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The Status of Theory

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Rethinking Sport and Exercise Psychology Research

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Abstract

All knowledge in sport and exercise psychology arguably consists of more or less corroborated theory. This chapter argues that dominant theories in the field are typically held dogmatically by researchers and, further, that this damages progress in research. This argument is illustrated with a study of recent research using Self-Determination Theory and also through a critical appraisal of the dominant methodological approach to theory generation: Grounded Theory. The chapter concludes by drawing on Popperian and Lakatosian principles to suggest ways out of this dogmatic dead-end.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    We do not explicitly differentiate Goal Contents Theory (GCT) and Relationships Motivation Theory (RMT) in this brief outline as they are relatively new (and minor) additions to the SDT canon and did not feature significantly in the papers we reviewed.

  2. 2.

    We searched using EBSCO database with the phrase ‘grounded theory’ (in abstract) and ‘psychology’ (anywhere in the paper) and then added a limiter of only peer-reviewed papers. We then selected only papers appearing in journals with impact factors (i.e. 8 journals: JSEP, PSE, TSP, JASP, PE&SP, QRSEH, IJSP, IJSEP) to reach a subtotal of 42 papers. Finally, we removed 4 discussion papers to finish with 38.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Health and Human Sciences, Southern Cross University, Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Australia

    Peter Hassmén

  2. Research Institute for Sport and Exercise, University of Canberra, Canberra Australian Capital Territory, Australia

    Richard Keegan

  3. Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, UK

    David Piggott

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  1. Peter Hassmén
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  2. Richard Keegan
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  3. David Piggott
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Hassmén, P., Keegan, R., Piggott, D. (2016). The Status of Theory. In: Rethinking Sport and Exercise Psychology Research. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-48338-6_4

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