A critical realist morphogenetic approach to researching sport policy: reflections on a large-scale study of policy implementation in grassroots English football

Abstract

While a critical realist (CR) philosophy of science has gained increasing popularity in the social sciences, its application to the study of sport has so far been limited. Building on the small body of work on CR and sport, this paper considers the ways that a CR informed approach can aid a critical investigation of sport policy. It shows how CR principles were used by the author to design and conduct a large-scale investigation into the implementation of the English Football Association's equality policy. In particular, the use of Margaret Archer's morphogenetic approach shaped both the ontological assumptions of the research and its methodological design. The CR approach helped in identifying some of the underlying causes of resistance to policy implementation which emerged from the data collected. This then began to show how the policy in question appeared to have the opposite effect in enforcing change in the grassroots game; existing structural conditions were strengthened through the actions of key personnel rather than elaborated or altered. The paper argues that adopting a CR approach can lead to deeper insights into the outcomes of policy implementation. CR offers critical sport scholars useful ontological and methodological guidance from which to design studies investigating issues in sport policy.