Analyzing Talk in Qualitative Inquiry: Exploring Possibilities, Problems, and Tensions

Abstract

This paper seeks to extend the analytical scope of qualitative inquiry and our understanding on the analysis of stories we elicit and collect in the domains of sport and physical activity. Painting with broad strokes, we consider fi ve ways in which narratives can be analyzed to incorporate the hows and the whats of their telling. These are an analysis of conversation, an analysis of discourse, an analysis of how narratives are performed, an analysis of content, and an analysis of structure. In all sections, various strengths and weaknesses of each approach are identifi ed and exemplars are provided. The paper closes by suggesting that researchers might consider using a variety of analyses in order to assist them to understand the complexities of the social world in different ways.

Shaping the Way Five Women Coaches Develop: Their Primary and Secondary Socialization

“…As recommended by Smith and Sparkes (2005), after thorough immersion in the data, links were made between the data and Jarvis' framework. Following Denzin's (1989) procedural steps for gathering data on participants' biographies, the data were coded in life stages, including: (a) childhood (from participants' first memories to 12 years old), (b) adolescence (12 to 19 years old), (c) early coaching experiences (approximately the first 10 years of coaching), and (d) later coaching experiences.…”

“…A content analysis was performed on the interview transcripts (Patton, 2002;Smith & Sparkes, 2005). As recommended by Smith and Sparkes (2005), after thorough immersion in the data, links were made between the data and Jarvis' framework.…”

Abandoning The Performance Narrative: Two Women's Stories of Transition from Professional Sport

“…First, as Smith and Sparkes (2005b) observed, a narrative analysis of structure and form can fail to illuminate "the manner in which narrative structures may be dynamic and fluid, composed in the spaces between performer and audience, and thus situated in accomplished social action" (p. 234). We recognise that presenting any participant's spoken stories in written form risks making them appear somewhat fixed and context independent.…”

Experiences and Expectations of Biographical Time among Young Athletes

“…This was done in order to facilitate a comparative analysis of present and future selves that were described, and the experiences of time that were seemingly associated with these selves. This process is similar to the categorical-content analysis described by Lieblich et al (1998) and Smith and Sparkes (2005) that focuses upon the thematic similarities and differences between the narratives generated during interview situations. In addition, the interview transcripts were subjected to a structural analysis.…”