POSSIBILITIES FOR QUALITATIVE RESEARCH IN SPORT PSYCHOLOGY

Various forms of qualitative research can aid our applied practice by increasing our understanding of the contexts and psychological dynamic s of sport. To reap greater benefits from qualitative research, a key step will be to recognize and accept different views of knowledge that underlie many qualitative approaches. From this perspective, this pap er focuses on possibilities to use qualitative research in sport psych ology to describe, interpret, verify, and evaluate phenomena of intere st. The potential of qualitative research to allow for surprises and p roduce understandable and credible findings and theories is also addre ssed. The spirit of the paper and the conclusion focus on the many way s in which the ''goodness'' (Peshkin, 1993) or ''strength'' (Maxwell, 1996) of qualitative research can be part of what is done in sport psy chology.