Types of evidence used in Canadian provincial sport organisations

Abstract

Different types of evidence can be used to inform organisational decision making. The purpose of this study was to identify types of evidence used in sport organisations. Data were collected via interviews with 60 Canadian Provincial Sport Organisation representatives from five provinces. A qualitative description approach was used and data were subjected to an inductive-to-deductive thematic analysis procedure, with the deductive component guided by a classification of evidence types. Results demonstrated that knowledge and information (reported by 38 participants) and ideas and interests (28 participants) were the most frequently reported evidence types, whereas research (12 participants), political (2 participants), and economic (12 participants) evidence types were least frequently reported. These findings suggest that sport science researchers could communicate in the form of, and through mediums dedicated to, knowledge and information and ideas and interests in order to reach sport organisations.