Mapping a Subfield’s Sociology of Science: A 25-Year Network and Bibliometric Analysis of the Knowledge Construction of Sports Crisis Communication

Abstract

Sport crisis communication research has emerged as a substantial subfield of communication, sport communication, and crisis communication. The purpose of this study is to assess the development and diffusion of the subfield's scholarly works to uncover the influential authors, theories, and journals central to the subfield's knowledge construction process. We chart the development of the subfield by combining network analysis and bibliometric methods. Our analysis of 25 years of scholarship in 25 journals reveals seven major areas of focus in sport crisis communication with an emphasis on applied and critical cultural scholarship. Furthermore, our research indicates that the Journal of Sport & Social Issues played an integral and interdisciplinary role in supporting the emergence of this area of study. We argue the subfield holds great opportunity for future growth, most notably in empirical research.

Let’s Talk Sports: An Egocentric Discussion Network Analysis Regarding NFL Crisis Perceptions

“…This examination extended sport crisis communication research in three ways: (1) the application of SCCT to sports crises with a specific focus on stakeholders' crisis perceptions across the three levels inherent to a sports organization, (2) the inclusion of sport identification and fan communication behavior in researching sport crisis, and (3) the pairing of sport crisis research with a network perspective to explore the rhetorical arena. To date, sport crises have been researched as retrospective analyses, rhetorical in nature, and focused on crisis types or remediation attempts (Benoit, 2015;Benoit & Hanczor, 1994;Brazeal, 2008;Brown & Billings, 2013;Coombs, 1998Coombs, , 2014Fortunato, 2008;Harker & Saffer, 2018). In fact, throughout the first 25 years of sport crisis communication, few studies surveyed stakeholders regarding their crisis perceptions (Harker & Saffer, 2018).…”

“…To date, sport crises have been researched as retrospective analyses, rhetorical in nature, and focused on crisis types or remediation attempts (Benoit, 2015;Benoit & Hanczor, 1994;Brazeal, 2008;Brown & Billings, 2013;Coombs, 1998Coombs, , 2014Fortunato, 2008;Harker & Saffer, 2018). In fact, throughout the first 25 years of sport crisis communication, few studies surveyed stakeholders regarding their crisis perceptions (Harker & Saffer, 2018). Research regarding the rhetorical self-defense of fans (Brown & Billings, 2013;Brown, Brown, & Billings, 2015) and sponsors (Fortunato, 2017) on behalf of sports entities or individuals has been conducted, and some of these innovative research efforts were among the first to integrate SCCT and the theory's measures within the subfield of sport crisis communication (Harker & Saffer, 2018).…”

“…In fact, throughout the first 25 years of sport crisis communication, few studies surveyed stakeholders regarding their crisis perceptions (Harker & Saffer, 2018). Research regarding the rhetorical self-defense of fans (Brown & Billings, 2013;Brown, Brown, & Billings, 2015) and sponsors (Fortunato, 2017) on behalf of sports entities or individuals has been conducted, and some of these innovative research efforts were among the first to integrate SCCT and the theory's measures within the subfield of sport crisis communication (Harker & Saffer, 2018). Since, SCCT's application to sport crises has grown (Billings, Coombs, & Brown, 2018).…”

Identification and Crisis: An Exploration Into the Influence of Sports Identification on Stakeholder Perceptions of Sports-Related Crisis

“…Image repair theory (Benoit, 2015) is a theoretical, rhetorical lens used to decipher the application of crisis remediation strategies. Retrospective case studies of crisis situations oft en use this framework to identify the strategies a communicator used in self-defense following a crisis event (Avery, Lariscy, Kim, & Hocke, 2010;Harker & Saff er, 2018). Image repair theory is limited by its one-way communication structure and lacks an ability to assess the direct inclusion and measurement of public perceptions.…”

An Atlantic divide? Mapping the knowledge domain of European and North American-based sociology of sport, 2008–2018

“…The sociology of science shows that researchers who achieve in a certain field add to existing works by past/foundational authors – based on citations to show disciplinary knowledge domains (Harker and Adam, 2018). Furthermore, as the main formal medium for academic communication, academic articles published in peer-reviewed journals are the ‘life-blood’ of the discipline.…”