The science of research in sport and tourism: some reflections upon the promise of the sociological imagination

The following paper discusses some issues relating to qualitative research in sport and tourism drawing upon the sociological imagination of C. Wright Mills. In arguing the case for a perspectival approach to data collection it explores the textual construction of qualitative research accounts. A reflexive framework highlights the different ways of telling and discusses the need for more ways to tell of culture as we move from macro to micro theoretical analyses of the social world. It has been suggested that how our research is presented is just as important as what is presented, although this is not always considered within the context of the peer review process and its associated pressures. Understanding writing as a way of knowing becomes of significant importance as we each tell our tales. In exploring the hermeneutic circle of interaction it discusses factors concerning the uniqueness and individuality of interpretive studies and also briefly considers what contribution the sociological imagination may make to meta interpretation and the synthesis of qualitative research.