s ethnic, cultural or national group. However, none of the items in the membership, private, public and identity subscales directly ask participants to report their emotions (i.e. other than ‘I feel good about the social groups I belong to’ and the reverse coded item: ‘Overall my group memberships have very little to do with how I feel about myself’). Other scales examine related aspects of national identity that are clearly different to group sentiments: for example, nationalism and patriotism scales include subscales that focus on the level of attachment to the nation, identification with an ethnic or national group or feelings of belonging. Even when studies focus on emotions, items such as ‘I am proud to be German’ include a range of objects of national pride (e.g. Germany’s social security system, achievements in the arts, history, and sporting success; Becker, Christ & Wagner, 2007). Consequently, the contribution of megaevents to changing group, ethnic, cultural or national sentiments is not well understood. For example, when Kersting (2007) measured the influence of the 2006 World Cup on levels of national pride in Germany, Social Survey Data (Allbus, 2006) gathered before during and after the World Cup were analysed. Some months before the World Cup, 71 per cent of the population stated QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012

that they were ‘very proud’ and ‘fairly proud’ and: Twenty-nine per cent on the other hand had weak feelings of national pride. During the World Cup in June and July 2006 the number of people with strong national pride increased to 78 per cent. On the other hand those with very low feelings of pride dropped to 23 per cent. (p.233) Kersting found that after the World Cup ‘only 72 per cent had a strong feeling of national pride and 28 per cent were not very proud or not at all proud to be a German’ (p.283). He concluded that ‘this phenomenon can only be explained by the euphoria existing during the World Cup’ (p.283) but the study does not reveal how these euphoric feelings emerged, came to be shared with others, and how long it was before they eventually subsided. There are further problems with this study that will be obvious to many qualitative practitioners. The first, noted by researchers such as Condor (2000), is that people are often concerned to ‘disavow the identity of the nationally ‘proud’’ (p.188). Other qualitative research indicates the ambivalence that people express even when they experience some positive feelings about their national identity (see Miller-Idriss & Rothenbrger, 2011). Unpublished research interviews of 15 Germans in Berlin conducted by the present author shortly after the 2006 World Cup confirmed that many people enjoyed the relaxed party atmosphere, the international praise that Germany received, and the relaxed and non-jingoistic celebrations when the German football team won. Most interviews centred on the pride and happiness that people felt at the time rather than more abstract ‘experience-far’ discourses of nationalism and patriotism. These interviews also suggest that when national pride increases due to sporting success, praise for successfully hosting an international sporting event, positive international attention or a combination of these factors, separation of nationalistic and patri35

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otic sentiments is unhelpful. From a critical psychological and discursive perspective, Sapountzis (2007) argues that ‘patriotism and nationalism are not treated as two different national sentiments but as a dilemma that reveals the inner tensions and contradictions of nationalist ideology’ (p.12). Although this position might appear to rule out the possibility of an exploration of group-based emotion, it is complementary to a dynamic qualitative investigation of people’s experiences before, during and after a mega-sport event. This is because multiple dilemmas become apparent during the event, such as whether to: maintain one’s stance that investment in mega-sport events and elite athletes is a waste of money or acknowledge that it has had a positive impact (even temporarily) on the national mood; play the role of a good host and welcome visitors or avoid this and risk being called hostile; support only athletes and teams from other nations but risk being regarded as a odd; or resist a positive atmosphere during an event on ideological grounds but admit to being moved on occasions (e.g. by television footage of winners).

Collective emotion When the diverse membership of national groups are considered, there are further issues that could be explored through indepth qualitative research such as how people come to judge the emotions that are prevalent in their communities (i.e. social appraisals; Parkinson, 2011) and, potentially, share and feel them with others (i.e. coordinated expressions and emotional contagion). The emotions that people come to feel on the basis of their group membership often lead to widely shared feelings despite differing levels of group identification. However, an aggregate of individual emotional responses and displays does not address what collective emotions are. Collective emotion, however, is difficult to define and it has been suggested that even situations in which collective pride can be ascribed to a group may involve a range of 36

emotions that include happiness, joy, excitement and ecstacy. In some cases, collective pride may be preceded by and become mixed with moments of group-based shame (Sullivan, 2007, 2011b); an issue that is beginning to be explored in terms of ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ collective emotions (Ehala, 2011). For example, collective shame is cold because it does not energise a group and may threaten social bonds, whereas pride encourages people to be together and strengthens feelings of unity and belonging. The extent to which the change in an emotional climate of a circumscribed geographical region is co-extensive with national identity is contestable. For instance, while collective national pride appeared to reach a peak in the 2010 World Cup with South Africa scoring the first goal in the first World Cup on African soil, enthusiasm for the tournament and the resulting national sentiments of unity and solidarity rapidly faded outside of urban areas. In this regard, broad patterns of social behaviour that indicate both the spread of collective positive emotion and its limits have not been explored in existing qualitative research. Such research would be in stark contrast to economic studies which, for example, operationalise the ‘feel good factor’ of hosting a World Cup or Olympics as ‘willingness to pay’ for the costs (Männing & Du Plessis, 2007). Thus, despite the efforts of games organisers to promote interest and a sense of unified national support through promotional events such as the Olympic torch relay, any large-scale emotional impact of national success (or failure!) may travel along lines defined by existing social structures rather than temporarily transform them. Evidence of large-scale collective emotions can be gathered from a discursive analysis of the types of stories that are told about a nation and which are available to shape the narration of current events. In the case of Germany in the 2006 World Cup, the success of the national team and successful hosting of the tournament were combined QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012


in narratives of the country’s internal transformation and transformed international image (Sullivan, 2009). The 2000 Olympics in Sydney represented a similar occasion in which initial concerns were about failure, which was discussed in terms of infrastructure problems, and the potential for shameful exposure, represented by the potential for international recognition of the injustices in the host country that Aboriginal protestors continued to highlight. However, when the Aboriginal and Australian runner Cathy Freeman won the 400 metre final, these concerns around shame were replaced by euphoric celebrations and a symbolic reconciliation with the aboriginal peoples of Australia (Sullivan, 2007). As Thrift (2004) has keenly observed, such changes in a group’s emotional climate can be experienced as more direct and real transformations (e.g. of a nation) than the effects of any actual shift that has occurred in national economic and political structures. A further point worth noting here is the potential for ethnographic studies to contribute to an understanding of collective emotion. This could include when and how flags are displayed in a host country as this provides a basis upon which judgements of an emotional climate are formed. For example, the ubiquity of the German national colours from the beginning of the 2006 World Cup provided the grounds for social appraisals of an emotional transformation in the relationship between Germans and their nation. In contrast, interviews and observations of public viewing sites in South Africa during the 2010 World Cup by this author demonstrated widespread excitement and pride as people danced in the streets in the days immediately prior to the opening ceremony (specifically during a parade by the South African team in Johannesburg). With collective emotions comes the need to understand what could be called collective action tendencies: that is, how people perceive that they should act, what they should do and where they should congregate when celebrating specific successes. QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012

There is much further work that needs to be done to conceptualise and study collective emotion from a qualitative perspective. At the time of writing this article, an anticipated paradigmatic example would be the reaction in Jamaica if Usain Bolt were to win the 100 metre final on 5 August 2012. If this occurred it might then be the equivalent of the level of national attention that events like participation in the World Cup typically generate as one national competes symbolically with another and there is a temporary distraction from banal reality. In anticipating and studying such events what is still not clear is how these ‘time-bubbles of nationalism’, as Collins (2012) calls them, are experienced, expressed, and narrated at a national level. Collins uses the example of the American flag-display response to 9/11 and the revolutionary success of the Arab Spring as two examples of a ‘three-month solidarity-and-hysteria zone’ (p. 4) in which collective emotions have a peculiar timecourse and function. Collins’ examples include positive and negative features which are unlikely to apply to mainly positive and celebratory events such as the Olympics (whether for the host or for viewing nations) and his two examples includes waves of enthusiasm and solidarity as well as ‘... extreme collective attention upon a common identity and a shared danger that both precipitous ventures and violent atrocities are most likely to happen’ (p.4). Occasions such as Jamaican pride in a possible gold medal or enthusiasm throughout Britain due to Olympic sporting successes tend to be predominantly positive. However, a further feature (and hence the prediction of Bolt’s possible effect on his country) is that a positive outcome is not inevitable. This is why Collins uses the metaphor of the timebubble of collective emotion at the national level: Their coming is not expectable in any precise way, certainly nothing like the periodicity of sine waves; it may be a long time before another rocket goes up, another balloon is filled with similarly 37

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uplifting enthusiasm. That is why such moments in time have the emotional character of higher drama; both tragic and joyous surprise. There is another and deeper theoretical reason for this sense of uniquely high experience, besides their rarity and unpredictability. What happens inside the bubble is felt to be qualitatively different from ordinary life outside (p.4). It is this last feature of collective ‘timebubbles’ of nationalism that requires methods that can capture the complex dynamics of the event.

Conclusion There is considerable potential for qualitative research to contribute to the understanding of the individual, group-based and collective emotional responses to successful sporting performance. Examples of work were discussed that highlight the discursive nature of immediate and conversation-based expressions and displays of emotion in response to personal achievement. These examples of elite athlete achievements recognised complex social relations of support, identification and admiration that occur in many members of that athlete’s or team’s national group. Qualitative investigations of group sentiments conceived in terms

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other than nationalism or patriotism were introduced as a further way to explore the complex features that lead people to have ambivalent, mixed, and complex relationships to their own and other significant national groups. The multiple dilemmas that people experience in relation to their own, sometimes private, manifestations of public and collective emotional atmospheres were emphasised as a topic for further qualitative research. Finally, the hot-topic of collective emotion was briefly introduced with a focus on the spread of shared feelings of positive emotion in response to successful elite athletic performances and simply in relation to the successful delivery of host nation responsibilities. Suggestions for further interdisciplinary sport, emotion and national identity research included studies that use and, potentially, combine interviews, discursive research and ethnographic observations.

Correspondence Dr Gavin Brent Sullivan School of Social, Psychological and Communication Sciences, Leeds Metropolitan University. Email: [email protected]



References ASAP Sports (2005). US Open Championship 19 June. Retrieved 12 July 2008, from: www.asapsports.com/show_interview.php?id=2428. Billig, M. (1995). Banal nationalism. London: Sage. Collins, R. (2012). Time-bubbles of nationalism: Dynamics of solidarity ritual in lived time. Nations and Nationalism. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8129.2001.00530.x Condor, S. (2000). Pride and prejudice: Identity management in English people’s talk about ‘this country’. Discourse & Society, 11, 175–205. Culver, D.M., Gilbert, W.D. & Trudel, P. (2003). A decade of qualitative research in sport psychology journals: 1990–1999. Sport Psychologist, 17, 1–15. Dixon, J. & Condor, S. (2011). Emotions, identities and the ‘collective’ dimension of everyday affective experiences: A response to Baldacchino. Ethnicities, 11, 116. Ehala, M. (2011). Hot and cold ethnicities: Modes of Ethnolinguistic Vitality. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 32, 187–200. Hooper, H., Burwitz, L. & Hodkinson, P. (2003). Exploring the benefits of a broader approach to qualitative research in sport psychology: A tale of two, or three, James. Forum Qualitative Social, 4. Retrieved 20 July 2010, from: www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/ article/view/748/1620 Kersting, N. (2007). Sport and national identity: A comparison of the 2006 and 2010 FIFA World CupsTM. Politikon, 34, 277–293. Luhtanen, R. & Crocker, J. (1992). A collective selfesteem scale: Self-evaluation of one’s social identity. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 18, 302–318. Machado, A. & Silva, F.J. (2007). Toward a richer view of the scientific method: The role of conceptual analysis. American Psychologist, 62, 671–681. Männing, W. & Du Plessis, S. (2007). World Cup 2010: South African economic perspectives and policy challenges informed by the experience of Germany 2006. Contemporary Economic Policy, 25, 578–590.


Mascolo, M.F. (2009). Wittgenstein and the discursive analysis of emotion. New Ideas in Psychology, 27, 258–274. McGraw, A.P, Mellors, B.A. & Tetlock, P.E. (2005). Expectations and emotions of Olympic athletes. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 41, 438–446 Parkinson, B. (2011). How social is the social psychology of emotion? British Journal of Social Psychology, 50, 405–413. Sullivan, G.B. (2007). A critical psychology of pride. International Journal of Critical Psychology, 21, 166–189. Sullivan, G.B. (2009). Germany during the 2006 World Cup: The role of television in creating a national narrative of pride and ‘party patriotism’. In E. Castelló, A. Dhoest & H. O’Donnell (Eds.), The nation on screen: Discourses of the national in global television. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Press. Sullivan, G.B. (2011a). A complex case of pride: Expressive behaviour, mixed emotions and the discursive analysis of emotion. In A. FreitasMagalhães (Ed.), Emotional expression: The brain and the face (Vol. 3). Oporto: University Fernando Pessoa Press. Sullivan, G.B. (2011b). Emotional foundationalism? Critical remarks on a phenomenologicalpsychoanalytic account of ethno-national identity. Ethnicities, 11, 123–130. Thrift, N. (2004). Intensities of feeling: Towards a spatial politics of affect. Geografiska Annaler, 86, 57–78. Tracy, J.L. & Matsumoto, D. (2008). The spontaneous display of pride and shame: Evidence for biologically innate non-verbal displays. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105, 11655–11660. Tracy, J.L. & Robins, R.W. (2004). Show your pride: Evidence for a discrete emotion expression. Psychological Science, 15, 194–197. Waitt, G. (2003). Social impacts of the Sydney Olympics. Annals of Tourism Research, 30, 194–215.

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‘There will always be a part of you that longs to return’: The usefulness of photo elicitation in exploring experiences of an Ironman triathlon Caroline Wakefield & Sal Watt This study draws on an approach of creative analytic practice to investigate the achievement of completing an Iron Man triathlon through photo elicitation. Seven selected photographs formed the basis of a participant reflection, particularly focusing on the representation and symbolisation of the photographs in relation to the participant’s experiences. Five key premises emerged from the participant’s reflection; life-changing event, personal challenge, sense of achievement, change in well-being and sense of loss. These are discussed in relation to the use of photo elicitation as a visual method of capturing real-life lived experiences. Future research is needed to further examine the under-researched qualitative element of Iron Man triathlons and other endurance events.

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HE IRONMAN TRIATHLON, devised in the 1980s, is becoming increasingly popular amongst amateur athletes. This event usually consists of a 3.8km swim, 180km cycle, and a 42.2km run, and is designed to ‘test the limits of human endurance’ (McCarville, 2007, p.160). Several research studies have investigated the phenomenon of this endurance event quantitatively both from a physiological (Kimber et al., 2002; Sharwood et al., 2004; Speedy et al., 2001) and psychological (Baker, Deakin & Cote, 2005) perspective. However, despite the large investment of time needed to prepare for the event, few studies (e.g. Granskog, 2003) have been conducted examining the meaning of experience to triathletes, with even fewer specifically focusing on the Ironman event. One such paper (McCarville, 2007) investigated this event from a qualitative approach. This autoethnographic account charts the author’s own personal involvement completing an Ironman event. McCarville (2007, p.159) identified this method as one that ‘unites’ ethnography 40

with the autobiographical; it allows both an outward vision of the world while at the same time, an ‘inward story of oneself’. The present study also deals with the personal reflections of an Ironman’s experience but takes a slightly different approach which draws on creative analytic practice, photo elicitation and more specifically the participant’s reflections on achieving Ironman status. Defining Creative Analytic Practice is necessarily linked to ethnography and different ways of writing and interpretative styles in the social sciences (cf. Richardson, 2000). Creative analytic practice draws on many creative practices, which can include poetry, drama, autoethnography, fiction stories, satire, and visual representations, to name but a few. Creative analytic practice acknowledges the complexity of lived experience and the difficulties in accurately representing such experience (Parry & Johnson, 2007; Richardson, 2000; Schwandt, 2001). Instead, creative analytic practice seeks to locate the reflections of participants within their own personal, social, political and QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012 © The British Psychological Society

‘There will always be a part of you that longs to return’

cultural context; those contexts that derive meaning and practices that best represent the lived realities of those involved. Behar (2007, p.16) suggests that more generally qualitative research gives voice to those voices ‘that often go unheard’. Creative analytic practice offers the opportunity to make clear such voices through lived experience and reflection. The objective of critical analytic practice is, then, not to interpret data and link or reduce it down to generalisable theory, but to collaborate with participants so that their reflective accounts of real life and everyday experiences are socially and culturally relevant and, importantly, representative (Parry & Johnson, 2007; Richardson, 2000; Schwandt, 2001). This study focuses on photography; selected photographs taken by the researcher of the Ironman triathlon event, followed by photo elicitation. Photo elicitation is a process whereby the participant is asked to reflect on the memories, thoughts and feelings that are evoked while looking at a photograph. Harper (2002, p.13) defines photo elicitation as a QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012

‘simple idea of inserting a photograph into a research interview’ and it is a method that has been used in several research studies (e.g. Hurdley, 2007). This combination of participant account and meaningful images provides understanding and resolves difficulty in recall as ‘memory is served by visually reviewing a photograph’ (Sands, 2002, p.77). This is crucial as, due to the particular endurance nature of the Ironman event and the degree of focus required, useful information may be lost without photographic representation of the various stages of the event. Collier and Collier (1999, p.5) further point out that ‘the critical eye of the camera is an essential tool in gathering accurate visual information’. Harper (2002, p.13) interestingly takes this a step further suggesting that visual stimuli are processed in evolutionarily older parts of the brain and as such ‘images evoke deeper elements of the human consciousness than do words’. This suggests the potential to evoke what might otherwise be lost memories. The process of taking and representing photographs for research purposes is extremely 41

Caroline Wakefield & Sal Watt

complex and can be problematic. It is described by Hurdley (2007, p.360) as ‘culturally bounded methods of collecting, storing and displaying the ‘rememberable’’. Indeed, Banks (2001, p.7) refers to photographs as ‘the products of specific intentionality’, highlighting the role of the photographer in deciding what and how to capture images (see also Pink, 2001). Rose (2001, p.2) rightly points out that, ‘interpreting images is just that, interpretation, not the discovery of their ‘truth’’. The aim of this study was to investigate the use of photo elicitation and employ significant photographs as a framework that facilitated the participant’s narrative account, providing insight into his unique experience of completing an Ironman triathlon.

Method The participant was a 30-year-old male trainee medical professional who was completing his first Ironman triathlon, and was known to the researchers through social connection. The study was conducted at the UK Ironman flagship event in Bolton, in July

2011. As the participant took part in the event, one of the researchers recorded the event at various stages using a series of photographs. Ethical approval was granted by the Department ethics committee prior to the commencement of the study. Fully informed consent was obtained from the participant for the use of the reflective accounts. Both individuals featured in the photographs gave full informed consent for the use of their image in the study. All photographs were taken with the intent of recording the individual participant’s journey. Out of the 252 photographs taken charting the experience, seven were chosen by the researchers which best represented the final achievement of the Ironman event. Selection of the photographs was made by the researchers in order that images of the challenge appeared to depict and were evocative of salient moments of achievement. In collaboration with the participant, the selection was made as most typically representative of defining moments. However, his one request was that

Figure 1: Data process.

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the first image be in black and white, simply because he preferred its symbolic profundity. These photographs then formed the basis of a process of photo elicitation. The participant was asked to examine the selected photographs and to take some time to reflect on the content before writing his narrative thoughts and emotions on the representation of the images, specifically in respect of achievement. The reflections of the participant were captured in this way as opposed to other means to allow for quiet time reflection. We believe this distance elicited a more personal account. The purpose of this process was for the images to ‘evoke deeper elements of human consciousness’ than words (Harper, 2002, p.13). The participant was requested to use the final photograph as a tool to reflect on the experience and his achievement six months after the event. Initially we anticipated conducting a thematic analysis on the participant’s reflections. However, given their richness and eloquence, to deconstruct his words would have taken away the meaning and context of the account. Although unorthodox, we considered that the narrative illustrated perfectly his lived experiences. From his reflections the researchers derived five key premises using the framework in Figure 1.

Results Seven photographs were chosen that particularly signify a sense of achievement and symbolise the pushing of performance boundaries. The photographs are shown below alongside the participant’s interpretation of what the photograph represents in relation to his achievement. Photograph 1 was taken at the beginning of the race, as the participant was waiting to enter the water for the swim. ‘I love this photo! I remember this was the point when the race was about to become real, Almost a year’s training, talking and apprehension was almost over. It was almost a relief to get the goggles on and get in the water. Ironman had become my ‘identity’ for the last year without QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012

Photograph 1 actually having completed it! To get to the start line feeling fresh and uninjured was a huge relief. I didn’t sleep well the night before and so was quite tired (but also wired) when this (photograph) was taken. There was such an energy in the starting pack that you couldn’t help but feel charged. I had spent so long thinking about how I was going to approach the 43


race and so I was just reminding myself to do nothing stupid. The glory was in the finish for me, I just needed to shut out the speed and anticipation around me. I was also very keen that I was going to enjoy the day, that was high on my agenda. There was no reason to be too serious and I wanted to stay true to that. I love this photo because I feel I can see myself reminding myself of my basic game plan. In short what you see there is a mixture of relief, anticipation, excitement, happiness and pure nerves.’ Photographs 2 and 3 were taken at the end of the race; approaching and crossing the finishing line. ‘I don’t remember hearing “You are an Ironman” but I do remember almost seeing my training life flash before my eyes. All those solitary miles with their ups and a few massive downs came flooding back. I had never trained so hard for so long for anything and here it was happening. That line was a special moment for me and one for many reasons I’ll never forget. The training (and subsequent completion) was

without doubt one of my proudest moments in life and one that I will always draw strength from. Running towards that line was a profoundly beautiful experience. Wow, I actually did it! I had been imagining that moment for a few months after I had seen the footage from the year before. With about 10 miles to go I started to plan how I was going to cross the line. I wanted to really enjoy it! As I collected my final wrist band with three miles to go I had already started celebrating. I let out a huge whoop and yelled hard. From there it was all downhill (literally) and I knew the finish was mine. In those 3 miles I just relaxed and felt ecstatic. I told anyone who’d listen that I was on my way to the line and they were so supportive. As I got let through the gate it all goes a bit blurry. I just felt so light on my feet and all the power came back into my body. I had to slow myself down to not finish too quick! Hitting the red carpet was fantastic, I didn’t care about the time. What I loved most was that I had the moment to myself, there were no others around at the time to cross with me.’

Photograph 2

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Photograph 3


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Photographs 4 and 5 were taken after the race was finished and celebrating with his girlfriend. ‘Haha, I was all over the place in these photos. Suddenly after 12 hours of movement I was relatively still. Once over the line they give you a medal and a massage. This photo was quite soon after the finish and I was a bit dazed to be honest. I knew I wanted to find Amy (my amazingly supportive girlfriend who really helped make this possible) and great friends who had been such unbelievable hosts over the weekend. One of the key lessons I learnt from my IM (Ironman) experience was that accepting help and support is a vital part of achieving your goals in life and we musn’t ever be too proud to not let others in on our ambitions. Once I started accepting help and advice for my training from more and more people the more special the race became. I realised that as individual as we want to be in life, achieving anything without our friends and family is almost impossible. ‘No man is an island’ as the famous poem goes, and I felt I had really learnt that from the overall experience.

I was so happy and relieved at this point (if not a little confused). A major life ambition had been completed and one that took a lot of time, effort, planning and motivation to achieve. I was just buzzing. Soon after I just crashed and sat eating protein bars in silence waiting for a massage. At that moment though, there was no pain, no sad thoughts, no negativity. In an amazing way I just felt totally at ease with the world and myself. I felt incredibly grateful for all the fantastic people I knew who had supported me and to my own body which had carried me through. I think it would be fair to say that in those few hours after finishing I had no fear of the world. There’s something about doing an event like this which gives you a confidence that I don’t think anyone or anything can ever take away from you. These photos remind me exactly of that.’

Photograph 4 46



Photograph 5 QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012

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Photograph 6 was taken on the evening of the event, five hours after completion. ‘This was a fun photo. We went back to see the last person cross that line at 11.00 p.m. and then the place quickly cleared, almost like the event had never happened. This gave a great opportunity to do some fun and different shots with no one around. This one I feel is significant because it represents the beginning of the realisation of the achievement. The slogan “Anything is Possible” is a great one and one that I truly subscribe to. I was never the greatest growing up at sport but I loved it. If someone had met me at 15 and told

me I was going to do something like this, no one would have paid them any attention. What I think means so much to me about this achievement is how hard I had to work for it. Some training sessions were horrific and living with a feeling of being generally shattered became quite a bind after a while. This was a lovely moment to start savouring what had happened, being late at night and without anyone else there gave it an added sense of intimacy. To know in myself that I could look up at that poster and agree with it was a great feeling.’

Photograph 6 48



Photograph 7 was taken on the morning of the event, as the participant was preparing to take part. The participant was asked to reflect on this photograph and its meaning, six months after the event. ‘This flag has a slight dream like quality to it, probably similar to how the memories feel towards the day. Lots of thoughts and emotions since then which has probably been as interesting as the build up to it. Where to start? It’s actually been quite a strange six months since finishing. I was exhausted after so didn’t go near any triathlon stuff for the first month (I went trekking and climbing in Peru instead). One thing about doing all this that they don’t warn you about is that you’ll really know what being ‘fit’ means again. After preparing so hard to then training every now and again you suddenly feel that all your hard earned fitness is drifting away. It isn’t really as I don’t think you ever lose the base that you had developed but it does all feel a bit confusing. Having a ‘life’ back has been great in many ways, enjoying friends/family and not feeling under so much pressure to use any free time to get fitter is definitely good, although there always remains a nagging feeling that you should be doing something. Part of me has toyed with doing another (but it’s quite expensive to justify as a student) out of a need to have another goal. Nothing yet has come up to fill the void so there are days where you actually feel a bit lost without it hanging over you. However, apart from that, you can’t help but feel proud when people ask you about it, you see photos again or an odd memory. As I mentioned, there is confidence that having done it gives you that is always there. Knowing that I’ve done such a thing is a great resource to draw on. I also learnt a lot about myself and my body from the training. I now rarely drink and my diet has improved incredibly since I began training. I have tried to continue this and feel that I am still reaping the benefits. I feel mentally as sharp as I have ever done and never that tired after standard exercise. QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012

Photograph 7 In short I feel like the experience has given me so much, however ironically it does act as a bit of a curse. Climbing any mountain is always brutal and you find yourself cursing the decision for exposing yourself to such a tough experience. However as soon as you are back at base camp in the warm and comfort and look admiringly back the summit, there will always be a part of you that longs to return…’ 49


Discussion As visual researchers have already identified (Collier & Collier, 1999; Sands, 2002), this study illustrates that photographs can serve as highly useful tools in facilitating events and related reflective thoughts and feelings. The extent to which people normally reflect can be problematic due to lapsed memory, time delays and other problems related to recall. In this instance, photo elicitation, the use of photographs to supplement interviews or reflection, has successfully captured images of the Ironman event, thus reducing the tendency to simply interpret at the risk of losing the true essence of how the participant experienced this challenge. As researchers external to the competition, however, the reflective account revolves around five key premises. Without question, the Ironman challenge has been a life changing event for the participant. Reporting prior to completing the event, he says the ‘Ironman had become my identity for the last year without actually having completed it’ and in anticipation of the outcome the participant repeatedly expresses his desire to ‘enjoy the day’ of the event. He says, this ‘was high on my agenda’ as he anticipated the finish and that the ‘glory was in the finish for me’. On the last lap of his challenge his heightened sense of achievement is tangible as he explains, ‘With about 10 miles to go I started to plan how I was going to cross the line’ and again the need to ‘really enjoy it’. A sense of personal challenge is evident in his words, ‘the finish was mine … I told anyone who’d listen that I was on my way to the line’. Conversely, he explains what he ‘loved the most was that I had the moment to myself’ while his training life flashed before his eyes. However, this demonstrates a tension between the need for isolation and to enjoy the moment at a personal level but also the need to share the elation with the supporting crowd. The participant’s reflection expresses an immense sense of achievement. He states, ‘the training (and subsequent completion) was 50

without doubt one of my proudest moments in life and one that I will always draw strength from’. Evocatively he describes how ‘running towards that line was a profoundly beautiful experience’ and ‘the beginning of the realisation of the achievement’. Recognising how hard he trained, he allowed himself ‘to start savouring what had happened’, which ‘gave it an added sense of intimacy,’ again indicating his sense of personal achievement. Even six months after the event he ‘can’t help but feel proud when people ask about it’. However, there is clear acknowledgement that an immense amount of support assisted him in achieving the challenge and he accepts that ‘help and support is a vital part of achieving your goals in life’. Similarly, McCarville (2007) highlights how family and friends, particularly those not involved in the training, became a secondary consideration. Indeed, this added to his sense of achievement as ‘once I started accepting help and advice from more and more people the more special the race became’. The participant reveals a relatively permanent change in well-being, with numerous references to increased confidence; a psychological contentment that made him feel ‘totally at ease with the world’ and himself. He expresses his gratitude to those people who supported him but also to his ‘own body which had carried (him) through’. The gravity with which he expresses this is palpable in the comment, ‘I had no fear of the world’. This concurs with the account of McCarville (2007, p.159) who described that his own Ironman ‘represents an effort to escape the ordinary within defined, but extreme, limits’. Six months on, the participant still describes pride in his achievement but this is coupled with a sense of loss. While he no longer feels under so much pressure, he expresses a ‘nagging feeling that (he) should be doing something’ and ‘a need to have another goal’. This sense of loss is emotionally evident when he states that ‘you suddenly feel that all your hard earned QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012


fitness is drifting away’ reflecting on his achievement as a ‘bit of a curse’ but one where ‘there will always be a part of you that longs to return’. As highlighted by McCarville (2007, p.172), the Ironman provides an opportunity to escape from everyday living, an ‘escape that made such moments so special’. This may provide an explanation for the sense of loss felt upon completion, as this ‘escape’ diminishes. Photo elicitation is a powerful tool in combining reflection and visual images. However, it also has its limitations. For example, Sands (2002, p.78) points out that ‘the objectivity assigned to film or video is predicated on the fieldworker’s selection of events and situations to capture on film and his or her decisions about which ones provide the most detail or information’. In the present study, the participant reflected on a selection of images chosen by the researchers. However, in future work it may be beneficial for the participant to select the images from the entire set, before completing the reflection. As noted by Hurdley (2007), it would be interesting to see how the photographs may differ when taken by the participant as opposed to the researcher. Additionally, Collier and Collier (1999, p.10) point out that ‘photographs are precise records of material reality’. However, the photographs in this study were taken from a perspective external to the participant: a spectator perspective. Future work could consider using first person perspective photographs to ensure that the participant reflects on the material reality of their participation, rather than the spectator viewpoint.


Conclusion The study allowed the Ironman event to be captured using the subjective reflection of one participant. Six months after the event, the participant makes the point that his memories of the event sometimes have a ‘dream like quality’, but through using the images as material reality during subsequent reflection, the participant verified that these aided his recall, thus concurring with previous research (Harper, 2002; Sands, 2002). Indeed, ‘Most photographs are a minute time-sample – a hundredth-of-asecond slice of reality’ (Collier & Collier, 1999, p.13). Therefore this indicates that there is more reflection needed about the wider experience, but that the photographs chosen represent an evocative seven moments in the 12 hour, 9 minute and 10 second journey of one Ironman’s achievement.

Acknowledgement We would like to acknowledge the participant not only for his open and honest account of his achievement but for permission to use the images herein.

Correspondence Caroline J. Wakefield & Sal Watt Liverpool Hope University. Email: [email protected]

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References Baker, J., Cote, J. & Deakin, J. (2005). Expertise in ultra-endurance triathletes’ early sport involvement, training structure, and the theory of deliberate practice. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 17, 64–78. Banks, M. (2001). Visual methods in social research. London: Sage. Behar, R. (2003). Ethnography and the book that was lost. Ethnography, 4, 15–39. Collier, J., & Collier, M. (1999). Visual anthropology: Photography as a research method. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press. Granskog, J. (2003). Just ‘tri’ and ‘du’: The variable impact of female involvement in the triathlon/ duathlon sport culture. In A. Bolin & J. Granskog, (Eds.), Athletic intruders: Ethnographicresearch on women, culture, and exercise (pp.27–52). New York: State University of New York Press. Harper, D. (2002). Talking about pictures: A case of photo elicitation. Visual Studies, 17, 13–26. Kimber, N.E., Ross, J.J., Mason, S.L. & Speedy, D.B. (2002). Energy balance during an ironman triathlon in male and female triathletes. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 12, 47–62. Hurdley, R. (2007). Focal points: Framing material culture and visual data. Sociology, 7, 355–374. Holloway, I., Brown, L., & Shipway, R. (2010). Meaning not measurement: Using ethnography to bring a deeper understanding to the participant experience of festivals and events. International Journal of Event and Festival Management, 1, 74–85.

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McCarville, R. (2007). From a fall in the mall to a run in the sun: One journey to Ironman Triathlon. Leisure Science, 29, 159–173. Parry, D.C. & Johnson, C.W. (2007). Contextualising leisure research to encompass complexity in lived leisure experience: The need for Creative Analytic Practice. Leisure Studies, 29, 119–130. Pink, S. (2001) Doing visual ethnography. London: Sage. Richardson, L. (2000). Writing: A method of inquiry. In N.K. Denzin & Y.S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (2nd ed.). London: Sage. Rose, G. (2001).Visual methodologies. London: Sage. Sands, R.R. (2002). Sport ethnography. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Scarles, C. (2010). Where words fail, visuals ignite: Opportunities for visual autoethnography in tourism research. Annals of Tourism Research, 37, 905–926. Schwandt, T. (2001). Dictionary of qualitative inquiry (2nd ed.) Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Sharwood, K., Collins, M., Goedecke, J., Wilson, G. & Noakes, T. (2004). Weight changes, medical complications, and performance during an Ironman triathlon. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 38, 718–724. Speedy, D.B., Noakes, T.D., Kimber, N.E., Rogers, I.R., Thompson, J.M., Boswell, D.R., Ross, J.J., Campbell, R.G., Gallagher, P.G. & Kuttner, J.A. (2001). Fluid balance during and after an Ironman triathlon, Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine, 11, 44–50.


Methodological Paper

Reflecting on the use of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis with focus groups Jenny Mercer Focus groups are a popular method of data collection within qualitative psychology, but have not been widely employed for phenomenological approaches such as Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). It could be suggested that the presence of others will constrain individual accounts, leaving focus groups unsuitable for this type of research. However, this paper presents some arguments in favour of using this method. Drawing from examples of published research, I shall discuss the reasons why focus groups can be useful, how a researcher might engage with post hoc data checks, and raise points to consider in relation to analysis and presentation of findings. It is acknowledged that this complex research setting presents many challenges and perhaps it is time to develop a specific set of guidelines to account for experiential accounts captured in a group context.

T

HE GROWTH OF Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) as a qualitative approach has been well documented in recent years (e.g. Brocki & Wearden, 2006; Reid et al., 2005; Smith, 2011). Although the most popular applied area for IPA publications has been health psychology, the range of topics for which IPA has been used is vast. The same cannot be said for the ways in which the data has been collected. Despite the acknowledgement that researchers also use diaries, focus groups and internet communication (Reid et al., 2005; Smith et al., 2009), the semi-structured interview remains the gold standard. Its popularity has been evidenced and quantified in Brocki and Weardon’s (2006) review of IPA within health psychology, which identified that 46 out of 52 published IPA articles used semistructured interviews. The following discussion considers focus groups as an alternative data collection tool. I have specifically chosen this method as it raises some challenges for phenomenological research. It could be argued that it is counter intuitive to seek information about the individual’s lived experience in a group setting. However, a small


corpus of studies which have utilised this approach is beginning to emerge, together with the publication in 2010 of two papers discussing how to conduct analysis on group data by Tomkins and Eatough, and Palmer et al. Such publications suggest that focus groups might not be at odds with the ontological stance of phenomenology. My own interest in IPA and focus groups began when I first became involved in such research in 2006 (before the ‘how to’ papers were published). Responses to a paper submitted for journal publication led me to consider the topic area further and present papers about focus groups at two IPA conferences. I have, therefore, debated with others, reflected upon the process and gathered papers as they emerge using this approach. My purpose in writing this paper is to share some of these reflections by drawing attention to key points to bear in mind if contemplating similar work. Within this context, the aims of this paper are to discuss the potential of the focus groups as a data gathering tool for IPA studies, and to consider some of the inherent challenges involved in analysing and presenting such accounts. 53

Jenny Mercer

Is a focus group suitable for IPA research? IPA seeks to gather in depth information about each participant’s lived experience of phenomena, so it could be argued that a group situation might not be fit for purpose here. A group forum might discourage people from talking openly about their own experiences. A writer whose work I have found useful to illustrate how focus groups can facilitate sound individual data is Wilkinson (1998, 2008). Though essentially writing from a discursive stance, Wilkinson’s position is based on extensive experience of focus group research and I feel many of her arguments are also of relevance for phenomenological enquiry. For instance, she contends that a focus group represents a naturalistic setting for individuals to discuss their experiences, arguing that the flow of a conversation, sometimes leading to debate and disagreement, can lead to rich data as different angles on the topic are considered (Wilkinson, 1998, 2008). It seems pertinent to acknowledge that the conventions of a semi-structured interview would not facilitate such discussion, as the interviewer by the very nature of their role is positioned more neutrally than participants in a focus group. It is not an interviewer’s place to disagree with accounts provided by participants, or to challenge their answers in this way. So focus groups might offer the scope to pursue an additional line of discussion not often seen in the interview. The purposive sampling typically utilised in IPA research necessitates that participants have experience of the topic under discussion. Kidd and Parshall (2000) note that in contrast to an individual interview, focus groups offer an environment for individuals to discuss experiences and reactions with presumed peers who are likely to share some common frame of reference. I draw on a brief example of focus group research from a project I have recently been working on with women who are survivors of domestic violence. 54

Extract 1 G: …and it’s not until you start listening to other people, I mean people coming in with our work now, and I think ‘we got…they were cloned. They are.’ And this is why I say they’ve gotta be a certain type of person and could we identify them earlier? K: Do you find that it is quite independent women? S: Yes. I wonder how the opportunity for such a conversation could have arisen if the same middle aged female researcher, with no history of domestic violence, had conducted interviews with each participant individually. As the conversation developed, participants disclosed accounts detailing incidents which had occurred within their previous relationships and how they felt at the time. They appeared to be attempting to make sense of their experiences. In a similar vein, Wilkinson (1998) suggests that enhanced disclosure can occur amongst a group, and discusses a number of further ways in which a focus group can provide access to individuals’ own meanings (e.g. enabling the participant to follow their own agenda, facilitating the researcher’s access to observe their own language and concepts). For Wilkinson, the interactive nature of a focus group is seen as an advantage. Such arguments suggest that this context could be well suited for gaining access to participants’ life worlds. One point which needs to be acknowledged is that a researcher will not gather as much information about each individual in a single focus group as would be possible in interviews. On a practical level, a four-person focus group is unlikely to last as long as conducting four individual interviews. A focus group might, then, allow for comparatively fewer questions to be discussed. The dynamics of the group could also lead to a certain line of enquiry being pursued (or conversely shut down) which might not have been the main focus of the individual interview. Clearly, contextual factors need to be acknowledged. QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012

Reflecting on the use of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis with focus groups

However, literature on focus groups such as that cited above provides convincing evidence that elaborate accounts of individual experiences can be gathered in this setting, indicating that they can be useful environments for conducting IPA research. What it does not tell us, though, is how a researcher might decide between extracts which illustrate an individual account and those more reflective of a group. Within the published IPA literature various methods of addressing this have been used. For example, when discussing the accounts given in focus groups with women with Hepatitis C, Dunne and Quayle (2001) acknowledge their belief that participants gave ‘essentially the same account of their experiences and concerns if interviewed singly, rather than as part of a focus group’ (Dunne & Quayle, 2001, p.681). This conclusion was reached by having a co-moderator observing the session to establish if the group dynamics influenced the focus on the topic under discussion in a negative way, and also by listening back to the tone and content of the taped discussion. In this case they felt they did not; however, if any sections had been so influenced, they would have discarded them from the analysis. Participants also knew each other and were members of a regional action group, a further factor which was seen as reducing the probability of the group dynamics impinging on the discussion of what was essentially an important issue for these women. The authors state that ‘Focus group members’ position as ‘stakeholders’ vis a vis the matter being discussed makes it likely that in general they will be more concerned with topic related issues than with the groups’ dynamics per se’ (p.681). Smith (2004) offers a check for establishing if the group dynamic has affected the account given. When considering whether the data is appropriately experiential he suggests the transcript is parsed more than once, encouraging researchers to look for both idiographic accounts and evidence of group patterns. If the researcher then QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012

believes that participants offered sufficient personal accounts, ‘despite the presence of the group’ (Smith, 2004, p.51), an IPA analysis can ensue. I draw on two extracts taken from research with Filipino and British hospice nurses (Mercer & Feeney, 2009) to illustrate this further: Extract 2: B: They (British staff) dwell on that for a long time and we’ve seen people suffering from, you know, depression…it’s not that we’re taking it, um, differently from your, from, from the others you know, it’s just like, it’s just that we don’t want to be leaving the (hospice)… P: when we go out the building, it’s out B&P: Out of our system L: That’s it, we laugh about it and that’s it, we move on to the next day Extract 3: J: the whole death dying process is less of a mystery for me now, and em I’m okay with that, and it’s answered quite a few questions…there is closure for us M: I still try not to think of death if I’m not here…I think knowing the process…doesn’t really help me really…I just think as little as I can P: As I’m getting older I am thinking about it more, like my own mortality, and having lost my parents, I do think one died suddenly at home and one was cancer and palliative care, and the one that died suddenly was far easier to cope with than knowing what was gonna happen… Notice the shift in language between the two extracts from ‘we’ to ‘I’. If I were to employ Smith’s (2004) technique the first might be problematic. In Extract 1, participants are providing accounts of how they react to death, but seem to be doing so at a group level. The use of ‘we’ positions themselves as Filipino nurses who are different from British nurses. The comments, although relating to their personal reactions, are being articulated as something all group 55

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members do. Extract 2, in contrast, illustrates three different participants sharing individual accounts about how they experience death. One can be more confident that this should be retained. Some elect to conduct both focus groups and semi-structured interviews within the same piece of research. Flowers et al.’s (2000) IPA study of how the risk of HIV was managed amongst gay men employed both methods, arguing that they would yield different data. The focus group was positioned as offering a public forum for a debate of related issues, whilst the interviews would facilitate a more personal disclosure. Although this justification was offered in the method section of the paper, the findings were presented around the same key themes and no differentiation between public and individual disclosures were made. One wonders if, retrospectively, a clear difference was evidenced between accounts given in the different contexts. Another example is de Visser and Smith’s (2007) study of masculinity and drinking, where the authors sought to differentiate between shared accounts (in a focus group) and individual accounts (in an interview). The idea was that the two could be presented as complementary, with the interview facilitating subjective individual accounts whilst the shared social ideologies about drinking and masculinity could be gleaned from the focus groups. In retrospect, such a neat divide did not happen. Participants spoke about shared and individual accounts in both contexts. The authors found that similar themes emerged from both methods of data collection and their findings were combined. Although thematic analysis was originally selected for the analysis of the group interviews and IPA for the individual interviews, the published account describes using similar broad analytic techniques for both. Any differences between the two are not identified within the presentation of the results. Garraway and Pistrang’s (2010) paper on the role of mentoring African-Caribbean 56

adolescents used focus groups as the main method of data collection, with participants being asked to volunteer for individual interviews afterwards if they wished. The authors’ concerns were that some participants may feel uncomfortable talking in a group situation. However, analysis revealed that similar findings emerged from the focus groups and the individual interviews and both sets of data were merged in the write up. Such studies problematise the idea that an ‘individual’ phenomenological account can only be gained from an interview, whilst a more ‘social’ or group level account might be gathered in a focus group setting. There is also a danger in doing so that the two contexts are positioned as facilitators of mutually exclusive phenomena. As de Visser and Smith (2007) have illustrated, this is misplaced. The aforementioned interviews and focus groups provided access to both types of information, which leaves one with no strong reason to discredit a focus group as a way of finding out about an individual’s experience. Palmer et al. (2010, p.99) raise a similar point when discussing hermeneutic phenomenological psychology, with which IPA is aligned, stating: ‘Our-being in the world is always perspectival and always ‘in-relation-to’ something.’ Phenomenological enquiry, therefore, is both intersubjective and relational, something which a focus group and an interview might capture. The ‘individual’ life world is not constructed and experienced in a vacuum and the interview and focus group should not be viewed as either/or with one collecting the individual accounts and the other those which are social. It seems to me that the issue is not one of if the individual life world can be accessed in a group situation, but how. To some extent this is in the hands of the researcher, ensuring that a focus group is sufficiently well facilitated to allow people to have a voice and not let one or two participants dominate. Another important issue is the composition of the group. The purposive QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012


sampling procedure needs to be tight enough to ensure that the group environment is one where people with experiences of shared phenomena can come together. Then, as Dunne and Quayle’s (2003) study illustrated, the focus will hopefully be on the subject of the research rather than the other participants in the room. However, it is important to acknowledge that a focus group is a more complex endeavour than the semi-structured interview. Any decision to use focus groups should be based on a clear rationale that is articulated within the write up of the research. For example Garroway and Pistrang (2010) elected to use focus groups because they felt they would be less intimidating than individual interviews for the adolescents in their study. The choice is further justified by the fact that this would not be an alien environment for participants. Attending group sessions was an integral part of the mentoring scheme under discussion. Familiarity with the group setting is also highlighted in Mercer and Feeney’s (2009) study of hospice nurses, where group meetings were a regular feature of their job. The authors acknowledge that the nature of the job itself and the context of the research meant that participants were a pre-established group, again making the focus group an appropriate method of data collection for this study.

Analysing the focus group with IPA The discussion so far has largely focussed on the context of focus groups. The next point to be considered is more process based, considering analysis. Can the existing guidelines be used, or is an adapted version required when faced with analysis of one transcript containing a number of different peoples’ accounts? Smith (2004) emphasises that ‘guidelines’ are presented for adaptation, not rigid adherence, thus there is flexibility to adapt them for analysis of a group context. The guidelines often cited in published papers seem to be from edited books on qualitative methods (e.g. Smith & QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012

Osborn, 2003) and a corpus of IPA studies exists as evidence that the guidelines are being used in a similar fashion, rather than adapted. Whilst it seems that experiential data can be gleaned from a group setting, it would be naïve to suggest that it will be exactly the same as that in an interview. Therefore, to present and analyse it in the same way could be viewed as ignoring the contextual features within which the data was collected. This also represents a failure to acknowledge the more complex interactions which have taken place. Analysing multiple voices within a transcript necessitates a more detailed process. For this reason it seems pertinent to acknowledge that a further stage (or stages) of analysis to those employed in an interview is required. More recently, methodological papers exploring this process have begun to emerge. Palmer et al.’s (2010) paper is based on the analysis of focus group data of carers with people with mental health problems. In their analytic eight step protocol they illustrate how, having identified the main experiential concerns voiced, these might be located within an exploration of group and contextual factors. For example, questions are asked about topics such as the facilitators’ and participants’ positions, what the organisations and systems discussed mean to the participants, and how the accounts given within each group might relate across the groups. The authors caution readers to be aware that the nature of these questions arose from the requirements of analysing a particular data set; however, the type of questions asked are likely to be useful prompts for analytic reflection for other focus group settings. Another example is Tomkins and Eatough’s (2010) discussion of working with focus group data, who also suggest that the current practice of IPA requires some adaptation if applied to a group setting. Their account offers practical advice about the process of analysis as well as debate about the epistemological challenges raised by phenomenological work in a focus group 57

Jenny Mercer

setting. Again, the analytical procedure described is more complex than the ‘traditional’ guidelines, employing both top down and bottom up procedures. The terms ‘top down’ and ‘bottom up’ are not to be confused with deductive and inductive processes as they might typically be used. Instead, the initial top down analysis involves each participant’s accounts being highlighted separately, with the group context being ignored at this stage. The bottom up stage is used to re-visit the extracts in context, considering how the account was expressed and developed (e.g. in reaction to another person’s question or as a point on its own). Here any contribution of the group dynamics to the individual’s emerging account can be credited. The authors view such a systematic process as considering the individual and the group, rather than prioritising one over the other in the either/or manner which some previous papers seem to have done. Anyone considering employing a focus group approach would be advised to read both of these papers to inform their decision. It is evident that analysing a focus group with IPA is a complex procedure and probably not advisable for those new to the approach. I do wonder if, as the field develops further, a set of specific guidelines could be drawn up in order to acknowledge the different contexts within which the accounts were gathered, and the impact this might have had. I have also pondered whether researchers should take this a step further and give the approach a different name (my rather unimaginative suggestion being GrIPA, which stands for group IPA). I have also raised the point that a triple hermeneutic is at play in IPA analysis of a group - but that is a discussion for a different paper (Feeney & Mercer, 2008).

Presenting the findings The final area to consider is what the findings might look like. In some article s (e.g. Ayers & Foreshaw 2010; Jordan et al., 2007), findings are presented in a similar manner 58

to interview data, with isolated verbatim quotes appearing for individual participants rather than any extracts of ongoing conversation between group members. Others (e.g. de Visser & Smith, 2007; Flowers et al., 2000; Mercer & Feeney, 2009) present extracts of focus group discussion as well as individual extracts, which offers accounts that mirror more closely the context of the discussions that took place. Verbatim quotations play an important function in offering a transparent account of the construction of themes identified. If one is going to employ focus groups, it seems a shame to lose the context of the conversation.

Conclusions I hope that this article has highlighted that using IPA and focus groups is not an endeavour to be taken lightly. Both in terms of data collection and analysis the focus group represents a more complex endeavour than an individual interview. However, with sound design, a clear rationale for why the focus group has been selected, good facilitating skills and post hoc data checks, it does offer another method of gathering experiential data. A small corpus of literature now exists which offers examples of the type of groups, topics and research questions which might be suitable for this approach. Methodological papers provide a more detailed analysis of some of the inherent challenges involved both practically and epistemologically. They are an invaluable contribution to the field in terms of process. Whilst focus group data has been shown to be commensurate with individual interviews, it seems problematic to claim it will be exactly the same. The original guidelines written for IPA were presented for adaption and as the numbers of focus group studies grow it seems timely to develop some adapted guidelines which are fit for purpose. The ball has started rolling with the papers by Palmer et al. (2010) and Tomkins and Eatough (2010). It would be good to mainQMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012


tain such impetus with dialogue amongst researchers in this area. Hopefully this will facilitate the continued development of a group based IPA so that it can be established as another tool of phenomenological enquiry.

Correspondence Jenny Mercer Department of Applied Psychology, Cardiff Metropolitan University. Email: [email protected]

References Ayers, B. & Forshaw, M. (2010). An interpretative phenomenological analysis of the psychological ramifications of hand-arm vibration syndrome. Journal of Health Psychology, 15, 533–542. Brocki, J.M. & Weardon, A.J. (2006). A critical evaluation of the use of interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) in health psychology. Psychology and Health, 21, 87–108. de Visser, R.O. & Smith J.A. (2007). Alcohol consumption and masculine identity among young men. Psychology and Health, 22, 595–614. Dunne, E.A. & Quayle, E. (2001). The impact of iatrogenically acquired Hepatitis C infection on the well-being and relationships of a group of Irish women. Journal of Health Psychology, 6, 679– 692. Flowers, P., Duncan, B. & Frankis, J. (2000). Community, responsibility and culpability: HIV risk-management amongst Scottish gay men. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 10, 285–300. Garraway, H. & Pistrang, N. (2010). ‘Brother from another mother’: Mentoring for AfricanCaribbean adolescent boys. Journal of Adolescence, 33, 719–729. Jordan, A.L., Eccleston, C. & Osborne, M. (2007). Being a parent of the adolescent with complex chronic pain: An interpretative phenomenological analysis. European Journal of Pain, 11, 49–56. Kidd, P.S. & Parshall, M.B. (2000). Getting the focus and the group: Enhancing analytical rigour in focus group research. Qualitative Health Research, 10, 293–308. Mercer, J. & Feeney, J. (2008). Focus Groups and IPA: A match made in heaven or hell? Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Conference Brighton: Sussex University, 18–19 September.


Mercer, J. & Feeney, J. (2009). Representing death in psychology: Hospice nurses’ lived experiences. Mortality, 14, 245–264. Palmer, M., Larkin, M., deVisser, R. & Fadden, G. (2010). Developing an interpretative phenomenological approach to focus group data. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 7, 99–121. Reid, K., Flowers, P. & Larkin, M. (2005). Exploring lived experience. The Psychologist, 18, 20–23. Smith, J.A. (2004). Reflecting on the development of interpretative phenomenological analysis and its contribution to qualitative research in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 1, 39–54. Smith, J.A. (2011). Evaluating the contribution of interpretative phenomenological analysis. Health Psychology Review, 5, 9–27 Smith, J.A., Flowers, P. & Larkin, M. (2009). Interpretative phenomenological analysis: Theory, method and research. London: Sage. Smith, J.A. & Osborn, M. (2003). Interpretative phenomenological analysis. In J.A. Smith (Ed.), Qualitative psychology: A practical guide to research methods (pp.51–80). London: Sage. Tomkins, L. & Eatough, V. (2010). Reflecting on the use of IPA with focus groups: Pitfalls and potentials. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 7, 244– 262. Wilkinson, S. (1998). Focus groups in health research. Journal of Health Psychology, 329–348. Wilkinson, S. (2008). Focus groups. In J.A. Smith (Ed.), Qualitative psychology: A practical guide to research methods. London: Sage.

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View from the Top

Sudden Impact Nigel King

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UDDENLY, it feels, every discussion about research seems to get round to ‘impact’. The world of Qualitative Psychology is no exception. In the QMiP strand of the recent British Psychological Society Annual Conference, the term came up again and again in presentations, and in conversations afterwards over tea and coffee (or stronger beverages). I certainly don’t remember it receiving such attention at previous QMiP conferences in Nottingham (2010) and Leeds (2008). The immediate stimulus to this upsurge in interest is obvious: the forthcoming Research Excellence Framework (REF) exercise in the UK includes a strong, explicit emphasis on the ‘impact of research’. Performance on this criterion has the potential to make a significant difference to the overall ratings of the Units of Assessment (UoA) that institutions enter, and from that to have consequences for research funding and profile. I’m sure many readers of this QMiP Bulletin will have had their writing plans this year interrupted by the requirement to produce ‘impact case studies’. Beyond the pressing concerns of the REF, recent years have seen an everincreasing emphasis on the ‘value’ of research to society, and especially to the economy in these financially straitened times. And though assessment mechanisms may vary from country to country, demands on researchers to prove the worth of what they do are an international phenomenon. I have many reservations about the REF process, and the form and focus of Governmental emphases on ‘impact’. However, I do think the underlying question – ‘What are we getting for our money?’ – is a fair one for society to ask of its (largely) publically60

funded academics. If we can set aside the frustrations of jumping through research assessment hoops, I think the current obsession with impact can serve as a useful cue for us to reflect on the ways in which our research can and should relate to the world we live in. So what I want to do in this article is to share my own reflections on the impact of qualitative psychology, from the position of my slightly uncomfortable realisation that I’ve spent more than half my 50 years on the planet engaged with it! None of what follows should be taken as a prescription; rather, my aim is to stimulate further discussion and debate.

Our impact on each other Any consideration of the impact of our research must include its impact on other qualitative psychologists. An interesting issue here is how particular methodological approaches and methods of data collection and analysis come to be prominent in some substantive areas and not others. For example, IPA has a very high profile in health psychology (Brocki & Wearden, 2006) but is much less well-known in organisational psychology. My own work on template analysis (which is a style of thematic analysis rather than a methodology) seems to be very popular in organisational research and to some extent in more generic qualitative health services research (King, 2012a), but less so in health psychology and educational research. Of course, to a considerable extent such patterns of spread reflect the interests of influential figures associated with particular methodologies and methods, and their publication choices, but I don’t think this is the whole story. The ways in which new QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012 © The British Psychological Society

Sudden Impact

ideas diffuse tend to say something about those who adopt – or fail to adopt – them (as I found many years ago in reading for my PhD on the topic of innovation in elderly care institutions). A careful examination of how trends in qualitative methods and methodologies develop in particular areas could usefully in0form debates about methodological branding and ‘methodolatory’, as raised in Chamberlain’s (2012) ‘View from the Top’ piece in the previous issue of this QMiP Bulletin. Discussion of the impact of qualitative research within qualitative psychology leads almost inevitably to questions about the impact of qualitative psychology within the wider discipline. This is a big and at times hotly-debated topic, that really requires a separate article to address it properly. However, I would like to spend a little time reflecting on the implications for qualitative psychologists of the growing interest in mixed methods1 in recent years. Many substantial research funders in the UK now explicitly recognise the value of mixed method designs, and it is now common for major projects to include a qualitative element. This clearly offers opportunities to qualitative psychologists to become involved in larger scale projects of a kind that were previously only accessible to our colleagues in mainstream (quantitative) psychology. We can now find ourselves in the flattering position of being invited to collaborate on significant funding bids in order to bring our methodological credentials and expertise to the table. I am in no doubt that this is a positive development for us, but we do need to be aware of some dangers that may accompany such opportunities. One risk stems from the fact that large, multidisciplinary projects in areas such as health, education and criminal justice are often not led by psychologists – indeed, if you join such a project you may find yourself to be the only psychologist involved. This can make it diffi1

cult to retain a strong psychological angle on the research, and across a succession of such projects your identity as a psychologist may become diluted. Perhaps more importantly, in mixed methods research there is a danger that the qualitative part is always seen as playing a secondary and supportive role to the quantitative. In the longer term, this could actually make it harder for purely qualitative projects to be funded in certain areas, because funders may come to see the value of qualitative methods purely in terms of how they support quantitative work. In health, this tendency is exacerbated by the existence of a widely-agreed ‘hierarchy of evidence’ that places randomised controlled trials (RCTs) as always and inevitably at the top. Such a view has been challenged even from within mainstream medical and health research (e.g. Kaplan, Giesbrecht, Shannon & McCleod, 2011) and it is important that qualitative psychology adds a constructively critical voice to the debate.

Our impact in organisations and communities A great deal of qualitative research that might be described as ‘applied’ or ‘realworld’ (and I am well aware of the problematic nature of such terms) takes place in specific organisational and/or community settings. This raises important and sometimes quite complex questions about whether and in what ways our research can have a useful impact on these. In some cases, research projects mainly seek to have an impact beyond the settings where they take place – the specific contexts are chosen as exemplars from which it is hoped potentially transferable lessons can be learned. In other cases, it is at least as important for projects to make a difference for the host organisation/community as to contribute to wider understanding – for example, in Action Research and in many evaluation studies.

I am referring here to designs involving a mixture of qualitative and quantitative methods. Pluralism of qualitative methods is also an interesting issue, but beyond the scope of this article.


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Whatever the aims, it is important to always remember that organisations and communities are complex entities, in all likelihood encompassing individuals and groups with quite different perspectives and agendas. Often these may not be apparent from the start of a project, so researchers may need to revise their original dissemination plans to take account of their increased understanding of the ‘local politics’ of their research setting. It is very easy for any applied research to have a negative effect on at least some people within host organisations or communities. But because qualitative research tends to seek a rich understanding of the settings within which it is carried out, it can give us more of a chance to tailor the way we conduct studies and disseminate findings to minimise risks of harm or distress. In contrast, it can be hard for quantitative researchers to gain sufficient knowledge about specific settings to do this; indeed, they may never learn about negative impacts as participants can be reluctant to formally complain, and the researchers may have minimal direct contact with the setting. At the same time, the local knowledge that we as qualitative psychologists are well-placed to gain can help us shape the way we conduct and present our research to help achieve a positive impact for those we work with. For instance, in a number of qualitative evaluation projects that my team carried out with Healthy Living Partnerships2 we were able to target our feedback in ways that were as helpful as possible to the community initiatives and activity groups we had studied (King, 2012b; Kirkby-Geddes, King & Bravington, 2012).

2

Political impact The impact of research within the academic world - and even more so in organisations and communities - always has a political dimension to it, as the previous section illustrated. For some projects, though, political impact is the major goal. It may seem that qualitative psychological research is severely disadvantaged in this respect, as policymakers and politicians are used to the language of big numbers and positivistic notions of what counts as good evidence. However, processes of political influence are multi-faceted, and there are some ways in which qualitative research is well-placed to get itself heard. Individual cases can have enormous rhetorical influence, especially when they tap into areas of widespread current concern. Similarly, research that draws in a direct and powerful way on the lived experiences of those who are the focus of political and policy attention can be effective in challenging assumptions. The area of sexuality illustrates this well; qualitative psychologists have made a notable contribution not only in highlighting negative stereotyping and discrimination in general, but also in influencing policy and practice. Examples include Paul Flowers’ research on HIV riskmanagement amongst gay men (e.g. Flowers, Duncan & Frankis, 2000), and Meg Barker’s work on sexuality, relationships and counseling/psychotherapy (Barker, 2012; Barker, Iantaffi & Gupta, 2007). One thing we certainly need to do is to make better use of the media. We have not had anyone with a press liaison brief in the QMiP committee up to now, unlike many other BPS subsystems. More generally, it is very rare to see any qualitative psychologists as ‘talking heads’ on popular news, current affairs and entertainment shows. I’m sure many of us have sat gritting our teeth at ‘media psychologists’ offering explanations in terms of personality types or ‘alpha male

Healthy Living Partnerships were a programme initiated by the previous Labour Government in the UK to support and develop community-based activities and schemes to promote health and well-being. They were focused on areas of high deprivation.

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behaviour’. Interacting with the media may well require the use of the proverbial long spoon, but if we don’t bother to communicate some of the key insights of qualitative psychology in a way that makes sense to the public, we are complicit in our own marginalisation. In conclusion, I believe that as qualitative psychologists we should be grateful that we have been pushed towards thinking about the impact of our research, even if we are uncomfortable about the immediate imperatives for this, and suspicious of the motives of those doing the pushing. Long after the dust has settled on the REF 2014 (and similar exercises elsewhere) we will have had much to gain from thinking carefully and critically about how the work we do touches the lives of others.

Correspondence Professor Nigel King Centre for Applied Psychological Research, School of Human and Health Sciences, University of Huddersfield. Email: [email protected]

References Barker, M. (2012). Rewriting the rules. London: Routledge. Barker, M., Iantaffi, A. & Gupta, C. (2007). Kinky clients, kinky counselling? The challenges and potentials of BDSM. In L. Moon (Ed.), Feeling queer or queer feelings: Counselling and sexual cultures (pp.106–124). London: Routledge. Brocki, J. & Wearden, A. (2006), A critical evaluation of the use of interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) in health psychology. Psychology and Health, 21(1), 87–108. Chamberlain, K. (2012). Do you really need a methodology? QMiP Bulletin, 13, 59–63. Flowers, P., Duncan, B. & Frankis, J. (2000). Community, responsibility and culpability: HIV risk-management amongst Scottish gay men. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 10(4), 285–300. Kaplan, B., Giesbrecht, G., Shannon, S. & McCleod, K. (2011). Evaluating treatments in health care: The instability of a one-legged stool. BMC Medical Research Methodology, 11, 65. www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2288/11/65.


King, N. (2012a). ‘I forget my problems: The problems are in the soil’: Encountering nature in allotment gardening. In C. Horrocks & S. Johnson (Eds.), Advances in health psychology: Critical approaches. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. King, N. (2012b). Doing template analysis. In G. Symon & C. Cassell (Eds.), The practice of qualitative organisational research: Core methods and current challenges. London: Sage. Kirkby-Geddes, E., King, N. & Bravington, A. (2012). Social capital and community group participation: examining ‘bridging’ and ‘bonding’ in the context of a healthy living centre in the UK. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology (Online Version) doi: 10.1002/casp.2118.

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The Creative Psychologist

Sculptures and films-representing mental experiences Victoria Tischler

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to form a script and filmed on location in a number of sporting venues, capturing the mechanics of exercise, both physical and metaphysical which inspire people to engage in sporting activities and in some cases to attain peak and self-actualising experiences. You can watch ‘the zone’ film at the following link: http://vimeo.com/40260708 (also see images alongside). I have recently moved offices into a purpose built £7million Institute of Mental Health which was officially opened in May. It is a beautiful building, clad by ceramic tiles in a variety of red hues and lots and lots of glass. The building is sited on one of the University of Nottingham’s most modern campuses: Jubilee and benefits from proximity to the River Leen so there are many water features but not much art. I am leading a project to commission a sculpture for the new Institute. Fifty artists applied for the commission from as far afield at the US. We shortlisted four artists who produced maquettes (3D sculptural models – see image of sculpture below) which went on display. We invited comments and feedback from staff and visitors and set up an on-line poll to choose a favourite to enhance wider engagement with the project. The shortlisted artists were charged with representing experiences of mental health and illness in three dimensions, no easy task. They linked up with a group of mental health service users who shared their experiences to be incorporated into the design. I also consulted with patients at Rampton high security hospital to seek their views.

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’VE BEEN WORKING on a number of ‘public engagement with science’ projects. There is a lot of interest in how to make science accessible to lay people and I have a particular interest in representing mental experiences in an artistic form. Art is de-stigmatising and socially inclusive. It provides aesthetic pleasure yet can also challenge, educate and arouse curiosity. As well as satisfying my own interest in art, my discussions with artists have challenged and reinvigorated my ideas about psychological concepts. In thinking about sport and psychology (it is 2012 after all!) I was approached by the section committee to create something artistic for display at our conference in April which was combined with the British Psychological Society’s Annual Conference. It was a vast affair, in the sumptuous and labyrinthine surroundings of the Grand Connaught Rooms in London. I approached David Bickerstaff who is a talented artist and filmmaker (see http://www.atomictv.com/). I knew David’s work through a previous exhibition ‘madness and modernity’ at the Wellcome Trust. Through a series of discussions about the nebulous and intriguing concept of ‘getting into the zone’ we came up with the vision for a short film which would represent the inner experience of this phenomenon. This incorporated ideas of self-talk, repetition, mechanical motion, reinforcement, hypnosis and trance-like meditative states evoked by the raw data obtained from colleagues engaged in qualitative exploration of the sporting experience. We used the data

Sculptures and films-representing mental experiences

We have recently commissioned Ekkehard Alternburger, a German artist who is based in London (see http://www.altenburger.co.uk/). Further information about his concept and the project can be found at http://www.institutemh.org.uk/-about-us-/art-at-the-institute Ekkehard is sourcing Carrara marble in the North of Italy, a place where Michelangelo was a frequent visitor. He will work there over the summer to create the six-tonne ‘House for Gordian Knot’ which will come to rest in its permanent home outside the Institute of Mental Health in November this year.


Victoria Tischler QMiP Bulletin Editor The University of Nottingham. Email: [email protected]

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Commentary

Community psychology and qualitative methods: Opportunities for building a sound research base Jacqui Akhurst

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SCAN of the recent presentations by members of QMiP at the British Psychological Society Annual Conference, illustrates evident overlaps between these research topics and the interests of community psychologists. From collaborative working in health care, to work with vulnerable adolescents and immigrant youth, to breaking down barriers to improve men’s health, and dialogical workshops and improving communications related to HIV/Aids, it is clear that a growing group of people using qualitative methods in British psychology share similar concerns to those of community psychologists. The Society’s Community Psychology Section (CPS) has appreciated the support of QMiP office bearers from its inception, and a growing number of QMiP members have also joined the Section. The purpose of this article is to explore some possible common interests, and to propose further collaboration. Members of the CPS emphasise the impact of the broader social context on individual well-being. They are concerned to make evident the exercise of power and its effects, including the resulting oppression of and discrimination against certain groups. In addition they value difference and diversity, and are committed to action against inequalities and the promotion of social justice. The CPS has developed a set of statements of its aims and objectives (which may be viewed on our website at http://cps.bps.org.uk ). These include the dismantling of disabling societal barriers and constructing psychologically enabling QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn, 2012 © The British Psychological Society

contexts and practices, striving for social justice, and aiming to work in solidarity and mutual respect alongside people experiencing marginalisation, disempowerment and oppression. Issues of particular current concern include the psychological effects of rising unemployment and financial uncertainty during the present times of economic difficulty; as well as the psychological effects of continuing deprivation in areas of our cities. CPS members are keen to conduct research consistent with community psychology principles, employing methodological approaches which give voice to traditionally under-represented populations, and promoting respect of diversity amongst people and settings. These desires underline the need to employ qualitative methods in many cases, and to learn and draw from the growing expertise in QMiP (since many CPS members have been trained in the dominantly positivist approaches found in many UK undergraduate psychology programmes). The CPS was established as recently as 2010, so has the advantage of being able to draw from and emphasise the value of the breadth of qualitative methods that have been established in recent decades. Whereas in US community psychology (in existence since the mid-1960s), a pluralist orientation to research methods has been commonly accepted (Barker & Pistrang, 2005), a number of UK-based publications illustrate the importance of qualitative methods to the field here, 67

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including many of the articles in the Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology and approaches espoused in texts such as Kagan et al. (2011). Some of the development of community psychology in the UK has been influenced by critical psychology, which is firmly grounded upon discursive traditions (see Burton et al., 2007). This does not imply that quantitative methods do not have a role to play. For example, there is power in examining survey data, as in the work of Wilkinson and Pickett (2010), which traces the impact of inequality on societies, illustrating that more equal societies almost always do better. The authors show that after a certain point, economic growth no longer leads to further improvement in well-being, health or in happiness for developed countries, and raise questions related to the threat of consumerism and the means to improve the quality of life. However this work also raises many questions related to causative factors, showing the need for indepth exploratory work to uncover the nuances of these effects, better investigated through qualitative methods. One of the important aspects of community psychologists’ work is to make evident the exercise of power and its effects. This has been emphasised by the Latin American tradition of conscientisation as evidenced in the work of Freire (1972) and Fals Borda (1988) who both promoted popular education, and Montero’s (2009) liberation psychology. Such collaborative approaches have aimed for increased understandings of the social reality in which the groups are located, and the ways in which power works to oppress certain discourses. At the recent 4th International Community Psychology Conference, Vossebrecher (2012) illustrated the value of drawing from the writings of Bourdieu, to uncover the hidden and implicit ways in which power operates to include or exclude people. Vossebrecher emphasised the essential need for researchers to be self-reflective, exploring the ways in which their power influences every aspect of the research endeavour. 68

At a later plenary in the conference, a discussion of the particular ways in which research findings are constructed, and may then be used (and sometimes manipulated) by funders, further highlighted the need for researchers to be attuned to such issues. Much of the work of CPs, along with a growing number of qualitative methodologists, thus illustrates the ‘paradigmatically distinct way of thinking about, doing, and making use of research’ (Banyard & Miller, 1998, p.485). One of these distinctions relates to the conscious reflection about the operation of power in such endeavours. Many forms of qualitative methods emphasise respect for participants, striving to make explicit the mutual value that may be gained from the research endeavour. Research is, therefore, not viewed as a neutral activity, and its effects need consideration. In contrast to more traditional scientific enquiries, research is not undertaken predominantly for the benefit of the researcher or funding bodies, with participants needing to know how they will gain from their investment of time and effort. Stein and Mankowski (2004) ‘critically examine the assumption that qualitative research serves to reveal or amplify the voices of participants’ (p.22), discussing the ways in which researchers make choices in selection and interpretation of ‘voices’, and illustrating the potential tensions between researchers as evaluators or as allies in relation to participants. A number of community psychologists would ally themselves with a constructivist perspective, defining social issues from multiple perspectives, and recognising the negotiated nature of ‘truths’ that are continually re-shaped. Various forms of qualitative methods are thus suited to creating in-depth representations of different realities, emphasising exploratory and heuristic approaches. Examples of methods include participant observations, focus group discussions, interviews and analysis of existent documentary evidence.


Community psychology and qualitative methods: Opportunities for building a sound research base

For community psychologists working from a more critical paradigm, disempowering and divisive norms, values, and power structures need to be exposed through discussion and analysis. Critical knowledge thus gained is used to challenge the status quo with the aim of bringing about social change and more inclusive policies and practices. A range of creative and flexible qualitative frameworks, such as action research or activity theory methodologies, are thus necessary to engage in emancipatory work with participants. Participatory methods have the potential to lead to the development of a community of enquiry, de-mystifying research processes and employing them to provide firm evidence of practices and the possibilities for change. Levels of participation will vary depending on the interests of the group concerned and their investment in the process. Participatory Action Research, Photovoice and Community-Based Action Research are examples of methodological processes actively incorporating people and groups affected by a problem, where they become co-researchers who are involved in the different phases of the research. Such participation locates more of the power and control within the group, fostering ‘dialogical relations’, with an emancipatory potential, facilitating people’s development. Resultant actions may include acquiring resources, negotiating for rights and strengthening their position. Such a commitment to action distinguishes CP from forms of applied social psychology. Community and qualitative psychologists have the potential to appropriate the power of research to draw attention to, highlight and advocate for people who experience marginalisation and discrimination. This may include taking a non-individualised perspective on psychological and social problems and working against the medicalisation of mental health (and other) problems. CP draws from a number of models and theories, including those relating to empowerment (e.g. Rappaport, 1987) and from liberation psychology (e.g. Montero, 2009). QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012

CPS strives to support work in solidarity and mutual respect alongside people experiencing marginalisation, oppression and discrimination. This raises positive participation as an important feature, built on relationships that follow particular principles of engagement. In the UK, Community Psychology has its roots in the work of Marie Jahoda and her colleagues. Jahoda was responsible for a pioneering psychological study of a community affected by sudden unemployment in Austria in the 1930s, and also engaged in a similar piece of work in Britain, more specifically in Wales (Fryer & Ullah, 1987). Jahoda went on to form the foundations of a version of Social Psychology closely related to Community Psychology at the University of Sussex. Bergold (2000) translates Jahoda’s summary of the principles that underpinned her work: emphasising the use of both qualitative and quantitative methods to collect both objective facts and subjective attitudes; locating and supporting current observations in historical material; and the need for the people in the community being researched to receive active, practical and even material support from researchers (for example provision of medical care, clothing, and youth work). CPs value the contributions of diverse and different groups, and strive to look to a broad and often cross-disciplinary literature base. In their engagement, CPs need to be aware of the power invested in their professional status, and their knowledge of systems and policies can valuably contribute to advocacy for oppressed groups. The promotion of social justice, working ‘bottom up’, characterises an important intersection between the work of CPs and qualitative researchers. For example Glaser and Strauss’ (1967) original projects developed from such approaches, emphasising that, in contrast to much of the dominant practice in psychological research, where theory is applied to practice, Community Psychology theory is built from practice. It is thus important for us to strive not to impose understandings and in particular solutions from the outside or top-down. 69

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The range of issues tackled by CPs is farreaching. The following are examples of previous research topics, illustrating the intersection of CP and QMiP: Holland’s (1992) work with disadvantaged women in the UK, combining psychotherapy and social action; Campbell’s (1999) critical focus on the concept of social capital in English communities (including BME groups), using detailed qualitative methods; work conducted in conjunction with UK government community regeneration schemes (e.g. Kagan et al, 2005). In addition, there has been research promoting the contribution of young people to communities, with interventions designed in collaboration with youth, for example Bostock and Freeman’s (2003) work in Northumbria. Fryer (2006) reports on mental health and unemployment and under-employment in the UK. Very recently, diverse topics have included the effects of gambling (e.g. Orford, 2010), the socioeconomic impacts on mental health (e.g. Walker et al., 2012) and working with disenfranchised youth (see http://www.musicandchange.com/262/Home). The emphasis of CP on ‘community’, though the meanings of the term itself are contested, illustrates the need for methods to be developed to reflect the complexities and dynamics of systems (Bergold, 2000). Primacy is given to the impact of the broader social milieu on individual well-being, striving to understand people in their contexts, initially borrowed from ecological

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systems models of human development, such as Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) nested model. The role of systems relating to place, history, and culture is emphasised. The research complexities of analysing systems poses challenges that we need to work on in conjunction with qualitative methodologists: to investigate family or social networks, links between various micro-systems such as between home and school and the impact of social norms, law-making and enforcement, and economic systems and policies. Multilevel approaches aim to identify various bidirectional influences between people and specific social settings. Readers wishing to explore further the intersections between Community Psychology and Qualitative Methods are referred to the articles by Banyard and Miller (1998), Bergold (2000), and Stein and Mankowski (2004). These provide further examples of the affinity and ‘powerful potential’ (Banyard & Miller, 1998) of work between the two fields. Members of the CPS are therefore keen to explore further potential collaboration with QMiP, in order to continue to develop and strengthen the research base related to community psychology in action in the UK.

Correspondence Jacqui Akhurst York St John University. Email: [email protected]


Community psychology and qualitative methods: Opportunities for building a sound research base

References Aron, A. & Corne, S. (Eds.) (1996). Ignacio Martín– Baró: Writings for a liberation psychology. New York: Harvard University Press. Banyard, V.L. & Miller, K.E. (1998). The powerful potential of qualitative research for community psychology. American Journal of Community Psychology, 26, 485–504. Barker, C. & Pistrang, N. (2005). Quality criteria under methodological pluralism: Implications for conducting and evaluating research. American Journal of Community Psychology, 35, 201–212. Bergold, J.B. (2000). The affinity between qualitative methods and community psychology. Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 1(2). Retrieved 24 July 2012, from: www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/ article/view/1097/2413 Bostock, J. & Freeman, J. (2003). ‘No limits’: Doing participatory action research with young people in Northumberland. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 13, 464–474. Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Burton, M., Boyle, S., Harris, C. & Kagan, C. (2007). Community psychology in Britain. In S.M. Reich, M. Riemer, I. Prilleltensky & M Montero, International community psychology: History and theories (pp.219–237). New York: Springer. Campbell, C. (1999). Social capital and health. London: Health Education Authority. Fals Borda, O. (1988). Knowledge and people’s power: Lessons with peasants in Nicaragua, Mexico and Colombia. New York: New Horizons Press. Freire, P. (1972). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Harmondsworth: Penguin. Fryer, D. & Ullah, P. (Eds.) (1987). Unemployed people: Social and psychological perspectives. Milton Keynes: Open University Press. Fryer, D. (2006). Insecurity, the restructuring of unemployment and mental health. In T. Kieselbach, A.H. Winefield, C. Boyd & S. Anderson (Eds.), Unemployment and health: International and interdisciplinary perspectives. Bowen Hills, Queensland: Australian Academic Press.


Glaser, B.G. & Strauss, A.L. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. Chicago: Aldine. Holland, S. (1992). From social abuse to social action: A neighbourhood psychotherapy and social action project for women. In J. Usher & P. Nicholson (Eds.), Gender issues in clinical psychology (pp.66–77). London: Routledge. Kagan, C., Castile, S. & Stewart, A. (2005). Participation: Are some more equal than others? Clinical Psychology Forum, 153, 30–34. Kagan C.M., Burton M., Duckett P.S., Lawthom R. & Siddiquee A. (2011). Critical community psychology. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. Montero, M. (2009). Methods for liberation: Critical consciousness in action. In M. Montero & C. Sonn (Eds.), The psychology of liberation: Theory and application (pp.73–91). New York: Springer. Rappaport, J. (1987). Terms of empowerment/ exemplars of prevention: toward a theory for community psychology. American Journal of Community Psychology, 15, 121–143. Stein, C.H. & Mankowski, E.S. (2004). Asking, witnessing, interpreting, knowing: Conducting qualitative research in community psychology. American Journal of Community Psychology, 33, 21–36. Vossebrecher, D. (2012). Dealing with participation. Unpublished paper presented at 4th International Congress of Community Psychology, Barcelona. Retrieved 24 July, from: http://www.david-vossebrecher.de/wp-content/ uploads/2012/07/Symbolic-Power-andParticipatory-Methodology.swf Walker, C., Johnson, K & Cunningham, L. (Eds.) (2012). Community Psychology and the socio-economics of mental distress: International perspectives. London: Palgrave MacMillan Wilkinson, R. & Pickett, K. (2010). The spirit level: Why more equal societies almost always do better. London: Penguin.

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Commentary

Qualitative research in sports and exercise psychology: A timely comment Abigail Locke

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using content analysis. As has been argued elsewhere when discussing qualitative methods as a whole, Kidder and Fine (1987) suggest that content analysis can be regarded as ‘little q’ methodology, as typically the results it produces have some numerical form and are ways of thematically streaming the data. In essence, it rests on using hypothetico-deductive research designs which are still the basis of experimental research design. The ‘Big Q’ qualitative methods include methods that are drawn upon commonly in work from QMiP members today – discursive methods, IPA, narrative approaches, grounded theory, and so on. These figures don’t tell the whole story, though. Whilst obviously due to both the topic of study and methodological slant of the discipline, most of the work conducted and published was of this realist, and highly quantitative nature, qualitative work in the discipline was being conducted but it was reaching a wider and more diverse readership, rather than relying explicitly on the sport psychology journals. In this sense, there was a real danger of a self-fulfilling prophecy that sport and exercise psychology as a discipline was, in the main, a realist enterprise, because the majority of work that came under its remit in its journals was of that genre. As I write this, it strikes me that there are parallels to be drawn here between this situation and the upcoming Research Excellence Framework in the UK. As we know, many qualitative psychologists in the departments that have a particular focus on qualitative work will probably be entered into other units of assessment, most notably

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T IS A demonstration of how far qualitative research has come in the past decade, that in this Olympic year, QMiP Bulletin has produced two special isues pulling together examples of the breadth of qualitative research into sport and exercise psychology. As noted elsewhere (Locke, 2004), much research in sports science has traditionally been a ‘realist enterprise’, conducting research based on a priori predictions with the aim of uncovering what will improve performance. Much of sport and exercise psychology traditionally rested on, and some continues to rest on, social-cognitive models. That made studies using many of the qualitative methodologies epistemologically difficult because of the strong positivist ilk of sport psychology at the time. This has been reflected in the work that has typically been published in the mainstream sport psychology journals. Culver, Gilbert and Trudel (2003) noted how over a decade (1990–1999) in three prominent sport psychology journals, 84 of the 485 papers used a qualitative approach, meaning that the majority of articles published in these journals used quantitative research methods only. These figures are somewhat misleading, though, as of the qualitative research that was making its way through to these journals in the 1990s, many used, and continue to use, content analysis as the qualitative method of choice. For example, Jowett and Meek (2000) used content analysis to study the coach-athlete relationship, and Poczwardowski & Conroy (2002) studied coping responses in elite athletes

Qualitative research in sports and exercise psychology: A timely comment

Social Work and Social Policy and Allied Health Professionals, amongst others. As such, then, the REF panels for Psychology could wrongly assume that very little research work in psychology is qualitative as it is not represented at REF level in psychology. This would be clearly a wrong assumption, and one that would be damaging not just to qualitative psychologists, but to the discipline overall. Qualitative research as we would recognise it, in terms of the diversity of methods – discourse analysis, grounded theory, narrative analysis and phenomenological approaches – began to come into sport and exercise psychology from the mid to late 1990s in a variety of guises. With few exceptions, this work, as the report on qualitative research in sport psychology journals demonstrates, was published in journals not necessarily tied to sport. For example, if we consider the research work by Brett Smith and Andrew Sparkes that took a narrative approach to investigate men who had experienced spinal cord injury through sport, this work has been widely published but the sites for publication vary and include Qualitative Research (e.g. Smith & Sparkes, 2002; Sparkes & Smith, 2003) and Men and Masculinities (Sparkes & Smith, 2002), as well as sport psychology specific journals (Rees, Smith & Sparkes, 2003). Similarly the discursive work of myself and others made its way into journals that would have a sports science/ qualitative readership, but we were more cautious of approaching mainstream sport psychology journals. For example, the first three discursive papers that I was aware of in sport were published in Quest (Finlay & Faulkner, 2002; McGannon & Mauws, 2000; Locke, 2004); others made it into journals such as FQS, which ran a special edition on qualitative research in sport (Faulkner & Finlay, 2003; Locke, 2003), and Qualitative Research in Psychology (Locke, 2008). It wasn’t until the advent of the Journal for Qualitative Research in Sport and Exercise that there was a specific vehicle where a variety of qualitative methods were embraced and QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012

recognised for their contribution to the field. My work excluded, the majority of this qualitative work was based around more exercise psychology concerns and experiential approaches. For example, McGannon & Mauws (2000) suggested the application of discursive psychology to exercise adherence. Qualitative work looking at issues more typically associated with the performance side of sport psychology was harder to reconcile, as, by definition, the focus of this work is on prediction and in many cases, intervention. However, some work was beginning to be conducted. For example, my doctoral work involved a discursive re-analysis of the sports psychology/performance related research, looking at issues around mental states such as ‘emotion’ (Locke, 2003) and ‘the zone’ (Locke, 2008) from a discursive standpoint. This aimed to uncover their ‘interactional currency’ as something that was embedded within the sport psychology culture as a means of accounting for performance, managing agency and ‘doing modesty’ (Locke, 2004). In terms of other qualitative approaches to sport and exercise psychology, we can clearly see what all of the different methods have to offer, as these two special editions have showcased, from experiential, phenomenological, narrative, visual, feminist and discursive approaches. All have strong potentials to extend and develop the sport psychology discipline. One method, however, that does not necessarily often get recognised in sport is conversation analysis. Conversation analysis (CA) as a method has much to offer the study of sport, exercise and coaching as it focuses specifically on naturally occurring interactions. In essence, to study how social life is routinely performed. Indeed there are some studies already within the sporting realm that can offer insight into this area. For example, Jimmerson (2001) offered a CA re-analysis of team locker-room data (and see also Faulkner & Finlay, 2002). The instructive work of Amanda LeCouteur (Le Couteur & Feo, 2011) within discursive sport 73

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psychology has begun to explore specifically what CA can offer to the actual real-time study of competitive sports performance. In this example, a competitive netball match was studied, with interesting results, thus demonstrating a strong applicability of the discursive and CA methodologies to the study of sports practice – both coaching and actual performance. Finally, Suzanne Cosh and others (Cosh et al., 2012) have recently applied the actual study of conversation analytically inspired discursive psychology to athlete training interactions, in particular skin-fold testing for athletes.

This piece has been a brief review of the rise of qualitative research in sport and exercise psychology. I would suggest that whilst there was some resistance at the beginning to ‘Big Q’ qualitative research, which was clearly reflected across the whole psychology discipline, qualitative methods are now becoming an important part of both the discipline as a whole, and the particular subdiscipline of sport and exercise psychology. I would suggest that the richness and explanation that comes with qualitative research can only be a positive asset for any discipline.

Correspondence Dr Abigail Locke School of Human & Health Sciences, University of Huddersfield. Email: [email protected]

References Cosh, S., Crabb, S., LeCouteur, A. & Kettler, L. (2012). Accountability, monitoring and surveillance: Body regulation in elite sport. Journal of Health Psychology, 17, 610–622. Culver, D., Gilbert, W. & Trudel, P. (2003). A decade of qualitative research in sport psychology journals: 1990–1999. The Sport Psychologist, 17, 1–15. Faulkner, G. & Finlay, S.J. (2002). It’s not what you say, it’s the way that you say it! Conversation analysis: a discursive methodology. Quest, 54, 49–66. Finlay, S.J. & Faulkner, G. (2003). ‘Actually I was the star’: Managing attributions in conversation. Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 4. Jimmerson, J.B. (2001). A conversation (re)analysis of fraternal bonding in the locker room. Sociology of Sport Journal, 18, 317–338. Jowett, S. & Meek, G.A. (2000). Coach–athlete relationships in married couples: An exploratory content analysis. The Sport Psychologist, 14, 157–175. LeCouteur, A. & Feo, R. (2011). Real-time communication during play: Analysis of teammates’ talk and interaction. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 12, 124–134. Locke, A. (2003). ‘If I’m not nervous, I’m worried, does that make sense?’: The use of emotion concepts by athletes in accounts of performance. Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 4.

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Locke, A. (2004). Accounting for success and failure: A discursive psychological approach to sport talk. Quest, 56, 302–320 Locke, A. (2008). Managing agency for athletic performance: A discursive approach to the zone. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 5, 103–126. McGannon, K. & Mauws, M. (2000). Discursive psychology: An alternative approach for studying adherence to exercise and physical activity. Quest, 52, 148–152. Poczwardowski, A. & Conroy, D.E. (2002). Coping responses to failure and success among elite athletes and performing artists. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 14, 313–329. Rees, T., Smith, B. & Sparkes, A.C. (2003). The influence of social support on the lived experiences of spinal cord injured sportsmen. The Sport Psychologist, 17(2), 135–156. Smith, B. & Sparkes, A.C. (2002). Men, sport, spinal cord injury, and the construction of coherence: Narrative practice in action. Qualitative Research, 2(2), 143–171. Sparkes, A.C. & Smith, B. (2002). Sport, spinal cord injuries, embodied masculinities and the dilemmas of narrative identity. Men and Masculinities, 4(3), 258–285. Sparkes, A.C. & Smith, B. (2003). Men, sport, spinal cord injury and narrative time. Qualitative Research, 3(3), 295–320.


JOIN US! Benefits of membership of QMiP ●

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Conference Review

British Psychological Society Psychology of Women Section Annual Conference 2012 Stephanie M. Anderson Cumberland Lodge, Windsor Great Park, 11–13 July 2012 S I ARRIVED at my final destination in Windsor Great Park, the Cumberland Lodge stood majestically against a rain-threatening sky. The lodge is established as a site of educational emphasis in the aftermath of World War II and hosts a range of conferences, retreats and seminars that strive to facilitate discussion for the betterment of society. Its remote location fittingly set the stage for the intimate and provocative British Psychological Society Psychology of Women Section Annual Conference 2012. Individual presentations, panels, and symposia circled around four central themes: (1) women and austerity; (2) feminism and media; (3) feminism and sport; and (4) feminism and trans-feminism. In lieu of the approaching London 2012 Olympics, explicit attention to sport was suitably? (already used fittingly above) appropriate. As a PhD Candidate in Social Personality Psychology from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, I attended POWS to present on my dissertation research on gay-identified sport. I went to seek feedback on the use of film as a methodological and analytical approach in my research. As it worked out, my recently completed documentary short, purple shoelaces (www.vimeo.com/stephmanderson/purpleshoelaces2012), was shown on continual loop throughout the conference, providing the opportunity for conference attendees to stop in at their leisure. This conference gave me the valu-

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able opportunity to connect with other researchers who also exist on the fringe of sport psychology, as the field often focuses on sport performance at the expense of issues of social justice and hegemonic ideologies. Other presentations addressed issues specifically related to sport psychology; I found the work of Katie Barak, Helen Owton, and keynote, Vikki Krane, especially insightful and methodologically progressive. Grouped within a collection of papers on hegemonic masculinity, Katie Barak (Bowling Green University) presented, ‘Out of Focus: Sport Media, Women Athletes, and Media Literacy’. She discussed how female athletes are commonly portrayed within sport media in ways that emphasise their femininity, beauty, and sex appeal, while their athletic accomplishments are diminished. As a means to explore how these gendered and sexualised representations inform female athlete’s experiences, Katie and her co-researchers utilised visual methodologies and asked women currently participating in college sport to participate in a photo shoot that depicted them as female athletes. Players selected their attire, stance, and physical locations of the shoot. I was personally struck by the power of the images: in contrast to depictions of disempowered femininity, themes of strength, skill and identity complexity emerged and starkly countered popular sport media representations. As Katie suggested, these alternative portrayals of female athletes (ones that are QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012 © The British Psychological Society

Psychology of Women Section Annual Conference 2012

also arguably closer to their authentic understanding of athletic self), must be understood within the context of neoliberal capitalism. Already receiving fewer endorsements to their male counterparts, professional female athletes have little ‘choice’ in determining how their sponsors portray them. Listening to Katie, I couldn’t help but reflect on the ubiquity of images of male and female athleticism with the approaching 2012 Olympics. For scholars and activists interested in developing media campaigns that counter the problematic representations, Katie and her co-researchers’ work provide an essential and provocative starting point to enter public discourse. Presented later that day as part of a poster presentation series, Helen Owton (University of Exeter) also delved into the realm of the visual to present, ‘Narrative Art of Sporting Women with Asthma’. As a method, analytical approach, and means of representation, Helen used photographs that participants provided of themselves as a complement to in-depth interviews. Then, using her own body as a site of knowledge, within her analysis she drew from these photographs to represent participant experiences in narrative art. Distinct from the other posters, Helen displayed her work not on traditional poster board but rather with a repetitive and free-standing PowerPoint presentation accompanied by music. Text was minimal and many delegates (myself included) stood transfixed as the presentation looped. In the same sense that Helen used art to engage with her participants, she invited us as an audience to relate to the work in ways that extended beyond our intellectual understanding. Similar to Katie’s presentation, its power lay not only in what was said, but what was shown. As the last keynote of the conference, Professor Vikki Krane (Bowling Green University) delivered a pointed and sharp presentation about women’s experiences in sport: ‘The Heteronormative Landscape of Elite Women’s Sport’. Through a series of case studies of well-known female athletes, QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012

she argued that whilst sport appears to become more accessible to women it also becomes more oppressive, albeit in particular ways. As a synthesis of many conference themes, Vikki utilised a trans-national feminist approach in her analysis on the raced, class, gendered, sexual and globalised ways in which female athletes are evaluated and ultimately disciplined. She troubled the notion of homonormativity (King, 2008), that is a white, middle-class and Western paradigm of sexual-minority experience, and first examined how race is silenced within the US surrounding conversations of nonheterosexualities in sport (e.g. Kye Allums). Moving globally, Vikki deepened her analysis to deconstruct the ways in which the international treatment of Caster Semenya (among others) must be understood at the intersection of race, nation, and social class. As a climax, Vikki then displayed pictures of the athletes from the case studies side-byside. As an audience, we sat in a captivated silence: their being of color was strikingly and glaringly obvious, yet something few scholars in the study of sport have given attention to. As someone who teaches psychology of women and the psychology of human sexuality, I have lectured and discussed these cases multiple times, particularly in relation to how we understand sex, gender, and sexuality as social constructions. Yet, I had failed to make the connections Vikki importantly did about how forms of globalised racism further inform athlete experiences. As an exemplar of understanding sport through a queer lens, her theoretical paradigm and the use of the visual in her presentation affected the audience in ways text or words alone could not. Taken together, these three presentations relocate traditional boundaries of what constitutes acceptable psychological inquiry and draw attention to the potential of approaching the study of sport through alternative methodological and queer epistemologies. All three accessed embodied ways of knowing through the use of visual representations at various stages of the research 77

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process. Supported in my own research with film, these approaches provide a unique means through which to: (1) understand psychological phenomena; and (2) generate public discourse. At a time where female athletes are internationally acclaimed and represented, yet socially and politically constrained, our ability to provide an informative and accessible psychological understanding is a pressing responsibility. As my first visit to the ‘other side of the pond,’ the POWS Annual Conference 2012 inspired my intellectual curiosity and made space for opportunities to connect with scholars working toward that end. During our time together we shared not only intellectual insights but also broke bread and sipped wine at room-length dining tables, laughed with Kerrie Leigh from the Laughing Cows Comedy Club, and danced at an ‘informal’ disco in the basement below. In true feminist fashion, the POWS Annual Conference 2012 attended to the multiple ways of knowing and relating.

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Stephanie M. Anderson City University of New York (CUNY).

Reference King, S. (2008). What’s queer about (queer) sport sociology now? A review essay. Sociology of Sport Journal, 25, 419–442.


Conference Review

A scenographer’s review of selected papers from the British Psychological Society Annual Conference 2012 Hannah Gravestock Grand Connaught Rooms, London, 18–20 April 2012 RRIVING EARLY at the British Psychological Society Annual Conference 2012 I decided on a quick tour of the venue. Never one to miss an opportunity to scope out a new performance space, and attending only the single day, I wasn’t going to wait to be asked. A lavish and unapologetically imposing building The Grand Connaught Rooms is a space that demands rather than asks to be taken seriously. Headquarters of the Freemasons since 1717, this was an appropriately impressive building for an International sports conference ahead of the London 2012 Olympics. Stepping through the doors of the building felt akin to walking through a portico and into the elegant surrounds of a West End Theatre. Maybe the Lyceum or the Savoy. Here historic architecture would house some of the most current work and research in the field of psychology, and with a special emphasis on sport in the run up to the Olympics I certainly hoped for a little drama. Presenting as part of the Qualitative Methods in Psychology Section under the theme, ‘The Psychology of Participation in Sport and Exercise’, my ‘drawing as research’ presentation joined two further papers. These papers eloquently highlighted the relevance and importance of understanding how ‘alternative’ qualitative research methods are and can be used alongside existing practices.

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Whilst drawing and performance have become more widely accepted methods within fields such as medical science, there is little application of such approaches in sport. Thus art as research in sport stands not just as ‘alternative’ but as an underused investigative practice. However, today I wasn’t going it alone. Demonstrating how an art as research approach can reveal insightful new ways of seeing Helen Owton (University of Exeter) presented her paper: ‘Performative poetry and the bodily-felt sensual experiences of sportspeople with asthma’. In this paper the audience were treated to rhythmic readings of Owton’s poems which were delivered alongside slides of her drawings. With both interpretations based on a narrative derived from interviews with sportspeople with asthma new life was brought to the spoken and written word. A contorted body placed centrally on the page was rendered with contrasting marks suggesting both strength and confidence. Meanwhile the poem, gaining its own rhythm and momentum, would catch here and there, edging forward in short bursts. In this moment a new form of breathlessness was re-created, and for some, as we listened and watched, it brought about our own experience of shortness of breath. I look forward to Owton’s research outcomes and participant responses to the poems and artwork. I look forward to them because the intention of this research seems 79

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not to replace existing methods but to reveal something that words and numbers simply can’t reach. The session was concluded by Dr Sal Watt (Liverpool Hope University) who presented her paper, ‘Competing discourses: Women’s perceptions of health motivations for exercise and weight loss’. This study reported the discursive motivations of 31 women who took part in a 16-week walking programme. Whilst the analysis of interview data highlighted a need for realistic weight loss expectations in relation to such exercise programmes, Watt also demonstrated the value of a narrative research method. Contrasting discourses between different participants and conflicting discourses created by the same participant revealed unique insights into how different people experience and perceive a particular type of exercise. The narratives delivered during this paper layered and built, with each story an opportunity to review the previous as well as the next. Insightful and sensitive, the level of detail revealed in the research data proved just how valuable it is to gain the trust of participants during the interview process. To complete my day at the conference I attended the keynote speech by Professor Dan Gould (Michigan State University) who presented ‘The psychology of Olympic excellence and its development’. With so much information packed into so little time it would be impossible to paint an accurate picture of this presentation. However, it goes without saying the hall was packed and I enjoyed every minute of the performance. Gaining approval from the room, Gould cited a number of medal-winning Olympic athletes, making clear just how tough it is to achieve at such a world famous event. My favourite by far was a description that saw the event likened to being placed in a sweet shop; tasting and enjoying the confection, but having to know when and how to stop before making yourself sick.

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As Gould gave an overview of the role that sport psychology plays in Olympic excellence I found myself scribble madly in my notebook. Highlighting areas in the field that require further research Gould hit on a number of subjects that made me think of the work of other artists/researchers. Artists, especially artists who are researchers are skilled observers, so perhaps there is room here for some well-timed collaborations. When an artist who draws observes their subject they re-present the world around them with fresh eyes; they shake things up and remove us of habitual processes. To do this they have to look as well as see. In fact they ‘re-see’ and in doing so offer far more value than just the aesthetic. Like the interviews in Watt’s research and like Owton’s poem, in trained and skilled hands drawing is more than just a pretty picture; it is a process that enables the embodiment of knowledge. Today, just how researchers in sport and exercise choose to apply, make sense of, and disseminate this knowledge was opened up for discussion. That there were so many new questions raised in response to our session demonstrates just how much more there is to do. I for one feel both excited and privileged to be a part of that journey. Hannah Gravestock University of the Arts, London.


Conference Review

A review of innovative QMiP performances at the British Psychological Society Annual Conference 2012 Helen Owton Grand Connaught Rooms, London, 18–20 April 2012

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HIS YEAR’S British Psychological Society Annual Conference was fittingly set in the hyped-up sporting central location of London. The conference was spread over three days, which gave delegates the opportunity to shift around the impressive maize-like venue, The Grand Connaught Rooms, slipping in and out of various symposia to suit their interests. This year, the conference worked specifically together with four segments of the Society: Qualitative Methods in Psychology, Division of Sport and Exercise Psychology, Division of Academics, Researchers & Teachers in Psychology, and the Student conference. As a third-year PhD student interested in many of these strands, I found the conference more intellectually stimulating and thought provoking than previous Society conferences with a guest appearance and keynote from James Cracknell sparking up people’s interest in sport. Whilst some research that was presented still held onto traditional viewpoints and employed conventional methods, there was also an emergence of exciting qualitative and adventurous alternative and innovative methodological approaches. Along one of the corridors, I particularly enjoyed being captured by the series of filmed journeys of various athletic landscapes on the phenomenon of flow (ref?). Indeed, QMiP were particularly involved in this conference. Therefore, I would like to select a few presentations that I was able to watch from three different symposiums run by QMiP.


The three presentations that particularly captured my interest over the two days that I was able to attend were from Peter Reddy, Hannah Gravestock, and Peter Branney. On the first day of the conference, Peter Reddy (R. Shaw & E. Moores) from Aston University presented ‘Psychology graduates in the transition to employment: Negotiating employability, identity and the meaning of higher education in the class of 2011: an IPA study’. This merged interests between QMiP and Researchers and Teachers in Psychology. Peter heartily explained how this study explored the lived experiences of psychology graduates (four with and four without yearlong sandwich placement work experience) from a university in the Midlands. The researchers interviewed participants about their perception of readiness and preparedness for graduate professional employment and other development and emergent issues. Peter boldly focused on highlighting the dominance of status as a driver of participant’s careers and the salience of clinical psychology. I found that the rich descriptive quotes from participants captured the emotional aspects and the impacts of graduation and postgraduation work. Audience debate was evoked with a focus on the pressures we also feel as the impeding achievement driven culture influences our need to succeed in our careers. Many of us seemed to have experienced others asking us, ‘What do you want to do? What do you want to do with your life?’ with the idea that 81

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a career should be one narrow direction with an emerging CV-building culture whereby often the intrinsic value and nature of doing anything is shifted into the background. Sometimes we need to be reminded that, ‘You are not your CV. You are so much more than your CV’ (Sparkes, 2007, p.528). Whilst we need to prepare students for a career after university, perhaps we also need to incorporate ‘a methodology of the heart’ (Pelias, 2004) and encourage a more enjoyable nature of creativity into the way employability is approached at Universities. The following day, I attended a QMiP presentation from Hannah Gravestock (University of the Arts London) who performed her intriguing research on ‘Embodying understanding: Drawing as research in sport and exercise’. This brought together interests between QMiP and Sport and Exercise Psychology. Hannah carefully introduced drawing as an interdisciplinary qualitative research method and articulated how drawing, if applied effectively, have the potential to enhance research methods in the field of sport and exercise science. As a figure-skater herself, Hannah used three ethnographic case studies conducted in theatre and the sport of figure skating and were analysed using a grounded theory approach. Hannah explained the concept of drawing as mime by using Jacques Lecoq’s understanding and application (2006). Additionally, she attentively discussed and illustrated drawings of three prominent scenographers: Rae Smith, Adolphe Appia (1862) and Casper Neher (1897–1962). Throughout, visuals streamed with emotion and enhanced the flow of her presentation. She also included some of her own exquisite and delicate drawings, which are shown below. Paul Flowers, the chair, (Glasgow Caledonian University) enthusiastically opened the floor to questions where the audience seemed stirred by creativity. Debates touched on how there is often a prioritisation of the written word over the visual representation, particularly in academia and 82

Wendy Hollway (Open University) emphasised the importance of not being apologetic for this and discussed ways in which we can draw from alternative epistemologies, which means drawing upon ‘characterised traits’ (Sparkes & Smith, 2009) to judge these types of research. The final presentation I would like to focus on is from Peter Branney (Karl Witty, Debbie Braybook, Alan White, (Centre for Men’s Health, Leed Metropolitan), Kate Bullen (Department of Psychology, Aberystwyth University), Ian Eardley (Pyrah Department of Urology, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust)) who presented: ‘I’m not going to ask that question because I think it’s silly’: A participative-workshop study to explore the ‘quality of life’ research priorities of patients with penile cancer. Peter confidently described the need for research focusing on patients’ perspectives with penile cancer. The team in which Peter was working with had decided to use a participative workshop design, which was a unique and interesting way of ‘giving power’ to participants. Particularly, participants participated in two focus groups (N=10) where each group designed a semi-structured interview schedule. Then, participants (N=5) used the interview schedule to interview each other. Various themes came out of the data (Waterworks, diagnosis and disclosure, and humour). Peter discussed the different ways humour and laughter seemed to prove contentious in one of the participantconducted interviews. Whilst many seemed to use humour as a way to talk about uncomfortable and taboo issues, humour seemed taboo in itself in certain circumstances for some people. Audience responses seemed interested in the silences surrounding sexual dis/function and questioned how this might have something to do with an embedded hegemonic masculinity culture and Peter acknowledged that these things were discussed more in the individual interviews than in the focus groups. Whilst the audience was interested in some of these findings, Rachel Shaw QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012

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(Aston University) seemed particularly interested in the process of the research because it seemed clear that the research had been beneficial for the group involved, given that the researchers found ‘it was difficult to get rid of the participants when it was time to lock up after the meeting’ because they couldn’t stop chatting to one another. Along with the abundance and somewhat richness of qualitative and sports research I found this conference a good opportunity to catch-up with PsyPAG (ex) members and mingle with other friendly academics, such as Dave Tod (who is good to know by the way!). On previous occasions, I have found the Society’s Annual Conference somewhat ‘scientific’ and I was apprehensive about presenting, what some might call ‘risky’ methodological research, but I received some positive and valuable feedback from the compassionate and open-minded audience. So I would like to thank PsyPAG for providing me with funding to attend and present as well as QMiP for accepting my abstract and doing such an amazing job of giving qualitative research a large stage amidst the sports-focused British Psychological Society Annual Conference 2012.

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Helen Owton University of Exeter. E-mail: [email protected]

References Lecoq, J. (2006) Theatre of movement and gesture (Edited by D. Bradby). London: Routledge. Pelias, R. (2004). A methodology of the heart: Evoking academic and daily life. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press. Sparkes, A. (2007). Embodiment, academics, and the audit culture: A story seeking consideration. Qualitative Research, 7, 521–550. Sparkes, A. & Smith, B. (2009). Judging the quality of qualitative inquiry: criteriology and relativism in action. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 10, 491–497.


Conference Review

Discourse – Communication – Conversation Conference Cordet Smart Loughborough, 21–23 March 2012

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ELEGATES from around the world came together for a focused two days exploring discourse, communication and conversation at the UK’s Loughborough University on 21–23 March. The conference was convened as a celebration of landmark anniversaries for two of Loughborough’s successful research groups: the 25th anniversary of the Discourse and Rhetoric Group (DARG), and the 10th anniversary of the Culture and Media Analysis Research Group (CaMARG). DARG in particular has become well known internationally for discursive methods in psychology, and more recently has seen the development of numerous applied approaches to research using Conversation Analysis (CA) and Discursive Psychology (DP). As a final year PhD student with a particular interest in discursive analysis and social psychology, this inspired combination lead to considerable food for thought around issues of social life, psychology, and research methods. As a result, there is much that could be said about the conference, but for the purposes of the present brief review I will limit myself to considering the implications for DP. The conference was a resounding success, with some 370 delegates attending, and around 240 papers, way in excess of the organisers’ expectations, and something that can only be described as reflecting the considerable growth in discursive approaches over the last 30 years. The level of international interest, coupled with the number of cross-cultural studies presented, illustrated the truly global reach of discursive QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012 © The British Psychological Society

research which is now being used to explore increasingly diverse cultural issues (such as reducing difficulties for language learners around the social practices of language use in different countries). Further, delegates included both academics firmly entrenched in discursive approaches and ideas, as well as interested parties from other disciplines, including a computer scientist, curious as to how to understand interactions in computer helpdesk forums. The conference began with a day of preconference workshops, spanning multiple methodologies, which provided an opportunity for beginners and more experienced academics to develop and update their skills. Particularly useful for me were the sessions on Conversation Analysis (run by Sue Wilkinson) and Discursive Psychology (provided by Jonathan Potter and Derek Edwards). Sue Wilkinson offered an accessible and systematic approach to CA allowing a real honing of skills, as well as the opportunity to discuss some of the more detailed concerns of CA. The DP workshop also provided a useful introduction for those new to this approach, and an overview of contemporary developments for more experienced researchers, reflecting upon considerations such as power relations in discourse. It enabled attendees a chance to really get to grips with discussing how these ideas integrate when examining a single piece of text, and the opportunity to work them through with leading figures in the field. Other workshops included examination of transcription methods and visual methods. 87

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There were seven plenaries, crossing topics and disciplines. These included neoliberalism and post-feminism (Angela McRobbie), analysis of the fragmented self, and perhaps the contemporary not-so-fragmented self (Leisbet van Zoonen), and even a rhetorical analysis of university politics (Michael Billig). These were interspersed with more methodologically focused talks around epistemic discourse (Teun Van Dijk), Conversation Analysis and ‘other repair’ (Paul Drew), and discursive psychology approaches to descriptions and assessments (Derek Edwards). Juxtaposing these discursive psychology and media studies perspectives provided a clearly interdisciplinary theme. Despite the tensions between some approaches, the examination of broader societal stories and constructions of self nicely complemented some of the more detailed work examining topics relevant to political discussion. An impressive range of papers were organised into themed sessions including: conversational structures; learning and education; institutional practice; public encounters; institutional settings; identities and categories; re-specifying psychology; new directions in discursive theory and method; talking health and illness; public health discourse; multiparty interactions; educational discourses; clinical issues; gender; audiences; explorations in ethnography and art; television talk; political and social movements; online communications; representing the other; identity and diversity; climate change and memory. Although the time allowed for papers was particularly tight at 10 minutes, and 5 minutes for questions, it seemed to focus the sessions, and encourage considerable clarity in delivery. I took away a range of impressions related to the contemporary state of discursive psychology. It seemed as if discursive psychology was comfortable with its position in psychology, at least in this setting. There was considerably less justification around its methods and aims than perhaps might have been seen in the past, leaving researchers 88

the freedom to focus on and develop their research topics. The project of re-specifying psychology was still present, but was no longer necessary to position research projects, and in some ways was more challenged with a requirement to have a comprehensive understanding of both traditional methods and theories of psychology, and a now considerably larger, discursive field. The expansion of the field of CA/DP also seemed to reflect a new era, bringing the possibility of developing systematic reviews within the field. In this landscape, it seemed possible for research projects to be based on reviews of discursive research alone, with less dependency on broader topics or methodologies, should that be the way a researcher wishes to frame their research. Further, my impression was that the applied possibilities of DP and CA were now being realised, crucial in a research environment emphasising impact on the real world. This was particularly in evidence in Liz Stokoe’s inaugural lecture, delivered on the eve of the conference, exploring the advantages for communications training across a range of settings, and was also apparent in other presentations around training for therapists (Stuart Ekberg), police officers (Lori Coughlin), and child custody mediation (Peter Kjos). In summary, the conference appeared particularly timely, being produced almost as a kind of review, recognising the huge growth and development in discursive ideas. For me it illustrated how detailed knowledge and scrutiny of methods, though initially seeming like an entirely critical endeavour, can eventually make an impact in producing creative and fruitful new approaches to knowledge, both theoretical and applied. Juxtaposing Culture and Media studies with Discursive Psychology further served as a reminder of the importance of critical reflection on the ways in which people position themselves in talk, and the ways that society itself is active in constructing our identities. Cordet Smart The Open University. QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012

Half-day symposium

Stories of Psychology Archives, Histories and What They Tell Us Tuesday 16 October 2012, 1.45pm Wellcome Collection Conference Centre 183 Euston Road, London NW1 2BE Dr Geoff Bunn (Manchester Metropolitan University) The secret history of the love detector Professor Elizabeth Valentine (Royal Holloway, University of London) ‘A brilliant and many-sided personality’: Jessie Murray, founder of the Medico-Psychological Clinic Dr Thomas Dixon (Queen Mary, University of London) The logic of the moist eye: Tears and psychology in the twentieth century Dr Peter Lamont (University of Edinburgh) Extraordinary phenomena, and what we have made of them CONVENORS: Dr Alan Collins (Lancaster University) Dr Rhodri Hayward (Queen Mary, University of London) The symposium is FREE to attend – all are welcome, but registration is essential. Refreshments provided. For more information and to register, go to www.bps.org.uk/stories History of Psychology Centre (t) 0116 252 9528 (e) [email protected]


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Book Reviews Qualitative research for physical culture Pirkko Markula & Michael Silk (Eds.) Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011 Reviewed by George Jennings Independent Researcher, Mexico City, Mexico There are now numerous books available on qualitative research for sports studies and related disciplines, so how can a new one stand out from the growing crowd? Markula and Silk’s text makes a substantial contribution to the literature on qualitative research in the broad field of ‘physical culture’, which they define in the introduction as ‘multiple forms of being physically (in)active’ (p.6, original emphasis). The focus of this book is how qualitative research can be used by many of social science disciplines within this study of physical culture (such as the sociology of sport, sport and exercise psychology, history of sport, philosophy of sport and sport and leisure management). However, this is by no means restricted to students, teachers and researchers within the interweaving nature of disciplines. Indeed, qualitative researchers from all backgrounds may benefit from this text as a useful starting point for their project. It is clearly set out along with a distinctive structure of three Ds (design, doing and dissemination), which help structure the seven Ps (purpose, paradigmatic approaches, process, practice, politics of interpretation, presentation and the promise of qualitative research). Within each chapter the authors consider different paradigmatic positions on a design, method, analysis and form of representation, which gives this book a rather unique coherence that differs to many texts that, as a given, traditionally begin with the philosophical underpinnings of qualitative research and then do not proceed to continue with them.

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To begin, Markula and Silk ask the important question: What is the purpose of the research project? To map the social field? To critique it? To create or encourage some kind of social and political change? This is a great starting point for a qualitative project as one can be tempted to conduct research on a sport or problem because it has yet to be done, that is research for the sake of research. Interestingly, they take the ethical considerations from the starting point for the purpose and assumptions of a study, rather than placing these in a later chapter. In the second chapter and ‘P’ – the paradigmatic assumptions – the authors provide a useful historical perspective on the development of the paradigms of qualitative research. They therefore consider the relative strengths and weaknesses of each position and critically assess how the viewpoints of key authors and thinkers have evolved over time. It is here that readers can be inspired by possible theoretical positions that can inform their own investigation, from phenomenology to neo Marxism, and from grounded theory to the postmodern/poststructuralist position, the latter of which they have labelled as a paradigm in itself. The discussion of posmodernism/ poststructuralism is certainly assisted by Markula’s background in this new ‘tradition.’ However, this chapter may cause some controversy and confusion, as they label the interpretive paradigm as framing a singular reality, rather than multiple realities, which is then contrasted to the postmodern/ postructuralist perception of multiple truths and realities. This differs considerably to many previous texts on qualitative research that embrace the possibilities of multiple realities within interpretivism. Perhaps in a second edition of this text the authors could clarify this important point. The subsequent process of qualitative research chapter is particularly helpful for QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012 © The British Psychological Society

Book Reviews

both undergraduate and master’s students embarking on a qualitative dissertation project for the first time, and it is also useful to note the easy to understand diagrams and examples of possible projects. This clear use of examples continues with the practice and politics of interpretation of interviews, where the fourth and fifth Ps (practice and politics of interpretation) are combined, as Markula and Silk claim they cannot be separated in reality and in fact inform one another. Nevertheless, with the other chapters in this section (the neatly divided textual analysis, narrative analysis and field methods) there are no clear examples of data and how data may be analysed. For example, the book would have benefited from short field note extracts and brief demonstrations of analysing the same form of data in different ways. This contrasts with the clearly illustrated first half of the text, although perhaps this goes beyond the scope of the book as an introduction and map of qualitative research rather than a giant handbook that belongs in a library. Instead, this is a very concise text suitable for the bus, as I have found when I took it with me across the bustling metropolis of Mexico City. The book later comes full circle by returning to the original aims of the qualitative research project: What did it aim to do? What is its promise? Here, the authors explore judgement criteria that fit the paradigm adopted, and offer critical perspectives on each mode of representation that is considered in the preceding chapter on presentation and representation. Within the final D of dissemination, some of the numerous alternative forms of representation (or creative analytical practices, CAPs) are discussed in sufficient detail, although some, such as poetic representation and transcription, are not mentioned at all (for examples of such CAPs, see Sparkes, 2002). Further, the recent calls for a sensual scholarship that incorporates different senses beyond the visual focus were not considered (see, for example, Sparkes, 2009), and neither were the increasingly popular and QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012

important online ethnographies, also known as netographies or netnographies. A future edition of the book could consider these within the chapter on field methods, perhaps after the useful section on visual ethnography. With these strengths and limitations in mind it is fair to say that Qualitative Research for Physical Culture is intended as a starting point for early stage researchers and will be an essential teaching tool due to its clear boxes, diagrams and further reading lists. I feel that it will be of interest to any qualitative researcher – not just in sport or physical culture – although the authors’ own positioning as sociologists mean that the psychological aspects and nuances are not covered in more depth. For doctoral and post doctoral researchers it might be helpful when one is a little lost and stuck where to begin, and personally, I found it particularly useful in providing a framework and a reminder for my current research project on traditionalist martial arts cultures. The unique table in the conclusion chapter (pp.226–227) is particularly useful, as it charts and compares the main paradigms in connection with the other Ps. However, if one wants to use it to guide a specific research method and approach, such as ethnography, for example, it is best to turn to the specific literature in that field (e.g. O’Reilly, 2005). Overall, this text systematically maps the diverse field of qualitative inquiry in physical culture so researchers can take a tried and tested, step-by-step approach used in the authors’ own practice and teaching of qualitative research at various institutions. This by no means a simple endeavour, and the authors should be congratulated for making qualitative research accessibly clear and straightforward. This is certainly assisted by Markula and Silk’s relatively simple language that gradually introduces key terms and does not presuppose any prior knowledge of the topic. Furthermore, key words are highlighted for easy note taking, and boxes, tables and diagrams frequent almost every 91

Book Reviews

third page in some chapters. No doubt this book will be a great success for students, teachers and researchers alike, and I hope the authors may continue to update it in their easy to read manner as our field of qualitative research expands and becomes a more complex area to map.

Sport and Physical Activity for Mental Health Katrina Douglas & David Carless (Eds.) Wiley-Blackwell, 2010 Reviewed by Robert Morris Aberystwyth University Sport and Physical Activity for Mental Health, written by Carless and Douglas (2010), is a book which explores the value and possible difficulties of using physical activity as a medium to help people in their recovery from mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety. The book is split into three main sections, giving a background on physical activity and mental health research, understanding the use and role of physical activity and sport in mental health, and finally part three introduces and discusses the culture, practice and provision of physical activity in mental health. Despite being aimed primarily at those who have, at some point in their life, experienced mental health issues, the book also provides a thorough and detailed background on the possible advantages of using physical activity for practitioners working with such clients. The book begins with a focus on the background of mental health and physical activity research, highlighting that there has been a vast amount of research in the area. This research mainly focuses on the role of physical activity in preventing the onset of poor mental health, with the large majority of the research reporting an inverse relationship between physical activity participation and the occurrence of depressive symptoms (e.g. Mutrie, 2000). Providing a clear back92

References O’Reilly, K. (2005). Ethnographic methods. London: Routledge. Sparkes, A.C. (2002). Telling tales in sport and physical activity: A qualitative journey. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Sparkes, A.C. (2009). Ethnography and the senses: Challenges and possibilities. Qualitative Research in Sport and Exercise, 1(1), 21–35.

ground to the area, the authors highlight with the use of literature why they believe the area the book covers is crucial. The book provides a succinct and clear overall understanding of the possible benefits of physical activity to mental health. While I personally have had an interest in this area previously, rarely have I come across a book which summarises the literature on the area so well. Similarly, this book also highlights clearly many of the limitations of the current research in the area. For example, the authors highlight that while there is an understanding of the role physical activity has on mental health, there is little understanding of how (i.e. the process of change) mental health changes occur as a result of physical activity involvement. The second part of the book focuses on how qualitative methods, in addition to physical activity, can be used to aid in recovery from mental health issues. Utilising a narrative approach, the authors argue that such an approach can be useful in helping those suffering from mental health issues to discuss and appreciate positive experiences that they may have as a result of physical activity. The authors argue that by telling present-focused stories of their sport and exercise experiences, individuals can ‘restory’ their lives by maintaining a positive, hopeful and meaningful self-identity associated with their positive physical activity experiences. This offers a unique perspective on how qualitative methods of enquiry may be used to enhance the experience of physical activity in sport. The authors argue that doing an activity is important, as highlighted by the research in the book, however, they QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012

Book Reviews

also argue that it is not necessarily sufficient and that creating and sharing stories of their experiences are also important to the recovery process. While I have been aware of the research on how physical activity can be used in the recovery process, I believe this book takes the process a step further and offers a unique perspective on how it may be important to carry out additional steps in addition to taking part in the activity. I had never previously considered the use of narratives in my own work, which now possibly provides some new insights into how I could improve my own practice. The final section of the book focuses on the culture of physical activity and sport. The authors appreciate that this section of the book may seem out of place in a physical activity and mental health book, and when I first came across this chapter in the book, I did wonder about its value to the rest of the book. However, after the authors discussed their reasons for including the chapter, which mainly focused around factors such as interaction with others and how this could positively or negatively influence whether or not we perceive physical activity to be beneficial, it became clear to me why the chapter was being included. For example, where people who have suffered mental health issues are offered appropriate support from gym instructors (e.g. skilled fitness instruction, personal encouragement, monitoring of individual progress, practical support, and emotional support) they are much more likely to perceive their physical activity session more positively, which may have a positive effect on their mental health. The authors of the current book argue that it is particularly important those who have suffered mental health problems receive this kind of support, given the complexities around mental health recovery. Overall, this section of the book does highlight how important it is that those recovering from mental health receive appropriate support, whether informational, tangible, esteem, or emotional support when they take part in physical activity. This chapter also highQMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012

lighted the story of practitioners who had used physical activity as part of their practice to help those with mental illness. I felt this was perhaps the most useful part of the book, as it gave the book real life context. The practitioners’ stories highlighted sports they felt were most useful, and highlighted how sport and physical activity does have a real life impact on people’s mental health. I feel such stories make the book applicable at an applied level, as it also highlights possible issues practitioners may face when utilising sport and physical activity in their practice. Throughout the book, there are a number of sections where the authors summarise and reflect upon the chapters previously discussed. This, I feel, is one of the main strengths of the book, as it highlights the key points succinctly, while also stimulating the reader to think about their own opinions on the points being discussed and reflected upon. It also highlights how the reader may be able to use some of the aspects discussed in their own practice. Overall, this book is a fantastic read for those with mental health issues, those who are working with people with mental health issues and students and academics working and studying in mental health. Offering a number of suggestions on how physical activity, in addition to other factors such as narratives can be used to help with mental health issues the book could be used as a ‘self-help’ guide for those experiencing mental health issues, a guide for those working with those with mental illness, or an introductory textbook for students and academics for further work in the area. The book has stimulated thought about my own practice and ways I could incorporate physical activity and sport to improve my own practice.

References Mutrie, N. (2000). The relationship between physical activity and clinically defined depression. In S. Biddle, K. Fox & S. Boutcher (Eds.), Physical activity and psychological well-being (pp.46–62). London: Routledge.

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Book Reviews

Visual Methods in Psychology: Using and Interpreting Images in Qualitative Research Paula Reavey (Ed.) London: Routledge, 2011 Reviewed by Ann Dalzell University of Bristol The increased availability of a range of new digital technologies has reduced the cost of capturing, producing and sharing visual images. Whereas this has expanded qualitative research methodologies within social anthropology, sociology and cultural studies, visual methods have been slow to be taken up within psychology. As Reavey comments, in the opening chapter of this book, ‘psychology has a long history of engaging with the visual’ (p.10); however an almost symbiotic relationship between language and communication has pushed visual methods to the outer fringes of psychological research. This important book goes a long way to draw visual methods towards a more central position within qualitative research in psychology. The aim of the book is to demonstrate possible ways in which visual methods in psychology can be integrated into qualitative research to produce creative multimodal research methodologies. To do this, the editor, Reavey, brings together a wide range of examples of how visual methods are being used and interpreted by researchers, working in diverse settings, with a focus on an array of psychological themes. However, this is far from being a ‘show-andtell’ exercise. Instead, each of the contributing authors engages critically with the task of examining the use of the visual alongside the verbal within their research. Consequently, this is an honest volume, which presents examples of innovative research alongside reflective discussions around theoretical and practical challenges. Given the variation that exists within visual research methods, the editor wisely collates the 23 chapters of this book into four parts. Following a general introduction, 94

the first part of the book considers different uses of photography. Over the course of the five chapters we are introduced to photoelicitation (using photographs to generate discussion in an interview process), research participants taking photographs to communicate their experiences of the world, a critical examination of shifts in the visual representation of the male body and using photographs in differing contexts. There is a good balance across this first part of the book between theory and practical examples with the latter drawn from research projects carried out by the authors. Hannah Firth’s chapter, on her work with a group of women who have experienced chemotherapy following a diagnosis of breast cancer, for example, is a powerful demonstration of a ‘photographic study’ (p.56) weaving together visual and spoken biographical stories. Significantly, Firth demonstrates that this act of weaving entails far more than ‘capturing the story’. Her engagement with this group of women reminds us that using photographs as the sole conduit to memory overlooks the liminal spaces created by the missing or absent images of the experience under consideration. This encouragement to ‘look behind’ (p.27) the photograph in order to move beyond its content and into meaning-making, (a position expanded by Radley in his chapter, ‘Image and Imagination’), rings out loudly in these opening chapters. Indeed, here and throughout the book, the authors deliver what is promised in the full title of the book; not only are we introduced to various ways of using visual methods in psychological qualitative research but we are given an array of choices regarding how the outcomes of this research can be analysed and interpreted. The embedding of issues surrounding meaning-making within practical examples is one of the strengths of this book. The second part of the book moves us beyond equating visual research with photographs by taking us from the static to the moving image. Interestingly, this section incorporates not only video-based methodQMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012

Book Reviews

ologies but also the use of the visual and the textual in the social network site, MySpace. I admit that I approached Goodings and Brown’s chapter on their visual analysis of MySpace profile pages with some doubt regarding the potential of this area of research. However, by the end of their chapter, the authors had convinced me that ‘psychology, computer mediated communication and the visual’ (p.89) offer a fascinating multi-layered area of investigation. Likewise, Lomax’s use of video technology during her work on identity constructions, formed through the interactions occurring between a group of mothers and midwives, illustrates how visual research methods can interrogate ‘layered representations of experience’ (p.xxix). Taking a reflexive research position within a conversation analysis framework, Lomax uses video to open up the power relations at play within these personal and professional interactions; something that could have been overlooked if no visual analysis had taken place. Consequently, both of these chapters remind us that the use of visual methods in psychology can generate an array of themes and issues that have previously been under-examined or marginalised. Given that visual research methods in psychology have often been restricted to work with vulnerable groups of participants, it is perhaps appropriate that three chapters within this part of the book explore the use of visual data collection in research projects involving children or young adults. Forrester’s use of video to observe the development of his pre-school daughter’s language skills provides an interesting example of the challenges ‘surrounding the recording and analysis of whatever constitutes everyday naturalistic interaction’ (p.135). His chapter is an example of how using visual methods to research the so called ‘everyday’ is not a neutral activity but one which requires the researcher to be aware of the impact the video can have on the participant’s performance during the research. Motzkau’s critical examination of child witness practices, in England, Wales and QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012

Germany, again illustrates the multiple meanings that can be found within the interpretation of a visual image and alerts us to the possible ambiguity that may arise from when mapping these interpretations to the words spoken by a research participant. As Motzkau points out, this demands ‘that researchers’ integrity, the integrity of the data and the way in which the analysis aligns what is visible with what is said about the data, needs to be considered with great care’ (p. 112). This observation runs parallel with Pini and Walkerdine’s questions in chapter 10 regarding the extent to which video diaries give access to ‘authentic subjectivities’. The two authors describe how assumptions that a video diarist is ‘empowered’ by this means of data collection were dismissed as the research continued and were replaced by a turn towards an ethnographic position where the ‘observed’ is also the ‘observer’. There have been many debates around the value of research outcomes which remain solely within academic circles and do not have an impact beyond that domain. It is, therefore, reassuring that Reavey dedicates the third and largest section of this book to visual research studies that have actively encouraged greater participant ownership and public dissemination of research within various communities. Consequently, this part of the book contains examples of using visual research methods in a variety of action-orientated studies, with what are often described as ‘hard to reach’ minority groups. Using visual methods such as drawing, model-making, graphic design, photographs and film, the authors within this section of the book present a fascinating collection of ‘creative possibilities’ (p.247) for exploring participants’ narratives in new ways. There is insufficient space within this review to discuss the rich detail within each chapter of the third section. However, two chapters are notable because of the recommendations made regarding the learning outcomes of each project. Grounded in community psychology, Johnson uses photovoice with a group of lesbian, gay, 95

Book Reviews

bisexual and/or transgendered (LGBT) people interested in researching their lived experiences of mental ill-health. This project resulted in a well-attended public exhibition aimed at increasing understanding and challenging the stigma frequently surrounding mental health within LGBT communities. What is particularly striking about this chapter is not only the content of the research project but also the author’s caution that visual participatory research does not automatically result in increased participant involvement or a cathartic life transformation. This critical review of using visual methods is also present in the Cassidy and Maule’s chapter on their ‘development of the ‘fuzzy felt method’’ (p.209) in order to research food risk management. It is striking that the authors do not make authoritative claims regarding this method but instead offer observations regarding their struggles with analysing not only visual data but also visual data that is accompanied by text. It is a great strength of this book that although each author is clearly enthusiastic about the use of visual methods within qualitative research, they are also frank in their consideration of the possible limitations of these methods. This is extremely important since the use of visual research methods is no less problematic than conducting research with words or text. For example, visual methods bring specific questions regarding ethical practice, power, autonomy, ownership of ‘voice’, confidentiality and contested meanings. Therefore, it is extremely useful that four chapters relating to ethics make up the final part of this book. I recommend that someone considering integrating visual methods into their research for the first time begins this book by reading part four, ‘Ethical and methodological reflections on visual research’. By engaging in reflexive accounts of using visual methods, the authors examine many of the issues that can trouble or deter qualitative researchers from using these ways of working. From Gleeson’s use of what she 96

calls a ‘Polytextual Thematic Analysis’ (p.315) through to Henwood, Shirani and Finn’s assembly of collage, photo-elicitation and visual sequence techniques in their qualitative longitudinal study of men as fathers, the reader is brought closer to core ethical questions. I am reassured by Mountian and her colleagues who share their relationships with ‘some of the tensions and difficulties in conducting visual research’ (p.357)) and by the warning given by Hodgetts et al that if the researcher focuses on the ‘process of producing and exploring pictures’ (p. 306) meaning-making can be inadvertently overlooked. The use of the authors’ reflexivity within this part of the book ultimately emphases that ethical practice results in research that can ‘make a difference’ by offering the participants what Reavey describes as ways of ‘showing us how they have made sense of their worlds’ (p.11). In conclusion, I suggest this book is a valuable source of reference for psychologists as well as for qualitative researchers working in fields as diverse as gender, health and identity. It is useful both as a primer for those interested in getting started as well as an informative read for researchers looking to introduce new ways of working with visual methods. Co-ordinating more than forty authors cannot be an easy task but Reavey is successful in editing a book that demonstrates powerfully how visual data can be collected and interpreted in a range of psychological investigations. Each chapter illustrates different ways in which visual methods are being used in the field by researchers working within a variety of psychological traditions. This is accompanied by a comprehensive deliberation of the issues surrounding integrating theory, methodological decision making, ethics and creativity. Crucially, threading through each chapter is a conviction that images rarely ‘stand-alone’; we are shown how they come with further stories, political positioning and context laden histories. For these reasons, this book is a reassuring, yet critical, friend for the psychologist interested in using visual research methods. QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012

Book Reviews

Qualitative Criminology: Stories from the field Lorana Bartels & Kelly Richards (Eds.) Sydney: Hawkins Press, 2011 Reviewed by Joanna Day University of Exeter As a PhD researcher whose study involves the collection of people’s life stories using a narrative approach, the title of this book grabbed my interest in terms of the often untold (or unwritten) story of the researcher’s experience of undertaking criminology projects. I will admit to having some trepidation about the possibility of reading account after account of, what one contributor refers to as, ‘war-stories’; not something I was looking forward to having obtained some of my own ‘war-stories’ during my studies. However, there was no need for such trepidation. Indeed, the book is an excellent collection of stories about the realities of the process of ‘doing’ qualitative research. The accounts cover a diverse range of research experiences and topics providing an abundance of tips and learning points. The aim of the book is to fill a gap between research methods and the realities of undertaking research. It is aimed at both researchers and students and presents stories behind the ‘doing’ of the research. Therefore, if you are starting off in qualitative research and wish to know ‘how to do it’ this book will not do the job. However, if you wish to gain an insight into the practice of getting out there and conducting criminological qualitative research this book provides a rare contribution to this topic. It most certainly achieves its call to make public the failures and missteps for others to learn from. There are many useful and relevant challenges posed and lessons learned within each chapter and researcher’s experiences. The book draws on the experiences of a collection of Australian-based established and emerging criminological researchers and their reflections of undertaking qualitative research. The editors’ introduction QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012

highlights the ongoing issue of the negative view of qualitative research and the heavy bias to quantitative research in criminology. Its goals are firstly to create a new way of thinking about qualitative criminological research. Secondly, to encourage researchers and students to reflect on the practical, ideological and ethical issues that may arise in their role. Finally, it is a call to make public failures and missteps so that researchers learn to become more informed and reflexive qualitative criminologists. The introduction pulls together 12 common themes that arise from the chapters in the book, which helpfully summarises the key issues and implications for readers to consider. There are five parts to the book. Part 1 opens with three chapters (1 to 3) that are examples of experimental and exploratory research approaches. There is a focus on encounters using multiple qualitative methodologies and on the benefits of using interviews in mixed methods studies. Together they provide useful lessons and helpful ways to firstly approach the start of a project and, secondly, consider alternative ways to capture and obtain deeper insights into processes in jury and police settings. Part 2 consists of three chapters (4 to 6) based on doctoral studies that reflect on issues of power and access experienced by early career researchers. In particular, McGovern in Chapter 5 makes sense of difficulties in gaining access to a police unit to undertake observation. This highlights the importance of organisational ‘buy in’ and how the insights from such difficulties can at the same time be a form of ‘data’. Additionally, Richards (Chapter 6) focuses on interviewing people who could be considered as ‘elite’ which provided a fascinating insight as to how experiences can depart from accepted ‘wisdom’. Given that much research is conducted with people considered marginalised and vulnerable this gave a different perspective on power relations between the researcher and participant.

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Leading on from this, there is a focus on research on sensitive topics and vulnerable populations in Part 3. These six chapters (7 to 12) include accounts of bereaved victims of crime, navigating ethics committees, the unpredictable nature of fieldwork with young people, domestic violence and those from culturally diverse and indigenous communities. I particularly liked how this section gave consideration to researcher well-being and tips on negotiating the ethical committee process. The chapters addressing qualitative studies across cultures and indigenous populations note the challenges in this area of work as well as the protocols they have found beneficial. This part of the book reinforces the usefulness of qualitative criminology as a counterweight to predominate ‘what works’ methodological approach in criminology. Part 4 deals with 4our chapters (13 to 16) concerned with the theoretical foundations of qualitative methodologies and methods. There is an exploration from a feminist perspective and Cunneen (Chapter 14) reflects on research practice and the search for meaning. This highlights the importance of the historical and cultural context to research and the politics and power dimension of it too. Of particular interest, is Lee’s chapter (Chapter 15) who argues against a preoccupation within criminological research for appropriate sample sizes and ‘doing “bigger”, but not necessarily, better, research’ and that it’s time criminologists got back in the field. Heckenberg (Chapter 16) concludes this part of the book by summarising key challenges and insights while doing case study research noting useful lessons learned to date which helpfully supplement books on ‘how-to-do’ a case study. Part 5 consists of the final three chapters (17 to 19) that consider the temporal and spatial boundaries of qualitative research. These sections reflect over the use of qualitative methodologies and helpfully highlights both the positive and negative power of the effects of knowledge. Additionally, 98

White (Chapter 18) explores the challenges of doing collaborative research and working with teams of associates ending with the key message of the importance of planning and project management when involved in collaborative research. Finally, Dixon (Chapter 19), shares experiences of working in police and the implications of being oneself or ‘acting a part’ as a researcher doing fieldwork. This is helpful in bringing issues of method, ethics and ‘taking sides’ to the fore and the need to educate researchers properly. All the chapters make explicit the rationale for the use of qualitative research and how it contributed to knowledge and theory development. They show how qualitative research can be used fruitfully rather than merely ‘fleshing out’ a quantitative project. At the close of the book it may have been useful to have a concluding chapter to consider how to take forward some of the key issues raised in the introduction and the chapters. In particular, the need highlighted by the editors to draw on developments in other disciplines where qualitative research is less negatively viewed and more established or valued. For example, other forms of representation such as auto-ethnography and confessional tales that focus on the researcher’s journey and experience are not mentioned (see Richardson, 2000; Sparkes, 2002). This would be beneficial, as these particular genres require the researcher to share their stories and experiences of undertaking qualitative research. Generally there is a dearth of books or journal articles that provide the stories behind the process of doing a research study. This book provides a valuable contribution and tackles the issue that not enough academic literature reports on where things have not gone to plan or ‘failed’. The book also succeeds in showing the strengths and worth of the qualitative approach while at the same time highlighting the challenges and problems. This effectively dispels the myth that qualitative research is somehow ‘easier’ to do than quantitative approaches. QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012

Book Reviews

The book is an accessible and enjoyable read and it manages to convey a broad range of issues from gaining access, emotional work, insider/outside status, project management, implications of knowledge and dealing with ethical dilemmas and the ethical approval process. It’s most important contribution, for me, is that it highlights the relevance of reflexive understanding as a researcher. I think this book is a useful resource for upcoming and established qualitative criminologists as well as people interested in taking the ‘turn’ to qualitative criminological research.

In summary, this is a book you can dip in and dip out of at different stages of a research project. Particularly during those times when needing inspiration or working on a similar study to one in the book. It will also provide a useful tool to teach others about the messiness and the need for flexibility in undertaking qualitative research as well as the importance of researcher reflexivity.

Working with Qualitative Data William Gibson & Andrew Brown London: Sage Publications, 2009

to be considered in the design of one’s project. The social research process is described using diagrams to illustrate the workflow. Use of summary boxes are also helpful throughout. In Chapters 1 and 2 the authors discuss a number of theoretical concepts, openly professing to favour particular theoretical approaches. Despite this, they promise an unbiased view of a broad array of methods. Theory-related questions, that may trouble a novice researcher, are also addressed. Exploration of the theoretical underpinnings of analysis offered here includes a helpful breakdown of five stages in the research process that may be informed by theory. Engagement with the literature is covered in Chapter 3 of this book. The authors describe how the reading of other’s work can serve research projects in a number of ways, specifically by providing invaluable assistance in developing, reinforcing and validating one’s own theory. Exploratory and focussed literature reviews are discussed, together with practical advice for computerbased searches (e.g. Boolean logic) and the use of bibliographic databases. This section is particularly useful for undergraduate researchers who are new to searching, organising and storing literature sources. Indeed,

Reviewed by Debbie Braybrook Leeds Metropolitan University Working with Qualitative Data is written for beginner qualitative researchers, like myself, with an overarching aim of helping one think about qualitative data analysis as integrative to the research process. Early on it is evident that this book will not be focussing purely on one area of qualitative data analysis or collection; it aims to take a broader, situated approach. A number of textbooks already exist to assist early researchers with their application of qualitative data collection methods and techniques for analysis. Therefore, I think a text that offers a holistic approach is a welcome addition. Four main themes are covered in the book: project design, reviewing literature, working with data, and the process of writing. A thought-provoking introduction draws out the problems with trying to finalise definitions of qualitative data analysis. The first few chapters address the research process and theoretical underpinnings, which need QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012

References Richardson, L. (2000). Writing. In N. Denzin & Y. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (pp.923–948). London: Sage. Sparkes, A.C. (2002). Telling tales in sport and physical activity: A qualitative journey. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

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I would have been thankful for such knowledge as an undergraduate! In Chapter 4, research design in relation to qualitative data work is the focus. Gibson and Brown differentiate between common research designs and the research design process. Using practical examples they show the reader how to take research topics and arrive at focussed research questions, which can then be used to formulate research plans. Additionally, strategies for gathering data (including methodology, sampling, timescale and cost) and ethics are given some attention. Next, ‘data work’ is an unsurprisingly large topic, spanning Chapters 5 to 11. Firstly, the authors focus on using documents as sources of data; distinctions are made between different types of documents, and methods are discussed on how best to explore the sources available. Gibson and Brown do not shy away from the difficulties faced throughout the research process. In this case, the impossibility of advising one ‘fail-safe’ method to gain documentary access (i.e. to personal documents, such as diaries) is discussed (p.69). The authors then cover some advantages and disadvantages associated with certain types of documents, which include practical issues, such as bearing in mind the political and sensational nature of newspapers, or considering the plethora of ethical issues in the analysis of electronic forms of communication. Following on, interviewing and observational techniques are discussed with pointers on how to refine interview schedules, what skills an interviewer needs to possess, and what interviewers should not worry about. This section of the book put me at ease. Certainly some of the matters that were raised, such as how much an interviewer should disclose about their own personal experiences of the topic of interest, were ones that I had previously contemplated. Narrative analysis is considered briefly before starting a substantial section on observational research, covering structure, forms of observation, recording of data and 100

analysis. Chapter 7 focuses on transcription and, using examples, different ways of transcribing audio data are discussed. A stimulating section considers epistemology, highlighting that transcription is one construing the data they have collected, which has already been construed by the process of data collection. Over the next few chapters the authors move onto data analysis. Whilst they do not provide exhaustive technical teachings in this chapter, or indeed any other chapter, some idea of how one might proceed with thematic analysis is covered. I would not however consider this a weak point of the book; as mentioned before, a number of textbooks already exist providing meticulous instruction on how to carry out numerous research processes. What Gibson and Brown provide is a framework to ensure qualitative data analysis is considered at every stage of one’s research project. Chapter 9 focuses heavily on semiotic and rhetoric analysis to demonstrate how theory can be applied to the analysis of images and written texts. Chapter 10 delves into more intrusive forms of data: audio and video. After a succinct review of these data types, conversation analysis is explained, demonstrated, and critiqued as a method of working with audio and video data. A useful section ensures that researchers considering video data have thought through the practicalities. The last chapter on data analysis focuses solely on existing technological tools for researchers. A number of practical options offered by CAQDAS (Computer Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis Software) packages are covered, yet importantly the authors also cover some of the concerns in relation to the use of technology for qualitative data work. I think this chapter is helpful in assisting beginner qualitative researchers to think about the types of available tools; importantly technology is fast moving, with new add-ons and editions constantly being developed and released. With this in mind, it is important that readers look beyond the QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012

Book Reviews

unavoidably static topics covered in this chapter to ensure their knowledge and application of CAQDAS is kept up-to-date. The next section addresses writing up and representation of findings. Chapter 12 begins by reminding researchers that whilst these stages are typically thought of as an endpoint, where analysis has concluded, these phases may also stimulate further thinking, and thus development of interpretation. Taking a broad approach, the authors cover application of writing throughout the research process, the ‘writing up’ stage, presenting analysis (namely thematic, ethnographic and discourse analysis), and considerations for presenting findings appropriately in four specific formats (i.e. journal articles, professional reports, conferences and academic theses). Overall this book provides a broad introduction to qualitative research theory, and supports the reader while they consider various types of analysis throughout the research process. Whilst Gibson and Brown are clear to state early on that they cannot cover all methods of qualitative data analysis in this introductory text, they do illustrate how a range of analysis methods affect

enquiry. Importantly, Working with Qualitative Data is indeed an introduction. Nevertheless, as a novice I still felt some chapters were quite limited in the techniques they explored, opening the doors to many unanswered questions, and leaving new researchers thirsting for more knowledge; perhaps this was their intention. This is partly rectified by signposting to further sources of information during and at the end of each chapter, making it a useful starting point for both undergraduate and postgraduate students. Throughout the book I enjoyed a number of recurring features, such as the critiques given on certain methods, theories, technologies, etc., which made for an engaging text. I also particularly enjoyed the pragmatic nature of this book. Specifically, the authors acknowledge that whilst there are research ideals, in practice these ideals may be difficult to meet for a number of reasons. By recognising the wide variety of approaches available, and the advantages, disadvantages and realities of research, this book provides a good alternative or supplementary introduction to qualitative data analysis for the beginner qualitative researcher.

Reflexive Methodology: New Vistas for Qualitative Research (2nd ed.) Mats Alvesson & Kaj Sköldberg (Eds.) London: Sage Publications, 2009

epistemological, ontological and pragmatic concerns specific to and embodied by any given project. The rich histories of debate and discussion within qualitative communities mean that we, as qualitative researchers, may find we are not drawn exclusively to one particular viewpoint, but are instead called to a variety of qualitative research traditions which may not always sit comfortably with each other. Alvesson and Sköldberg attempt to address the ways in which qualitative researchers would like to take a more expansive viewpoint on employing qualitative methods. Their approach may be best characterised as post-paradigmatic as opposed to ‘holistic’. They emphasise the perpectival interpretation of data, in which data is always

Reviewed by Rebecca Graber University of Leeds Most qualitative researchers enjoy the study of qualitative research just as much as they enjoy applying research principles in practice. Yet whether one is an intrepid undergraduate student undertaking a finalyear project or an experienced and assured professor, it can sometimes feel like an impossible task to conduct qualitative research in a way which does full justice to the complex and sometimes contradictory QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012

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interpreted through a given methodological lens. They extend this by positing a perpectival research process – research takes place within a situated context affected by social, institutional and individual considerations. This encourages the development of different perspectives driving research projects, making reification of deduction within scientific processes misguided and problematic. A researcher’s interest and orientation towards a particular research question cannot be independent of her broad stance on methodological issues. This attention to perspective may be more consistently applied by qualitative researchers to socio-political contexts or to quantitative theorists. However, in Alevesson and Sköldberg’s view, it should be applicable to the qualitative research community as well. This book is aimed at the researcher with some grounding in qualitative methods and some familiarity of some of the other approaches, as well as openness to considering the interpretative framework of other qualitative methods and moving towards an integrative, problem- and process-focussed approach. Chapters cover many (though not all) of the main ‘players’ in qualitative methods and philosophies in depth: datadriven methods such as grounded theory and ethnography, different varieties of hermeneutics, critical theory, post-structuralism and postmodernism, and powerconcerned frameworks, such as discourse analysis and feminist methods. Later chapters synthesise the authors’ thinking on doing reflexive interpretation and applying a reflexive methodology. The introductions to the qualitative approaches covered were of high quality. It is no easy task to condense a large part of qualitative philosophy and method to a couple of hundred pages, whilst making ample space for the critiques and counter-critiques (both by the authors and by other researchers) within each strand of thought. Alvesson and Sköldberg put forward what they call a composite qualitative position, under the heading of ‘reflexive interpretation’. Interpreta102

tion occurs interactively and simultaneously at several levels, including direct interaction with data, awareness of the interpretive act, recognition and clarification of politicalideological contexts (critical interpretation), and managing questions of representation, authority and text production. (This section also includes a witty, condensed view of ‘the four orientations [grounded theory, hermeneutics, critical theory and postmodernism] in slightly ironical terms’ (p.263), which is the first time I’ve ever laughed aloud whilst reading a methodological text.) According to the authors, a reflexive approach does not make heavy demands towards strict theoretical – that is, epistemological and ontological – consistency, but rather encourages expansiveness of approach. I would agree with the authors’ argument that if most qualitative approaches are by their nature reflective – that is, they emphasise focused reflections on a specific method or level of interpretation – they are not always reflexive in the sense of being reflected in each other in a process of open play driven more by the empirical material than by a whole-hearted adoption of a particular methodological stance. The level of consistency required, according to Alvesson and Sköldberg, is one of metatheory. This refers to the overarching level of thought which guides the design of research projects and interpretations within them, and sits closely to epistemology. It is at this level which they place ‘reflexive interpretation’. This will no doubt disconcert and annoy some theorists even as much as it excites and inspires others – such is the nature of the beast. For my part, I am intrigued and the approach resonates with me, although I think the book would benefit from paying more attention to what would make approaches consistent on a metatheoretical level. The authors argue that a researcher’s interpretative options are driven by their (surely interlinked) creativity, theoretical sophistication, the breadth and depth of their theoretical knowledge, and ability to QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012

Book Reviews

reflect metatheoretically. They offer strategies for doing a reflexive interpretation and utilising metatheory, and in a final chapter consider exemplar applications relating to business studies. However, the focus is more on text production and transparency of method than on demonstrating the analytical advantage of adopting a reflexive interpretative approach. More useful are their concrete suggestions for creating research projects and teams which promote reflexive interpretation. The authors’ discussions of criteria for empirical research are intriguing but should be considered starting points – the level of argumentation is not as high here as in other chapters, despite the lively debate in qualitative circles on the complex nature of the issue. There is a likely expectation that researchers will take these ideas and move forward with them in their own way.

In summary, the quality coverage of theoretical and methodological approaches in previous chapters will give most researchers the tools to be able to attempt a reflexive interpretive process. Whilst much, by necessity, is omitted, on the whole, I think the authors successfully pull it off. There is a sense of richness, depth and argumentation that should satisfy most readers. Admirably, the narrative drive of the volume is never lost under the collective weight of the different approaches covered. The authors’ argument that qualitative researchers should be open to recognising and utilising a multiplicity of approaches is compelling, and in their framework for reflexive interpretation, they offer a persuasive and largely usable tool for doing so.

Identities in Context: Individuals and Discourse in Action Andrew McKinlay & Chris McVittie (Eds.) Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011

book, is the idea that identity researchers and analysts should focus their attention on ‘how people from their own perspectives, make sense of their own identities in their own discourse’ (p.7), rather than approach identity as a top down category determined by the researcher and not the researched. Thus, discursive approaches in identity are about ‘situated identities’, looking at how people accomplish identity work in talk (or text) and the consequences of this for interaction and/or cultural critique. The authors then examine research that takes this standpoint in relation to seven specific identities: national, ethnic and religious, gender, health, identities related to the law, organisational and work related identities, and virtual identities. The book thus focuses the reader’s attention on identities that have a long history of discursive research, such as gender; on identities related to applied psychology (such as law and work); and identities that develop through technologies such as the internet. These chapters are written as both stand-alone teaching texts, and as part of a continuous book, so links are

Reviewed by Sarah Riley Aberystwyth University This is the second book that Andrew McKinlay and Chris McVittie have written that aims to introduce and outline the state of play in discursive research in psychology. Their first was entitled Social Psychology and Discourse (2008), and was a tour de force through a multitude of studies, that combined, offered a discursive approach to concepts addressed in traditional psychology modules/texts. This second book builds on their previous work, introducing and outlining key debates and issues of identity research that fit within the various discursive traditions in psychology. In chapter one, Identities in Context introduces key concepts and debates on discursive identity research. The core argument, introduced here and carried throughout the QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012

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made between chapters when relevant. For example, links are made between the chapters on identity research on national, ethnic and religious identities. Throughout, McKinlay and McVittie write clearly, describing key concepts for making sense of the identities they discuss, and evidencing these with their characteristic wide range of reading. The chapters are well structured, with good signposting, and information boxes set in the margins that provide useful definitions of key terms without interrupting the flow of the main text. As contemporary textbooks go, this is a ‘text heavy’ book, but the clarity of the writing carries the reader forward nicely, and there’s the now standard further reading and activity boxes that help the student/teacher build on the ideas in the book effectively. The authors are at pains to include the range of work that represents discursive approaches in identity research; they highlight differences as well as similarities as they go along in a useful way for guiding the reader through these distinctions and debates. McKinlay and McVittie introduce key debates and revisit them throughout the book to show where and how they might be applied in particular areas of identity research. All good then! - Except that I’m left wondering if this book would have enthused me, or inspired me to start using discourse analysis in my own work, the way other books did when I was a postgrad. Changing the Subject (Henriques et al., 1987), An introduction to Social Constructionism (Burr, 1995) and Discourse and Social Psychology: Beyond Attitudes and Behaviour (Potter & Wetherell, 1987), were some of the books that made me feel on the edge of something new, valuable, and relevant. For me, McKinlay and McVittie’s version of key

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debates in contemporary discursive identity research feels bogged down with some rather well-rehearsed debates that seem to work mainly to shore up positions of researchers; a pattern that can happen when an area of study becomes established. I also wonder if a focus on identity as situational accomplishment that has interactional effects, rather than a focus on identity as situational accomplishment that impacts on what we can say, think and do, including how we organise ourselves and are organised by others, led to my sense of dissatisfaction with the vision of identity research being presented. Without this subtle but important shift, I found I had a ‘so what’ question in the back of my mind; perhaps a greater inclusion of critical psychology may have helped here. My reading is of course, highly positioned, and perhaps the only reason why this book didn’t enthuse me the way earlier introduction books did is the time and place I find myself in. My suggestion then is that if you are interested in research on identities from a discursive tradition, this is a good place to start. Despite my concerns, it is a book that I am happy to recommend to my students, it is clearly written and takes students and interested readers through a journey of some of the significant contributions that discursive identity research has made.

References Burr, (1995). An introduction to social constructionism. London: Routledge Potter, J. & Wetherell, M. (1987). Discourse and social psychology: Beyond attitudes and behaviour. London: HarvesterWheatsheaf. Henriques, J., Hollway, W., Urwin, C., Venn, C. & Walkerdine, V. (Eds.) (1987). Changing the subject: Psychology, social regulation and subjectivity. London & New York: Methuen. McKinlay, A. & McVittie, C. (2008). Social psychology and discourse. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.


Book Reviews

New Approaches to Qualitative Research: Wisdom and Uncertainty Maggi Savin-Baden & Claire Howell Major (Eds.) London: Routledge. 2010 Reviewed by Pauline Van Romondt Vis Loughborough University In New Approaches to Qualitative Research: Wisdom and Uncertainty, Savin-Baden and Howell Major aim to give an overview of the new developments in the burgeoning field of qualitative research that offers both a discussion of some of the current key issues and practical guidelines about how to undertake qualitative research. This overview encompasses diverse ways of thinking about research ethics, six different methods, and various ways of conceptualising space and place in qualitative inquiry. They offer the guiding concepts of wisdom and uncertainty as ways into thinking critically about this vast array of new developments. This is clearly no easy task they have set themselves given the small number of pages (which includes all references, the glossary and index) and I am not entirely convinced the authors succeed in achieving their high goals. Nonetheless, the book offers a perfect springboard into the current developments of qualitative research methodology. The book is divided into three parts: Stances; Methods and Methodologies; and Places and Spaces. These three parts are preceded by an introduction where the editors very briefly sketch the field of qualitative research. Furthermore, they elaborate on the concepts of wisdom and uncertainty. Their explanation remains quite vague though, which is a shame, because they are right in pointing out that conducting research is rife with uncertainty and that wisdom is needed to deal with issues along the way. Qualitative research is not about following a clear prescribed path, but often about venturing into the unknown. This becomes clear in the rest of the book, although often in a rather latent manner. QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012

The first part, Stances, addresses the relationship between the researcher and participants and the ethical considerations this relationship involves. In recent decades the formative and powerful role of the researcher within the research process has been heavily scrutinised and has led to interesting and valuable insights. Some of these insights are taken further here in interesting ways. Cousin, for instance, questions the usefulness of positionality as a way to problematise one’s own position within the research. It can be a convenient way for the researcher to start reflecting on the role he or she plays within the conduct of the research. However, Cousin maintains that positionality is still quite deterministic in the sense that often the identity of the researcher is still made up of the sum of the different categories (e.g. class, gender, ethnicity, sexuality) which makes for a static position. Cousin argues for a fluid position, which is constantly re-established through interaction within a specific context. As such it acknowledges the complexity of ways in which our identity is constructed each time anew. She calls this the ‘greying of positionalities’ by which she means that individuals do not have a fixed nor an either/or position in the different categories (p.13). She contends that ‘greying of positionalities’ offers more room for finding a common ground between the researcher and his or her participants. Ropers-Huilman and Winters on the other hand find the concept of intersectionality quite useful. Although it is fair to say that their understanding of the concept is quite similar to Cousin’s idea of greying positionalities. Ropers-Huilman and Winters use intersectionality to understand the position of the researcher and the participant and how this shapes knowledge. Furthermore, they extend the application of the concept to social institutions in which it can be helpful to understand how power is exerted. Why is certain knowledge privileged over other knowledge and why? They argue that understanding and applying the concept in this way, opens up possibilities for social change. 105

Book Reviews

In another chapter Bruce Macfarlane addresses the more traditional understanding of research ethics. He argues against the biomedical orientation of most research ethics councils at universities. Ethical research in qualitative social scientific research is not a matter of a check-list that needs to be ticked off. The ethically right thing to do, is often unpredictable. Macfarlane, therefore, proposes to apply virtues as a way to ethically pursue ones research. This proves very useful, because rather than giving the researcher a prescribed way of doing one’s research, for instance adhering to certain principles like anonymity, they leave room for the researcher to make an informed decision within a certain context. For instance, the virtue of respectfulness does not necessarily promise participants anonymity as it could contradict the idea of giving them a voice and the fact that they are proud of who they are. Duncan and Watson in their chapter approach this issue slightly differently by offering the stances of transparency, representivity and reflexivity as ways to ethically conduct research. They offer valuable concrete examples from their own research of how they worked through ethical dilemmas. Van Niekerk and Savin-Baden highlight yet another part of the wide spectrum of what stances entail. They look at the responsibility and difficulties of representing your research in a time when truths are treated with suspicion. While they offer three strategies to come to work with truths in one’s research, their discussion is sometimes fairly abstract and in that sense fails to provide practical guidelines. Even the questions they propose to start probing your work remain abstract without an elaboration in actual research. In the second part, Methods and Methodologies, six emerging methods such as ethnodrama, multimodal methods, participatory action research, and qualitative research synthesis are presented. The chapters in this part adopt a more concrete ‘howto’ approach than the ones in the previous 106

part Stances. Saldaña, for instance, clearly explains what is understood by ethnodrama, how one can go about applying it, and provides examples of how interview material can be adapted into ethnodrama. He also gives specific pointers for qualitative researchers; he is quite clear that without any background in playwriting it can be difficult to achieve ‘more than ‘collages’ of verbatim interview transcripts’ (2010, p.62). Similarly, Colyar and Holley provide a background of narrative inquiry, explain the different concepts within narrative inquiry like story, character, focalisation and plot, and render an example of how these can be applied within qualitative research. However, both chapters remain quite basic and I question whether they offer the reader enough guidance to try the methods themselves. Nonetheless, they offer a good place to start. This seems to apply to some of the other chapters in this section as well. Wimpenny’s account of Participatory Action Research gives you a taster, but if you want to know more, a read through, for example, Reason and Bradbury’s Handbook of Action Research (2006) or a search in the journal Action Research is advisable. In other cases this leads to a somewhat superficial account. Gourlay, for instance, bravely attempts to give an overview of the visual within qualitative research, but I feel that she is trying to cover too much. Whole books have been dedicated to some of the aspects she is addressing (see, for instance, Van Leeuwen & Jewitt’s Handbook of Visual Analysis (2001), Rose’s Visual Methodologies (2011), Pink’s Doing Visual Ethnography (Pink, 2006) or The Sage Handbook of Visual Research Methodologies (2011) by Margolis & Pauwels), so clearly seven pages is not enough to include the visual as an object of analysis, as a way of inquiry, the ethical and practical issues that involve such an approach, a couple of concrete examples and a link to multimodality. In the final part of the book, Places and Spaces, a wide range of conceptualisations of and approaches to places and spaces are presented. Both O’Toole and Kuntz QMiP Bulletin Issue 14, Autumn 2012

Book Reviews

approach space as a topic in its own right rather than merely a contextual factor. Both argue that space is part of everyday practices and interactions in which experiences, meaning and knowledge are produced and as such space needs to be incorporated in qualitative analysis. Admittedly I have been one of those people who has neglected space in her research and as such these chapters have not only been informative but also very helpful to start questioning the ways in which space is part of my research. Venegas and Huerta, and Savin-Baden, Gourlay and Tombs on the other hand look at specific kinds of spaces: urban environments and immersive virtual worlds respectively and how these affect doing ethnographic research. Virtual worlds, for instance, change the conduct in quite various ways on which the authors can only briefly touch upon. Research in this field has grown enormously in the last decades and the authors do not have the space (no pun intended) to elaborate on these sufficiently. Finally, Lorenzo offers quite a different account. Her idea of a space is not so much a material, but rather a psychological one. Her idea of listening spaces involves the research enabling participants to speak in their own voice by providing a safe environment where relationships of trust can be built. In her own research she achieved this by using participatory methods, which she then elaborates on. This chapter is slightly different from the others, because it deals more with the ethical ways of doing research (the focus of Stances) and the conduct of particular methods (the focus of Methods and Methodologies). However, this way it captures the wide variety of topics this book addresses.


This book clearly shows the enormous growth of (different aspects of) qualitative research methods within the social sciences. Contrary to what Savin-Baden and Howell Major claim though, there is literature that addresses these developments. However that is often done in an elaborate manner, whereas this book offers a broad, yet concise overview of current approaches within qualitative research for the social sciences. It also provides accessible and excellent ways into thinking about new ways of doing ones research, which makes it especially useful for those of you who want a wide-ranging yet compact and quick review of the field and its recent developments.

References Denzin, N.K. & Lincoln, Y.S. (Eds.). (2010). The Sage handbook of qualitative research (4th ed.). London: Sage. Hesse-Biber, S.N. & Leavy, P. (Eds.) (2008). Handbook of emergent methods. New York: The Guilford Press. Margolis, E. & Pauwels, L. (Eds.) (2011). The SAGE handbook of visual research methods. London: Sage. Pink, S. (2007). Doing visual ethnography; images, media and representation in research (2nd ed.). London: Sage. Reason, P. & Bradbury, H. (Eds.) (2006). Handbook of action research. London: Sage. Rose, G. (2011). Visual methodologies: An introduction to the interpretation of visual materials. (3rd ed.). London: Sage. Saldaña, J. (2010). Writing ethnodrama: A sampler from educational research. In M. Savin-Baden & C. Howell Major (Eds.), New approaches to qualitative research: Wisdom and uncertainty (pp.61–69). London: Routledge. Van Leeuwen, T. & Jewitt, C. (Eds.) (2001). Handbook of visual analysis. London: Sage.

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Reviewers for QMiP Bulletin We would like to extend warm thanks to the following people who have peer reviewed research papers submitted to the QMiP Bulletin over the past two years: Stewart Cotterill Melissa Day Grainne Dickerson Nollaig Frost Alasdair Gordon-Finlayson Doulas Howat Kathryn Kinmond Zoë Knowles Abigail Locke Richard Mallows Robert Morris Marilyn Owens Karen Parkhill Michelle Palmer Rachel Shaw Alison Tweed Philippa Velija Sally Wiggins We welcome expressions of interest from anyone willing to review papers, books or events for future issues. Helena Priest Research Editor, QMiP Bulletin

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QMiP Section Committee Members Rachel Shaw (Chair) Anna Madill (outgoing Chair) Peter Branney (Honorary Treasurer) Peter Ashworth Amy Fielden (PsyPAG rep) Paul Flowers Siobhan Hugh-Jones Adam Jowett Katie Reid Victoria Tischler Irmgard Tischner

[email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

QMiP Bulletin Editorial Board Editor: Victoria Tischler Advisory Editor: Zazie Todd Associate Editors: Zoë Boden Stephen Gibson Simon Goodman Helen Owton Helena Priest

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www.bps.org.uk/qmip/qmip_home.cfm


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Instructions for authors QMiP Bulletin is published on behalf of the British Psychological Society Qualitative Methods in Psychology Section, and welcomes submissions on any aspect of qualitative psychology. The Editorial Board are keen to encourage concise, focussed articles which may be somewhat shorter than would be found in other publications in the field. Submissions are invited under the following broad categories: Theory, Method, Research and Pedagogy: Peer-reviewed articles and Brief reports Articles dealing with theoretical, methodological and/or empirical matters are particularly welcomed, as are literature reviews. The Editorial Board would also like to encourage submissions dealing with pedagogical aspects of qualitative methods in psychology. Longer articles dealing with substantive issues should typically be between 2000 and 4000 words in length, and will be sent for peer-review to at least two expert reviewers. Brief articles or comments (up to 2000 words) are also encouraged. It is not currently the policy of the Editorial Board to send these for peer-review, and as such these articles will be dealt with by a member of the Editorial Board. In all cases, the Editorial Board will make an initial decision regarding the suitability of articles for publication in QMiP Bulletin. Events One of the primary functions of QMiP Bulletin is to provide a platform for publicising and reviewing events. Submissions of this nature should be no longer than 2000 words, and would typically be substantially shorter than this. Book Reviews should be no longer than 2000 words. In all cases, the Editorial Board reserves the right to relax word limits where appropriate, and to edit manuscripts if necessary. Manuscript preparation Manuscripts should be prepared according to the British Psychological Society’s Style Guide (see www.bps.org.uk/sites/default/files/images/bps_style_guide.pdf. Authors are requested to pay particular attention to this when preparing references lists. All submissions should be in English. Manuscripts should be double-spaced throughout, and should incorporate page numbers. The title page should include the full title of the manuscript, author name(s), institutional affiliations and contact details. Authors submitting their work for peer-review should submit two versions of their manuscript: one with identifying information provided, and a second anonymised version. All articles except for Events and Book Reviews should be preceded by an abstract of 100 to 150 words for longer articles, and 50 to 100 words for brief reports. Manuscript submission All contributions should be submitted by email to the Editor, Victoria Tischler ([email protected]). Submissions should be in Microsoft Word format.

Contents 1

Editorial Helen Owton

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Message from the Chair Rachel Shaw

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Sport and Performance focus: A phenomenological analysis of flourishing in elite athletes Arabella Ashfield, Jim McKenna, & Susan Backhouse

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Sport and Performance focus: ‘You don’t know what’s around the corner’: A qualitative study of professional footballers facing career transition Andrew Brownrigg, Viv Burr, Abigail Locke & Alex Bridger

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Sport and Performance focus: Reflections on using writing in sport and exercise psychology research and practice Melissa Day & Joanne Hudson

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Sport and Performance focus: Qualitative investigations of mega-sport events: Exploring individual, group-based and collective emotions in response to elite athletic success Gavin Sullivan

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Sport and Performance focus: ‘There will always be a part of you that longs to return’: A reflective photo elicitation of an Ironman triathlon Caroline Wakefield & Sal Watt

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Methodological Paper: Reflecting on the use of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis with focus groups Jenny Mercer

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View From the Top: Sudden Impact Nigel King

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The Creative Psychologist: Sculptures and films representing mental experiences Victoria Tischler

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Commentary: Community psychology and qualitative methods: Opportunities for building a sound research base Jacqui Akhurst

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Commentary: Qualitative research in sports and exercise psychology: A timely comment Abigail Locke

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Conference Reviews

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Book Reviews

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