TY - JOUR

T1 - Reviewing and problematizing methods and analytical strategies of discourse analysis in sport, exercise and physical education studies

AU - Sveinson, Katherine

AU - Wagner, Ulrik

PY - 2024

Y1 - 2024

N2 - The field of sport, exercise, and physical education studies continues to utilize and strives to enhance rigor in qualitative approaches. We build upon this work by narrowing a focus to appropriately applying rigorous discourse analysis (DA). Though variations of DA have been increasingly incorporated into sport, exercise, and physical education studies, a comprehensive overview specifically covering which methods underpin DA and which analytical strategies are adopted is missing. Therefore, we conducted a structured scoping review by identifying 1810 papers from journal and database searches from 2000 to April 2022, then narrowed the sample to 560 papers that specifically conducted a DA. The review focuses on studies and practices within Foucauldian Discourse Analysis, Critical Discourse Analysis, and Discursive Psychology. By adopting a problematizing approach, we critically question taken-for-granted practices of DA, and through our synthesis, we argue that uses of DA tend to be organized around three archetypes: as a method detached from theoretical origin, as a lens with less emphasis on methodological description by primarily utilizing theory to contextualize and interpret insights, and as a path where theory and methods overlap with appropriate methodological descriptions focusing on textual analysis.

AB - The field of sport, exercise, and physical education studies continues to utilize and strives to enhance rigor in qualitative approaches. We build upon this work by narrowing a focus to appropriately applying rigorous discourse analysis (DA). Though variations of DA have been increasingly incorporated into sport, exercise, and physical education studies, a comprehensive overview specifically covering which methods underpin DA and which analytical strategies are adopted is missing. Therefore, we conducted a structured scoping review by identifying 1810 papers from journal and database searches from 2000 to April 2022, then narrowed the sample to 560 papers that specifically conducted a DA. The review focuses on studies and practices within Foucauldian Discourse Analysis, Critical Discourse Analysis, and Discursive Psychology. By adopting a problematizing approach, we critically question taken-for-granted practices of DA, and through our synthesis, we argue that uses of DA tend to be organized around three archetypes: as a method detached from theoretical origin, as a lens with less emphasis on methodological description by primarily utilizing theory to contextualize and interpret insights, and as a path where theory and methods overlap with appropriate methodological descriptions focusing on textual analysis.

U2 - 10.1177/10126902231200369

DO - 10.1177/10126902231200369

M3 - Journal article

VL - 59

SP - 298

EP - 317

JO - International Review for the Sociology of Sport

JF - International Review for the Sociology of Sport

SN - 1012-6902

IS - 2

ER -