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A plea for mixed methods approaches in research on teaching in physical education

Ein Plädoyer für multimethodische Ansätze in der Sportunterrichtsforschung

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Abstract

Research on teaching in Physical Education (RT-PE) comprises a great deal of complex phenomena. These can be understood at a more profound level by using mixed methods research approaches (MMR). Hence, the aim of this paper is to analyze potentials and limitations of mixed methods research in RT-PE, also trying to generate an additional value for MMR.

First, it approaches research streams and methods in RT-PE. Second, the key elements of mixed methods research are analyzed to integrate this approach into RT-PE. Third, several mixed methods studies, organized along different levels of complexity, are presented to illustrate the added value of MMR for different epistemological interests of RT-PE. Finally, dealing with quality issues of mixed methods designs brings about a more general view of the issue at hand.

Zusammenfassung

Sportunterrichtsforschung muss sich mit einer relativ großen Anzahl an komplexen Phänomenen befassen. Diese können Sportunterrichtsforschung befasst sich mit einer ganzen Reihe von komplexen Phänomenen. Diese können durch Anwendung von „mixed methods“-Ansätzen wesentlich tiefgründiger beschrieben und erklärt werden. Der vorliegende Beitrag verfolgt deshalb das Ziel, Möglichkeiten und Grenzen von „mixed methods“-Ansätzen in der Sportunterrichtsforschung zu analysieren, um letztendlich auch einen Mehrwert für die mixed methods research (MMR) zu generieren.

Zuerst erfolgt eine Annäherung an thematische Strömungen und Methoden der Sportunterrichtsforschung. In einem zweiten Schritt werden die Schlüsselelemente der MMR analysiert und in eine methodologische Konzeption der Sportunterrichtsforschung integriert. Dem folgt eine Präsentation ausgewählter multimethodischer Studien, welche anhand verschiedener Komplexitätsgrade geordnet sind und den Mehrwert für das Erkenntnisinteresse der Sportunterrichtsforschung verdeutlichen. Abschließend wird mit einer Diskussion der „Qualitätsfrage“ von MMR eine allgemeinere Sichtweise eingenommen.

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Notes

  1. RT-PE is the abbreviation for “research in teaching physical education” (cf. Silverman 1991, p. 352), a sub-discipline of sport pedagogy (Haag and Miethling 2008); it will be used throughout the text.

  2. Tashakkori and Teddlie (2003) list a variety of fields including sociology, nursing, psychology, management, health sciences, evaluation, and education. This is supported by publications in JMMR and JMRA.

  3. R-TE is the abbreviation for research on teacher education (Silverman, 1991, p. 352).

  4. The original titles of the journals are: Sportwissenschaft, Zeitschrift für Sportpädagogische Forschung, Spectrum der Sportwissenschaften.

  5. SWOT = strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats.

  6. Intentional training describes the targeted approach of specific conditional and coordinative goals, whereas implicit training refers to adaptions that emerge while learning, overlearning, or automatizing motor skills or tactical competencies (cf. König, 2014, p. 19).

  7. According to Singer and Willett (2003, p. 10) there should be at least three waves of data collection due to several reasons.

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  1. University of Education, Kirchplatz 2, 88250, Weingarten, Germany

    Stefan König

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The accompanying manuscript does not include studies on humans or animals performed by any of the authors.

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König, S. A plea for mixed methods approaches in research on teaching in physical education. Sportwiss 46, 179–187 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12662-016-0403-6

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