Doing Research in Sport and Exercise

Dr Mark F Smith is both an Associate Professor within the School of Sport and Exercise Science and Director of Education within the College of Social Science at the University of Lincoln, UK. Mark holds British Association for Sport and Exercise Sciences Accreditation for pedagogy (Teaching and Learning) having previously held it for over a decade for Sport Science consultancy activity. As a sport scientist with more than 25 years’ experience, Mark has worked with a wide range of performers and teams. He has published research in a range of leading international scientific publications and has been on International Editorial Boards for Sport and Exercise science-related research. As a qualified teacher, Mark has taught many aspects of sport science and research methods across a broad range of educational settings for over two decades. His previous textbooks in Research Methods in Sport and Golf Science have a global audience with the latter having been translated into six languages. He has been an external examiner and educational advisor at a wide range of educational institutions both at home and aboard. 

Part I: Mapping your research journey
Chapter 1: The context of sport and exercise research
Chapter 2: Getting started - the research process
Chapter 3: Managing yourself through a research project
Chapter 4: Working with your supervisor
Part II: Starting your research project
Chapter 5: Generating ideas and developing questions
Chapter 6: Reviewing the literature (why, when and how?)
Chapter 7: Developing a research proposal
Chapter 8: Working safely and effectively – a matter of ethics
Part III: Selecting your research approach
Chapter 9: Selecting an appropriate research strategy
Chapter 10: Systematic review research strategy
Chapter 11: Experimental research strategy
Chapter 12: Correlational research strategy
Chapter 13: Case study research strategy
Chapter 14: Survey research strategy
Chapter 15: Ethnographic research strategy
Chapter 16: A mixed-research design approach
Part IV: Choosing your data collection methods
Chapter 17: Recruiting and involving participants in research
Chapter 18: ‘Clinical’ data collection methods
Chapter 19: ‘Observational’ data collection methods
Chapter 20: ‘Questionnaire’ data collection method
Chapter 21: ‘Focus group’ data collection method
Chapter 22: ‘Interview’ data collection methods
Chapter 23: ‘Content and discourse analysis’ methods
Part V: Analysing and presenting your research findings
Chapter 24: Collecting, storing and organising your data
Chapter 25: Analysing your data
Chapter 26: Preparing data for presentation
Chapter 27: Writing-up and disseminating your research project