1. Sports in Society: Issues and Controversies
Chapter 2
Producing Knowledge
about Sports in Society:
What Is the Role of
Research and Theory?
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2. We have plenty of anecdotal evidence about what happens in youth sports, but few systematic studies.
Photo by Jay Coakley

3. Those who study sports in society want to understand four things:
The cultural and social contexts in which sports exist
The connections between those contexts and sports
The social worlds that people create as they participate in sports
The experiences of individuals and groups associated with those social worlds

4. Tools used to study sports in society
Social research: investigations in which we seek answers to questions about social worlds by systematically gathering and analyzing data Social theories: logically interrelated explanations of the actions and relationships of human beings and the organization and dynamics of social worlds

5. All people use “theories”
We gather information about people and things around us.
We use this information to develop personal explanations about our experiences, people, events, and social worlds—i.e., personal theories.
Personal theories = summaries of our ideas and explanations of social life and the contexts in which it occurs

6. Sociological theories are different than personal theories
They are
Designed to answer questions that go beyond experiences and situations encountered by one person
Based on systematic data collection and analysis
Developed in connection with the research and theories of others in sociology
Published and critically examined, tested, and validated or discredited by other scholars

7. Social Theories
Theories are based on questions about why the world is the way it is and on ideas about how it might be different
Theories involve a combination of
Description
Reflection
Analysis
Theories have practical applications because they help us make choices and anticipate consequences

8. Theories guide us as we study and participate in social worlds
Theories guide us as we study and participate in social worlds. Vision impaired runners in the Paralympics have guides who keep them on track

9. Producing knowledge in the sociology of sport1.
Develop research questions and review previous studies on the topic being studied 2.
Select appropriate theory & research methods 3.
Collect & analyze data 4.
Use findings to produce conclusions 5.
Publish results so others can assess their validity & reliability
Follow-up
Identify contexts in which knowledge can be applied

10. Chapter 2 uses Mike Messner’s research as a case study of knowledge production in sociology.
Messner’s research is based on his questions about the relationships among sports, sports participation, and gender in society.

11. The social worlds created around sports are complex.
Photo by Jay Coakley
The social worlds created around sports are complex.
It helps to have systematic research methods and
logical theories to study and understand them.

12. Why did the boys become feisty and aggressive when they saw the Barbie mascot used by the girls?
Barbie has taken on many identities as Mattel’s marketers think of new ways to sell dolls
Photo by Jay Coakley

13. Messner used three types of theories to guide his research
Cultural theories because they explain what we know about the ways that people think and express their values, ideas, and beliefs as they live together and create social worlds.
These theories helped him examine narratives, or the ways that people represent and talk about objects, people, and experiences that are used in connection with sports.
Narratives take the form of stories that people tell about themselves and their social worlds.
(continued)

14. Messner used three types of theories to guide his research
Interactionist theories because they explain what we know about the origins, dynamics, and consequences of social interaction among people in particular social worlds.
These theories helped him study sites, or identifiable social contexts, where people learn what it means to be a man or woman, how to perform masculinity or femininity as they interact with others, and the ways that ideas and beliefs about gender are integrated into the organization of social worlds.
(continued)

15. Messner used three types of theories to guide his research
Structural theories because they explain what we know about forms of social organization that influence actions and relationships.
These theories helped him study the ways that relationships are organized and how they influence people’s access to power, authority, material resources, economic opportunities, and other resources.

17. Other concepts used by Messner
Symbols = concrete representations of the values, beliefs, and moral principles around which people organize their lives. Gender = a social element woven into the fabric of social worlds as meaning, performance, and organization

18. Data collection in sociological research
Depending on the research topic and the
choices of the researcher, data are collected
and analyzed through two approaches:
Quantitative approach: collecting information about people and social worlds, converting the information into numbers, and analyzing the numbers by using statistical procedures and tests.
Qualitative approach: collecting information about people and social worlds, identifying patterns and unique features, and analyzing the information by using interpretive procedures and tests.

19. Data collection methods
Data collection methods in social science
Data collection methods
SURVEYS
Questionnaires: written questions are answered by checking boxes or providing brief written responses
Interviews: brief or in-depth oral questions answered face-to-face or in phone conversation
OBSERVATIONS
Non-participant: researcher is an outside observer who notes what is seen and heard
Participant: researcher is a full participant in a social world and notes what is seen and heard)
TEXT ANALYSIS
Discovery: Identify and track themes in written documents or audio media content
Deconstruction: analyze narratives and images in documents or media content to make clear the underlying meanings and assumptions
EXPERIMENTS
Laboratory-based: measure actions of participants exposed to a particular treatment in a highly controlled setting; compare them with actions of participants who were not exposed to the treatment
Field-based: do the same in a natural setting

20. Primary data collection methods in sociology of sport research.
SURVEYS
Written Questionnaires that participants complete by checking response boxes or providing brief written responses
Interviews in which participants are asked brief or in-depth questions that are answered face-to-face or by telephone
OBSERVATIONS
Non-participant observation in which the researcher is an outside observer who notes what is seen and heard
Participant observation in which the researcher is a full participant in a social world and notes what is seen and heard
TEXT ANALYSIS
Scan a large quantity of text, audio, or video content to extract keywords, identify patterns and priorities, or condense the text
Deconstruct* texts to identify the logic, values, ideological assumptions, and contradictions that are built into them
Text deconstruction is a special method of analyzing documents, literary materials, webpages, ads,
billboards, graffiti, paintings, photographs, and all forms of media content. It uses defined strategies to
Uncover the logic, values, and assumptions used in constructing or creating the narratives and/or
images that constitute the text. This method also identifies the ideology that underlies the text and
the contradictions that are contained in it.

21. Types of observational methods
Outside observer = record what is seen and heard
Participant observer = record the actions, feelings, and comments of self and others in a social world
Fieldwork = “on-site” data collection, usually focused on a particular social world
Ethnography = fieldwork that involves observations and interviews

22. Messner and his colleagues used quantitative data when he analyzed network sports news and ESPN highlights.

23. Knowledge claims
When Messner published his research, he included his knowledge claims, that is, statements that explain the “how and why” about gender in connection with sports and sport participation in society. This put his research “on the line” so that others could examine his conclusions and how he reached them.

24. Gender as meaning, performance, & organization in social worlds/
CULTURE
Gender categories are constructed around certain characteristics
Colors, names, objects, and qualities are seen as masculine or feminine
Performance
INTERACTION
People learn how to "act like a man" or "act like a woman"
Peope perform gender, and judge others by their performances
Organization/
STRUCTURE
Roles and responsibilities identified with gender
Jobs and statuses are seen as being for men or for women
GENDER as

25. Messner’s research is based on a critical approach and asked these questions: (I)
What values, ideas, and beliefs are associated with or promoted through sports, and who is advantaged or disadvantaged by them?
What are the meanings currently given to sports and sport participation, and who is advantaged or disadvantaged by those meanings?
How are sports, athletes, and other people associated with sports represented in media coverage, and how does that coverage influence people’s lives?
(continued)

26. Messner’s research is based on a critical approach and asked these questions: (II)
How are sports organized, and who is advantaged or disadvantaged by existing forms of organization in sports?
Who has power in sports, to what ends is power used, and how are various categories of people affected by power relations associated with sports?
Who accepts and who resists the prevailing social and cultural organization of mainstream sports, and what happens to those who resist?
What strategies will effectively foster progressive changes in sports and the social worlds around them?

27. Messner used a critical approach in his research
A critical approach is related to social action.
Messner was interested in the following:
Can sports be used to challenge and transform exploitive and oppressive practices?
How can we increase the number and diversity of sport participation opportunities?
How do we challenge the ideological implications of the mainstream sports stories that disadvantage categories of people?
How do we challenge the voices and perspectives of those with power in sports and society—and give voice to the least powerful?

28. When a critical approach was used in Northern Ireland,
Photo by Michael Collins
When a critical approach was used in Northern Ireland,
it led to programs that have decreased sectarian
violence at matches and in local neighborhoods.

29. Critical Feminist Theory Today
Assumes that knowledge about social life requires an understanding of gender and gender relations
Takes seriously insights and research done by women as part of the knowledge production process
Explains
how and why the bodies, abilities, orientations, and relationships of girls and women are systematically devalued in sports
why gender equity and the transformation of the culture and structure of sports are in the best interests of both females and males
Widely accepted and used in the sociology of sport

30. Theory and research: discussion issues
Using a critical approach makes us aware that the production and application of knowledge are not completely objective processes.
Knowledge about sports can be applied in many ways and for many different purposes—it involves choices, and those choices are crucial factors in shaping the social worlds in which we live.