1. SPORTS IN SOCIETY: SOCIOLOGICAL ISSUES AND CONTROVERSIES
CHAPTER 2
PRODUCING KNOWLEDGE ABOUT SPORTS IN SOCIETY:
What is the Role of Research and Theory?
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd

2. The Goals of this Chapter
How is knowledge produced in the sociology of sports?
What does it mean when research is based on a critical approach to social worlds?
What research methods are used to produce knowledge in the sociology of sports?
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd

3. Personal Theories
To navigate our social worlds and private lives we produce knowledge via data collection and thus develop explanations of everyday experiences and events.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd

4. Research, Knowledge and Theories in the Sociology of Sports
Designed to answer questions that go beyond experiences of one person or situation.
Data carefully collected from well chosen sources that are suitable for providing necessary information.
Data analysed by developed and refined methods used wisely by sociologists.
Researchers connect data analysis to conclusions and theories of other sociologists.
Researchers are expected to publish in peer reviewed journals and books.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd

5. Seven-Step Process of Developing Knowledge in the Sociology of Sports
Observe social world and ask questions.
Identify issues, review past research, use theories to design research.
Collect and analyse data.
Use research findings to produce knowledge about sports in society.
Publish research and knowledge claims so they can be evaluated.
Research and knowledge claims are rejected or accepted.
Use knowledge to inform decisions, actions, policies and programs.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd

6. Three Major Theories in the Sociology of Sports
Cultural Theories
meaning, symbols, language, values, norms, ideas, beliefs and ideology
Interactionist Theories
socialisation, role models, significant others, self-concept and identity
Structural Theories
status, roles, authority, power, power relations, social control, social class, social inequality, social institutions
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd

7. A Critical Approach to Knowledge Production
Why are particular sports and the social worlds around them organised as they are?
What can and should be done to make sports more inclusive, fair, just and supportive of the wellbeing of competitors and spectators?
Jim McKay used a critical approach and worked towards the crucial seventh step of knowledge production: applying the knowledge so as to maximise the positive aspects of sports participation.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd

8. Research Methods in the Sociology of Sports
Knowledge production always involves the systematic collection and analysis of data.
McKay’s research on gender and sports organisations used a combination of quantitative research methods and qualitative research methods.
Quantitative: collect information, convert into numbers and analyse statistically.
Qualitative: collect information via interviews, materials, observations that describe and represent. Analyse via recurring themes.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd

9. Quantitative Research Methods: Using Numbers and Statistics to Study Sports in Society
Polls and surveys are the most common methods used.
Create statistical profiles
Identify recurring patterns
Test hypotheses
Public records and statistical facts – analysing data that others have collected, e.g., ABS, SPARC.
Content of media and documents – such as Murray Phillips’s content analysis study of gender and media coverage in Australia.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd

10. Qualitative Methods: Interpreting Words and Actions to Study Sports in Society
Based on the assumption that social worlds are constructed and maintained through meanings given to actions, relationships, objects and events.
Sources of data:
In-depth interviews
Field studies
Textual analysis
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd

11. Using Multiple Theories and Methods to Produce Knowledge
Knowledge production requires the consideration of both multiple methods and multiple theories.
Applying knowledge to increase fairness and justice should come from many vantage points.
Jim McKay used both quantitative and qualitative methods as well as different theories to determine effective strategies for applying knowledge about gendered meanings and practices in sports organisations.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd

12. Critical Theories
Society involves cultural production, power relations and ideological struggles.
Sports are social constructions that change as power relations change and as narratives and discourses change.
Research focuses the meaning and organisations of sports, and on sports as sites for cultural transformation.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd

13. Critical Theories (cont.)
Those who use them assume that sports are more than reflections of society, and they study:
struggles over the organisation and meaning of sports
the narratives and images people use to construct and give meaning to sports
whose voices and perspectives are used in narratives about sports in society
how dominant narratives, images, and power relations can be disrupted to promote progressive changes.
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© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd

14. Using Critical Theories to Take Social Action
Use sports to challenge and transform exploitive and oppressive practices.
Increase the number and diversity of sports participation opportunities.
Challenge the ideological implications of the stories told about sports in a culture.
Challenge the voices and perspectives of those with power in sports and society.
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© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd

15. Sports are More than Reflections of Society
Sports consist of sets of relationships that are produced by people in society.
Sports are the creations of people interacting with one another.
Sports are the ‘social stuff’ out of which society and culture come to be what they are.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd