Postmodern and feminist qualitative research: methodology, methods, and practice

Women's participation in sport is a feminist issue deserving of research and theory development. On a number of objective measure women are disadvantaged relative to men with respect to sports participation (Plaisted, 1995). From school and community sports through to Olympic and professional sports females participate at a lower rate than males. Whether we look at facilities, finance, or media coverage, the resources available to female athletes are less than those available to male athletes. Despite these disadvantages, however, the female 21% of Australian Olympic teams from 1948 to 1992 won Australia 39% of its medals (Australian Sports Commission, 1992). Women are overcoming obstacles to put in outstanding performances but their achievements are not being recognized or encourage to the same extent as men's