Narrative research in sport and exercise science in the early 21st century: a state-of-the-art critical review

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ABSTRACT The aims of this review were to: 1) offer a comprehensive analysis of narrative research in sport and exercise sciences since the beginning of the 21st century, 2) enhance conceptual clarity and methodological rigour, and 3) identify new avenues of potential narrative exploration. Following an extensive search across two databases (i.e. Sportdiscus and Psychinfo) and a targeted manual search, 77 research papers were used to provide an overview of narrative research, highlighting data collection and analysis methods, participants, findings, significant contributions, as well as the narrative themes and types. Our analytic process, drawing from the traditions of narrative analysis, showcased how narrative research has been conducted and its revelations in sport and exercise sciences. The analysis uncovered that 51 articles had aims in three primary areas: 1) meaning and identity construction, 2) disability and/or impairment, and 3) athletic career pathways and/or in-career transitions. Additionally, 51 articles identified narrative types, with the performance (N = 26), relational (N = 12), and restitution (N = 8) types appearing most frequently. While this review reveals commonalities linking narrative research in sport and exercise sciences, many gaps and future challenges were also identified. Primarily, we recommend that narrative researchers: 1) be more consistent in their language to prevent confusion and misunderstandings, 2) differentiate between narratives and stories more clearly, 3) analyse the content and/or structure of stories, 4) expand research on exercise, health, and physical activity, 5) include participants from diverse cultural and non-Western contexts, 6) explore narrative characters, and 7) investigate the performance narrative type in applied settings.