ABSTRACT
For many of us, including some of those researching it, sport is crucially a human activity, taking place in diverse contexts. That fact is central to any investigation of sport, bearing on the methods appropriately used (and hence on the ethical issues confronted). For the slogan, deployed repeatedly, that for research purposes human beings be treated as though they were persons (Harré, 1983) acknowledges that we can interact with human subjects in ways impossible for one’s interaction with the subjects of biology. One can ask one’s subjects, and take note of their replies or other responses. That leads us back to naturalistic or real world research designs, by suggesting (correctly) that naturalism is usually a virtue here.
