1. SPA Specific Qualitative Research
SSP5051 Research Process
Week 12
SPA Specific Qualitative Research

2. Assessment ion term 1 (25% of the module)
Week 4 – Applied research in SPA
Preparation task for Week 8 – quantitative research in SPA – report on a paper (5%)
Week 8 task – discussion of different types of quantitative method in SPA (5%)
Preparation task for Week 12 – qualitative research in SPA – report on a paper (5%)
Week 12 two tasks – application of qualitative techniques, strengths and weaknesses (10%)
Today we will consider the papers that you read and classify them according to the type of quantitative research that was involved.

3. Learning Outcomes By the end of this session you will be able to
Discuss the application of qualitative methods within sports performance analysis
List relative strengths and weaknesses of quantitative and qualitative methods within sports performance analysis

4. Task that has already been assessed
Consider the nature of qualitative research in general (weeks 9-11), read a selected paper from the International Journal of Sports Performance Analysis that uses qualitative methods.
Identify two ways in which qualitative methods have a role in sports performance analysis. This task is worth 5% of the module
5 marks
Just flash this up – it is what we marked for this week

5. Recap from Week 8 Today QUANTITATIVE QUALITATIVE TOTALLY OBJECTIVE
INDIRECTLY OBJECTIVE
LARGELY OBJECTIVE
SUBJECTIVE
Today we are focussing on qualitative methods
No human involvement in data collection
No researcher involvement in data collection
Researcher uses guidelines for data collection
Today
Eg researcher deciding on behaviours performed
Eg recording umpire decisions
Eg Prozone or Hawkeye

6. The papers you have read
For one minute consider qualitative methods you have covered in research process
Discuss these with the person beside you in pairs

7. Discussion Task
How can qualitative methods be used to help understand your sport
5 marks
Ask each student what there sport is and to give an example of how qualitative data or methods can help. Assess contribution.

8. Feedback Qualitative observation
Live
Video
Analysis of still frames (annotated or not)
Interviewing / self report
The inner athlete
Explanations for observed behaviour
Understanding unseen mental processes
The lecturer quickly sums up some good examples from the students then also the work of Lafont on analysis still photographs and the work of Poizat et al on Self-confrontational interviews conducted while watching videos of performances

9. Strengths and weaknesses of quantitative and qualitative research
Spend 5 minutes writing down 2 relative strengths and weaknesses of quantitative methods and qualitative methods
Hand in what you have written to the lecturer
At the end of the 5 minutes, these will be discussed
This second task will be marked after the class is over and will not just be on what the students wrote but also on their contribution to the discussion.

10. Next term SPA specific research processes
Week
Subject topic of seminar
Task for the next week 13
Selecting a research topic in sports performance analysis
Finalise a research topic area 14
Topic discussions and literature surveys in sports performance analysis – relevance and importance
Explore literature relevant to the chosen topic 15
Discuss relevant existing theory that is relevant to the research topic
Draft the paragraph of the essay justifying the research topic 16
Discuss the role of previous research in selecting the research topic
Draft the paragraph discussing existing literature 17
Discuss information needs for the research topic and variables involved
List the output information to be produced by an observational analysis system 18
Operationalising specific research question, formulating hypotheses
Draft the paragraph proposing the precise research question 19
Discussion of raw data required and data sources
Identify the raw data needed to produce each output variable 20
Contrasting manual and computerised methods of gathering and analysing data
Draft the paragraph describing methods 21
Discuss the feasibility of methods
Read book chapters on reliability in sports performance analysis 22
Discuss the reliability of the devised methods
List any ethical issues with the research project 23
Discuss ethical issues related to the methods
Draft the paragraph on reliability and ethical issues 24
Final advice on research process essay
Note how this is similar to first term except rather than being research in general, it is research specifically in SPA.
This will all be working towards the research process essay (50% of the module marks)