Not just to know more, but to also know better : How data analysis-synthesis can be woven into sport science practiced as an art of inquiry
Mark O Sullivan, James Vaughan, Carl T. Woods · Sport Education and Society · 2023
Utilising novel ways of knowing, aligned with an ecological approach, the Learning in Development Research Framework (LDRF) has been introduced as a different way to guide research and practice in sport.A central feature of this framework is an appreciation of researcher embeddedness; positioned as an inhabitant who follows along with the unfolding inquiry.This positioning is integral for enriching ones understanding of the relations between socio-cultural constraints and affordances for skill learning within a sports organisation.Moreover, the notion of embeddedness foregrounds the ongoing nature of inquiry when practiced as an art of inquiry.In an effort to extend these ideas, this paper highlights how a phronetic iterative approach to data analysis-synthesis could be undertaken, while ensuring that the researcher remains 'in touch' with a phenomenon, and thus faithful to key tenets of research practiced as an art of inquiry.To illustrate this, we present a 'walk-through' from a recent LDRF study.Rather than focusing on data collection or recorded observations made from afar, this walk-through shows how a researcher, practicing an art of inquiry, can grow knowledge of and with the phenomena, enriching the evolution of practice and performance from within an ecology of relations.