Data analysis

Individual semi-structured interviews

Data collection and analysis occurred as close together as possible. The content analysis of the data began immediately after conducting and

transcribing the first interview. The analysis followed procedures for content analysis similar to these used in other research studies that have employed qualitative research designs (e.g., Jowett & Cockerill, 2003; Scanlan et al, 1991), and was based on the techniques recommended by Weber (1990). Doing simultaneously the data collection and analysis increased researcher’s familiarity with the data and allowed for making probes in relevant themes in the following interviews. The tape-recorded interviews were transcribed verbatim by the author on a total of 234 pages (1 ½ spacing, #12 font) of transcribed data. Then, the audiotape was listened and the transcript was reread in order for the researcher to become familiar with each interview.

Content analysis was used to identify from the transcripts the extracts of data that are informative in some way and to sort out important messages hidden in the mass of each interview. Content analysis has been defined as a systematic, replicable technique for compressing many words of text into fewer content categories based on explicit rules of coding (Weber, 1990). It has also been defined as: “a research method for the subjective interpretation of the content of text data through the systematic classification process of coding and identifying themes or patterns” (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005, p. 1278). These definitions show that qualitative content analysis allows researchers to interpret social reality in a subjective but scientific manner. Content analysis is a

words, phrases, sentences or paragraphs. Additionally, content analysis

procedures were used in order to classify the textual information, reducing it to more relevant and controllable information units (Weber, 1990). There are two ways of conducting content analysis: inductively and deductively. With inductive analysis, new themes and categories emerge from the interviewee quotes, while deductive analysis uses a pre-existing set of categories (usually based on existing theory and research) to organize the quotes (Patton, 2002). Inductive content analysis is used in cases where there are no previous studies dealing with the phenomenon or when it is fragmented. A deductive approach is useful if the general aim was to test a previous theory in a different situation or to compare categories at different time periods (Elo & Kyngas, 2008).

Similar to Sparkes’ (1998) study, firstly the transcripts were read several times in order the researcher to familiarise herself with, and understand, the participants’ information. Second, ideas and themes were tried to be identified. Analytical memos were written (Minichiello et al., 1999) consisting of the

preliminary ideas about how those themes, extracted from the interviews, are connected to Taylor and Ogilvie’s model (1998). The analysis of the present study departed from raw data themes and proceeded by a deductive category and development (e.g., first-order and second-order themes), which gradually became an inductive category application (e.g., general content categories), always having as an orientation the main components of Taylor’s and Ogilvie’s conceptual model for sports career termination. The process was considered complete when no additional meaningful groupings coalesced. The

combination of inductive and deductive content analysis is advanced by qualitative methodologists (Patton, 2002), as the most pragmatic way of conducting content analysis since no researcher formulates a study without some initial hypotheses stemming from previous research and relevant theory. The list of codes was grouped into general dimensions. Some part of the participants’ information was not categorized due to irrelevance to the purpose (irrelevant according to the main components of Taylor and Ogilvie’s

conceptual model). Afterwards, as Weber (1990) stated that in an interview the most frequently appearing words (or statements) reflect the greatest concerns,

frequency analysis (amount of content) in terms of percentages completed the deductive-inductive content analysis.

Life histories

The analysis of the data began immediately after conducting and transcribing both interviews. As in content analysis, after transcription,

narratives were coded according to categories deemed theoretically important, having as an orientation Taylor and Ogilvie’s (1998) conceptual model of adaptation to athletic retirement. A content analysis was conducted to identify themes and categories that were evident in the data. In this analysis the process that was followed was detailed by Lieblich et al. (1998, p. 12) where “the original story is dissected, and sections or single words belonging to a defined category are collected from the entire story.” The tape-recorded interviews were transcribed verbatim on a total of 31 pages (1½, #12 font) of transcribed data.

Narrative analysis deals only with verbal material, usually stories or accounts of personal experiences and, thus, can provide us with a deeper level of understanding into athletes’ lives before and after sports retirement. In

addition, it provides a way to keep experience and meaning unified, and thus allows for greater understanding of athletes’ lives. A narrative links past events, or stories, together to explain how a final outcome might come about

(adaptation to sports career termination), or how meaning is given to certain aspects of athletes’ lives. Providing insight and understanding to the researcher about the people being studied is one purpose of narrative analysis.

In narrative inquiry there are several common characteristics that fit many studies. For Clandinin and Connelly (2000), stories report personal experiences in narrative inquiry (what the individual experiences) as well as social experiences (the individual interacting with others). They, also, state that experience should be viewed as continuous where one experience leads to another. The stories constitute the data and the researcher gathers it through interviews or informal conversations. A story in narrative research is a first- person oral telling or retelling of events related to personal experiences of an individual. Often these stories have a beginning, middle and an end (Chatman,

1978). In a more general sense, a story might include elements like, time, place, plot, and scene (Connelly & Clandinin, 1990). In this process,

researchers review the story and identify themes and categories that emerge from that story. In addition, the researcher writes a chronology of events describing the individuals past, present, and future experiences lodged within specific settings. Cortazzi (1993) suggested that it is the chronology of narrative research within an emphasis on sequence that sets this method apart from other methods of research.