ABSTRACT
Qualitative and quantitative research methods have distinctly different strengths and weaknesses. The purpose of this chapter is not to review the issues regarding the authenticity, trustworthiness or validity of qualitative data. The aim is instead to look closely at the contributions of qualitative approaches to performance analysis, with a particular focus on those studies that have sought to describe athletic performance from the inside. We also deal with a promising direction in this field: the articulation of descriptions of athletes’ activity from the ‘inside’ (i.e. qualitative) and from the outside (i.e. quantitative and semi-quantitative).
