Research Methods in Applied Sport Psychology

Paul McCarthy, Sahen Gupta, Jamie Barker

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2025
• eBook ISBN:
  9781040409183
• Topic: Psychology
• Index: Psychology

Research methods (and statistics) underpin much of the work undertaken in applied sport psychology settings and remain at the heart of scholarship in undergraduate and postgraduate courses and professional practice training. Students benefit from learning to understand, synthesise, and critique research in their field of study; however, to learn these skills, they need suitable precepts to guide their learning.

This new textbook combines five main areas within applied sport psychology: 1. conceptual issues about science and knowledge; 2. research process (ethics, planning research, etc.); 3. methods (designs, sampling, surveys, interviews, etc.); 4. data analysis (parametric/nonparametric tests, qualitative methods etc.); and 5. reporting research (writing a journal article). Research Methods in Applied Sport Psychology begins with an introduction to conceptual issues within sport and exercise psychology to orient the student about science and knowledge before examining the planning, designing, and starting of research projects. The book then goes on to explore the various methods and issues that arise in research then introduces data analysis for qualitative and quantitative research.

This new text, the first to examine research methods specifically for sport psychology is key reading for all sport and exercise psychology undergraduate and post -graduate students as well as invaluable reading for students on sport and exercise science courses who are set to undertake a research project.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of Figures
• Acknowledgements
• How is this book organised?
• 1 What is science?
• 2 Traditions of applied sport psychology research
• 3 Planning research and ethical considerations in applied sport psychology
• 4 What do you want to study?: Research questions, aims, and objectives
• 5 Understanding what already exists in applied sport psychology knowledge
• 6 Introduction to methods: Key theories and concepts
• 7 Research designs 101
• 8 Introduction to quantitative research
• 9 Collecting quantitative data via questionnaires: The tool to collect quantitative data
• 10 Analysis of quantitative data
• 11 Qualitative inquiry: Approaches and methods
• 12 Collecting qualitative data
• 13 Analysis of qualitative data
• 14 Writing the research report
• 15 The practical researcher
• References
• Index