Researching Rugby in New Zealand: Reflections on Writing the Self and the Research Problem

• Autores: Camilla Obel
• Localización: Sociology of sport journal, ISSN 0741-1235, Vol. 21, Nº. 4, 2004, págs. 418-434
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • This article offers a methodological account of my study of rugby union in New Zealand and an autobiographical description of the production of my researcher self. I argue that reflexivity in writing research requires both a scrutinizing of the act of producing the research problem and a “confessional” that reveals how the researcher enters the field, her biases, and her self as a product of knowledge and social life produced by others. In this article, the latter includes my position as a foreign woman researching the male sport of rugby and my reflections on the impact of gender on the research process despite my initial reluctance to include a gender perspective in the study. The former focuses on how I produced an historical and sociological account that questioned the local taken-for-granted explanations for the success of the national New Zealand All Black team and the position of rugby as the national game.