ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the basic tenets of interpretivism, before presenting it as a lens through which coaching can, and perhaps should, be considered. It initially provides a brief overview of interpretive inquiry as related to its ontological, epistemological, and methodological assumptions. The chapter discusses our experiences of conducting interpretive coaching research. Here, the focus is placed on how we came to adopt the interpretive stance in our work, in addition to highlighting the often messy and emotional processes of working in this way. In terms of its ontological, epistemological, and methodological underpinnings, the interpretive paradigm generally adopts an internalist-idealist/relativist ontology a subjectivist epistemology, and an idiographic methodology. In a similar vein, researchers may also have to manage the emotions of their research participants; something that is seldom documented in completed theses and sports coaching papers.
