I have a research idea, now what? : a practical guide to research method selection in sport management

Andolšek, Jure (author)

Research in sport management often defaults to cross‐sectional surveys analyzed with regression or structural equation modeling, even when questions and data environments call for temporal, experimental, ethnographic, or integrated designs. This paper addresses that misalignment by advancing method–question fit as the organizing principle for design in sport. We (a) synthesize how quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods are actually used in sport and where each is strongest; (b) present a five‐step, sport‐specific decision framework (align question–theory, audit data/access, balance epistemology and feasibility, plan ethics by design, and integrate methods for innovation); and (c) consolidate guardrails for quality (psychometrics, model fit and invariance, qualitative trustworthiness, and mixed‐methods integration). Theoretically, we articulate a sport‐specific evidentiary logic, an integration blueprint joining variance and process explanations, and a reliability/transportability charter suited to proprietary data contexts. We conclude with practical implications for organizations and training, and a future research agenda emphasizing longitudinal, experimental, ethnographic, and mixed‐methods programs.

• Language: English
• Keywords: sports management, decision making, research methods, decision framework
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: EF - School of Economics and Business
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2025
• Number of pages: Str. 81-93
• Numbering: Vol. 14, no. 2
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-179884
• UDC: 005.3:796
• ISSN on article: 2232-5867
• DOI: 10.17708/DRMJ.2025.v14n02a06
• COBISS.SI-ID: 257112323

Copyright

Na spletni strani založnika navedeno, da članki izhajajo pod licenco CC BY-NC 4.0.

• Publication date in RUL: 26.02.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Dynamic relationships management journal
• Publisher: Slovenian academy of management
• ISSN: 2232-5867
• COBISS.SI-ID: 262077952

Licences

• License: CC BY-NC 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
• Description: A creative commons license that bans commercial use, but the users don’t have to license their derivative works on the same terms.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: športni management, odločanje, raziskovalne metode