Telling tales in sport, exercise and performance psychology: the how, what and why of creative analytical practices

There has been a significant increase in interest in qualitative methodologies since the turn of the century. One reason for this increased interest is a desire to understand the different ways which can inform how we understand social reality and, as researchers, describe and represent the social reality of those we work with. Creative Analytical Practices (CAPs) are one novel way in which researchers have worked to analyse and (re-)present knowledge developed through stories shared by those they’ve engaged in the research process. This scoping review provides a descriptive overview of the extent, range and nature of the use of CAPs in sport, exercise and performance psychology (SEPP) by reviewing research using a form of CAP to represent research findings published over the past 20 years in six high profile SEPP journals. Based on the analysis of 43 published articles four descriptive themes are presented: ‘The ascent of creative non-fiction and composite stories’, ‘Centralising marginalised voices’, ‘Researchers as storytellers’, and ‘Judging the quality of CAPs’. Critical thoughts, developed from a connoisseurship position, are then shared in the form of three questions posed to current and potential authors of CAPs: ‘Is there a hesitancy to push the boundaries?’, ‘Why choose to engage with CAPs as a form of representation?’ and ‘Who are we writing our stories with?’. The review ends with the authors’ thoughts on how SEPP researchers can begin to use CAPs to move from describing ‘what is’ to imagining ‘what could be’.