Research methods

Social science

Systematically studies people, behaviours, experiences, programs, and social systems

Basic research

General knowledge or theory

• No need to require immediate practical use

• Develop a theory of leisure and identity

Applied research

Practical problems and policys

• Study barriers to joining a rec program

Onotology

What we belive about reality

Epistemology

What counts as evidence or knowledge

• How can we know about reality?

Positivism

Measure patterns

• test explaination

• Which factors predict participation

Interpretivism

Understand meaning in context

• How do students describe sport experiences

Social constructionism

Examine how shared meanings develop

• How do peers shape ideas about belonging

Critical paradigm

Examine power/inequality; support change

• How do gendered power relations shape access

Postmodernism

Quistion fixed catagories and partical truth claims

• How might sport catagories exclude experiences

Systematic

Organized, documented, and planned inquiry

Reflexibility

Examining how a researcher’s perspective shapes the study

Vairable

A characteristic that can take different values