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

The aims of this review were to: 1) offer a comprehensive analysis ofnarrative research in sport and exercise sciences since the beginning ofthe 21st century, 2) enhance conceptual clarity and methodologicalrigour, and 3) identify new avenues of potential narrative exploration. Following an extensive search across two databases (i.e. Sportdiscus andPsychinfo) and a targeted manual search, 77 research papers were used toprovide an overview of narrative research, highlighting data collectionand analysis methods, participants, findings, significant contributions, aswell as the narrative themes and types. Our analytic process, drawing fromthe traditions of narrative analysis, showcased how narrative research hasbeen conducted and its revelations in sport and exercise sciences. Theanalysis 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, 51articles identified narrative types, with the performance (N = 26), relational(N = 12), and restitution (N = 8) types appearing most frequently. Whilethis review reveals commonalities linking narrative research in sport andexercise sciences, many gaps and future challenges were also identified.Primarily, we recommend that narrative researchers: 1) be more consistentin their language to prevent confusion and misunderstandings, 2) differ-entiate between narratives and stories more clearly, 3) analyse the contentand/or structure of stories, 4) expand research on exercise, health, andphysical activity, 5) include participants from diverse cultural and non-Western contexts, 6) explore narrative characters, and 7) investigate theperformance narrative type in applied settings.