Youth Gambling Research in Nigeria
A Critical Reflection on Epistemology, Fieldwork, Researcher’s Positionality, and Ethical Considerations
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 24231015 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Tunde Adebisi (0000-0002-9683-1014, University of Ulster) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 25 |
| Publication date | 2026-01-19 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | International Journal of Qualitative Methods (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1609-4069 • E-ISSN: 1609-4069 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/16094069261473130 |
| OpenAlex | W7220935831 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 50 |
The scientific consensus that establishes gambling as an addiction or harm is facilitated by the dominance of perspectives from the medical pathology and public health domains. These paradigms are frequently applied to African settings, including Nigeria, with minimal contextual adaptation. While these dominant approaches are useful to map harm, they often undermine and obscure the socio-cultural contexts within which gambling is embedded. This paper argues that these limitations pertain to the predetermined operationalisation and implications of how gambling is studied and understood, specifically as an addictive or harmful practice. Addressing this issue, this paper foregrounds a reflexive, multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork adopted and conducted in three Nigerian states where gambling is both conspicuous and embedded in the everyday life of young men. Reflexive engagement enabled alternative interpretations of gambling as a morally negotiated hustle embedded in precarious youth transitions. In doing so, the paper demonstrates how methodological decisions influenced analytic outcomes – revealing dimensions of gambling that are often obscured by dominant perspectives. The paper contributes a contextually grounded methodological approach for studying gambling in African contexts and advances a broader argument about the epistemological, positionality, and ethical consequences of research design.
African context · Epistemology · gambling addiction · medical model of addiction · moral negotiation · multi-sited ethnography · Nigeria · public health paradigm · Reflexivity · Research ethics · researcher positionality · youth gambling · African Studies and Ethnography · Gambling Behavior and Treatments · Qualitative Research Methods and Ethics
Reflexivity and Researcher Positionality
Deconstructing insider–outsider researcher positionality
Against the odds
Thematic analysis of qualitative data
A Review Committee's Guide for Evaluating Qualitative Proposals
A Reflexive Lens
Football and Colonialism, Domination and Appropriation
Colonial legacy, minorities and association football in Kenya
Violence and National Development in Nigeria
Lost and found? Globalised neoliberalism and global youth resistance
Going the Extra Mile
European football worlds and youth identifications in Kenya
Informed consent, anticipatory regulation and ethnographic practice
Bias in the Biography
Desert island data
Five stories of accidental ethnography
Youth and Cultural Practice
When the Future Decides
Youth, Football and Everyday Lived Experience in Ajegunle, Lagos
Introduction Urban kinship
Caring through crime
| Highly cited | No |
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