Researching health behaviour in ‘real time’: Methodological insights from a prospective study on Olympic hopefuls

In this article, we share our experience of navigating qualitative longitudinal research with a ‘hard to recruit’ population. To detail design conception, methodological challenges and insights, we draw on the case of a 1-year-long study on health behaviour in Olympic hopefuls. In order to accompany...

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Main Authors: Astrid Schubring, Natalie Barker-Ruchti, Anna Post, Stefan Pettersson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2019-04-01
Series:Methodological Innovations
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1177/2059799119840976
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spelling doaj-85a547b554dd44cfa3e175503779fa952020-11-25T03:16:19ZengSAGE PublishingMethodological Innovations2059-79912019-04-011210.1177/2059799119840976Researching health behaviour in ‘real time’: Methodological insights from a prospective study on Olympic hopefulsAstrid SchubringNatalie Barker-RuchtiAnna PostStefan PetterssonIn this article, we share our experience of navigating qualitative longitudinal research with a ‘hard to recruit’ population. To detail design conception, methodological challenges and insights, we draw on the case of a 1-year-long study on health behaviour in Olympic hopefuls. In order to accompany 12 athletes who aimed to qualify for either an Olympic Games (n = 10) or a World Championship (n = 2), we developed and implemented a career background questionnaire; semi-structured interviews; weekly web surveys; a training observation and a compilation of competition results. Based on the longitudinal research experience, we present project management and project data of the Paths-to-Rio study to discuss the challenges we faced, including gaining access to an elite population, their retention and anonymity. We further outline insights the prospective study gave us on the value of missing data as data and on the benefits participants described in terms of learning through research involvement. We conclude with recommendations for future qualitative longitudinal research.https://doi.org/10.1177/2059799119840976
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Astrid Schubring
Natalie Barker-Ruchti
Anna Post
Stefan Pettersson
spellingShingle Astrid Schubring
Natalie Barker-Ruchti
Anna Post
Stefan Pettersson
Researching health behaviour in ‘real time’: Methodological insights from a prospective study on Olympic hopefuls
Methodological Innovations
author_facet Astrid Schubring
Natalie Barker-Ruchti
Anna Post
Stefan Pettersson
author_sort Astrid Schubring
title Researching health behaviour in ‘real time’: Methodological insights from a prospective study on Olympic hopefuls
title_short Researching health behaviour in ‘real time’: Methodological insights from a prospective study on Olympic hopefuls
title_full Researching health behaviour in ‘real time’: Methodological insights from a prospective study on Olympic hopefuls
title_fullStr Researching health behaviour in ‘real time’: Methodological insights from a prospective study on Olympic hopefuls
title_full_unstemmed Researching health behaviour in ‘real time’: Methodological insights from a prospective study on Olympic hopefuls
title_sort researching health behaviour in ‘real time’: methodological insights from a prospective study on olympic hopefuls
publisher SAGE Publishing
series Methodological Innovations
issn 2059-7991
publishDate 2019-04-01
description In this article, we share our experience of navigating qualitative longitudinal research with a ‘hard to recruit’ population. To detail design conception, methodological challenges and insights, we draw on the case of a 1-year-long study on health behaviour in Olympic hopefuls. In order to accompany 12 athletes who aimed to qualify for either an Olympic Games (n = 10) or a World Championship (n = 2), we developed and implemented a career background questionnaire; semi-structured interviews; weekly web surveys; a training observation and a compilation of competition results. Based on the longitudinal research experience, we present project management and project data of the Paths-to-Rio study to discuss the challenges we faced, including gaining access to an elite population, their retention and anonymity. We further outline insights the prospective study gave us on the value of missing data as data and on the benefits participants described in terms of learning through research involvement. We conclude with recommendations for future qualitative longitudinal research.
url https://doi.org/10.1177/2059799119840976
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