Sport And Exercise Psychology: A Critical Introduction

manipulation of

certain

variables and

control of

others

measurement ii Precise

control of

independent

Variables

iii Causal

inference

possible

always possible

to generalise

results beyond

lab. setting

ii Vulnerable to

certain biases

effects various

secondary tasks

on implicit motor

skill performance

Surveys

questionnaires

and

psychology

tests

To measure

people’s

attitudes,

beliefs and/or

abilities

Quantitative or

qualitative

i Easy to

administer,

score and

analyse

ii Can be

tailored to

specific

populations

i Limited to

conscious

experiences and

processes

ii Vulnerable to

certain biases

Hall Mack Paivio

& Hausenblas

Hausenbias

(1998) developed

a test to measure

imagery use in

athletes

Interviews and

focus groups

To explore

people’s

knowledge and

experiences of a

topic “in depth”

Qualitative

(main themes)

and quantitative

(e,g., frequency

analysis of key

words)

i Richness of

data collected

ii Flexible

iii Can lead to

“grounded

theory”

i Very

laboriousand

time-

consuming to

ana1yse

ii Interviewer

may

contaminate

findings

Jones Hanton &

Connaughton

(2002) explored

athletes’

understanding of

“mental

toughness”

Case studies To provide an

intensive

analysis of a

single case or

exampe

Qualitative Can yield

detailed

information of

a phenomenon

over time

Difficult to

generalise from

findings

Krane Greenleaf

& Snow (1997)

studied the

motivation of an

elite gymnsat

Naturalistic

observation

To observe and

analyse

naturally

occurring

behaviour in

real-life settings

Qualitative Can help to

understand the

nature and

context of

certain

behaviour

i No

experimental

control over

variables

ii Presence of

observer may

influence

findings

Muir (1991)

conducted a

participant

observation study

of behaviour in a

tennis club

Applied consultancy work

This category of sport psychology services may be subdivided into two types of work:
advice on performance enhancement and the provision of counselling/clinical psychology
services. Let us consider these activities separately.
The most obvious reason why athletes consult sport psychologists is to gain practical
advice on ways of improving their mental preparation and/or competitive performance.
Such requests may come directly as self-referrals or indirectly through coaches, general
practitioners, governing bodies of sports and/or national “carding schemes” whereby elite
athletes may be given funded access to medical and sport science advisers. Typically,
these consultations are motivated by a desire to realise some unfulfilled athletic potential

Sport and exercise psychology: A critical introduction 18