Searching for Validity in Interview Research on Football (Soccer) Ultras as a Hard-to-Reach Group

Abstract

There is a significant gap in the literature regarding proven interviewing techniques for qualitative interviews with football ultras and a considerable lack of comprehensive methodological guidance on enhancing validity in research involving hard-to-reach groups. In this article, we address both gaps by systematising our fieldwork experience from research on ultras in Poland and proposing refined and tested techniques that increase the validity of interview-based research on ultras and hard-to-reach groups. These techniques address the main issues associated with qualitative validity identified during our fieldwork, which we conceptualise using three themes: conspiracy of silence and lack of trust, overselling, and radical views.