Research methods

This chapter focuses on the various research methods that can be used to examine, understand, and explain the nature of corruption in sport. The chapter begins by setting the context for researching corruption in general, which because of its clandestine and illegal nature is dark, difficult, and potentially dangerous. This is followed by an overview of how the concept of knowledge management (KM) can be used as a comprehensive and coherent guiding framework for understanding and integrating the range of research choices, issues, and problems that confront a researcher when investigating corruption in sport. The next section presents a research cube that provides a systematic process for designing research that considers the interrelationships among the aims, approaches, methodologies, and methods that can potentially be used in a coherent mix-and-match manner to achieve a multifaceted investigation of any topic and/or phenomenon under study. Several research design methods used in corruption research are briefly outlined, such as surveys, focus groups, thematic analysis, content analysis, social network analysis, and case studies. This section includes a discussion on the ethical issues involved in corruption research. Finally, the chapter concludes with two brief case study research examples of sports corruption. Included at the end of each case study is a visual summary of a newly developed research tool for estimating the type and extent of sports corruption on the data/evidence available in various sports at any given moment in time.