A Confessional Representation of Ethnographic Fieldwork in an Academy Sport Setting

H.C.R. Bowles,S. Fleming,A. Parker

doi:10.1177/08912416211003152

Abstract

Methodological “confessions” are an established genre of ethnographic writing and have contributed to the development of reflexivity in the practice of qualitative research. Yet despite their prevalence, methodological reflections on the specific challenges of conducting ethnography in institutional sport settings have not been developed. The aim of this article, therefore, is to provide a confessional representation of ethnographic fieldwork in a male academy sport environment in the United Kingdom which exhibited several institutional characteristics. Five images are used as stimuli for further methodological reflection in order to illustrate and analyze some practical, ethical, and relational qualities of ethnographic fieldwork. The interpretation and analysis draw attention to strategic ways ethnographers adapt their ethnographic presence in response to specific contextual challenges and constraints. The article concludes with a series of recommendations to guide ethnographic fieldworkers (especially novice ethnographers) in settings of a similar nature.

Highlights

On the methodological strengths of ethnographic fieldwork, the sociologist Ken Pryce (1979, 297) wrote: “participant observation permits the researcher to understand the problems of a group in a way that no other method will.” His first-hand account of West Indian lifestyles in Bristol, United Kingdom, between 1969 and 1974 is a classic example of ethnography’s power to get behind the scenes of cultural practice and disclose, in a richly descriptive and empathetic way, the everyday struggles people encounter
The confessional account that follows is structured around five photographs that are used as stimuli to reflect on the relational qualities of ethnographic fieldwork, as well as some of the practical and epistemic challenges of undertaking ethnographic research in an institutional sport setting
Confessional “tales” have a long history within ethnographic research and have become a well-established genre of methodological writing. Their purpose centers on providing rich, researcher-orientated accounts of fieldwork that enable ethnographers to engage in a process of systematic reflexivity and “come clean” about the way in which their research was conducted (Fleming 1995, 52)

Summary

Introduction

On the methodological strengths of ethnographic fieldwork, the sociologist Ken Pryce (1979, 297) wrote: “participant observation permits the researcher to understand the problems of a group in a way that no other method will.” His first-hand account of West Indian lifestyles in Bristol, United Kingdom, between 1969 and 1974 is a classic example of ethnography’s power to get behind the scenes of cultural practice and disclose, in a richly descriptive and empathetic way, the everyday struggles people encounter. The intention is to provide a confessional account of what it was like to research in an institutional sport context and to illuminate using visual evidence of ethnographic fieldwork in practice.

Results

Conclusion