Chapter 1 - Sociology of Physical Activity PDF

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AHS 107: SOCIOLOGY OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY Readings – Chapter 1 10.13.18 Goals of sociology of physical activity - Consider physical activity beyond common understanding of social life - Identify and analyze patterns of change and stability in physical activity - Critique physical activity programs to identify problems and recommend changes Why use it? - Human physical activity is a crucial organizing component of all social systems - Focuses on shared beliefs and social practices that constitute specific forms of physical activity (Ex. Sport, exercise) - Sociologists view constant stream of social interaction as most important source of societal problems - Evaluate social interaction o Pass judgement on its contributions to overall human well-being and equitable social relationships  Ex. Relationship between racial and ethnic groups, men and women, etc. What do sociologists of physical activity do? - Often act as professors in universities - Coaches or trainers for elite level competition - Their work helps local communities and fosters a sense of civic responsibility - Also includes: o Consulting with a community group about the role played by physical activity in agendas for bringing about community wide change  Ex. Immigrant settlement issues, city planning, etc.

History - Since 1970s, sociologists of physical activity have explored topics including forms of inequality, globalization, and regional and national differences, societal conceptions of human body, and disability and ability Research - Research methods include surveys, interviews, thematic analysis, ethnography, and societal anaylsis - 3 categories of knowledge: o Landscape o Descriptive o Analytic Surveys - Questionnaires completed directly by respondents or filled out by researcher during interviews - Political poll about voting preferences Interviews - Used when researches want broader, deeper information or info about activities that would be difficult to observe - Focus group research used widely o Valuable when researcher wishes to gain insight into people’s shared understandings and learn how individuals are influenced by others Thematic Analysis - “Content analysis”, “textual analysis” - Used to investigate cultural material such as magazine/newspaper articles, photos, verbal and visual content on tv programs, sporting events and celebrities, etc. - Involves examining material and categorizing its content based on a strategy of thematic coding - Researchers often identify several main themes and subthemes o Helps to organize large mass of data into a manageable number of categories to be further analyzed in relation to theories of interest

Ethnography - Primary source of information - Spend long periods of time observing social settings - Look at local documents or use interviews and questionnaires - Analyze data using thematic analysis Societal analysis - Researcher’s goal is to examine the sweep of social life; usually from the perspective of a broad social theory - Theories are broad as they attempt to explain the most fundamental ways in which societies operate o Ex. Marxism Overview of Knowledge - Look at human movement from standpoint of power relationships or the ways in which physical activity choices across life span are influenced by external, dominant cultural beliefs - Focus on access and control - Centers on understanding power in context of cultural analysis Gender in Sports - Female sports receive fewer resources o Travel money, coach salaries, publicity funds, media exposure, and corporate sponsorships o Often given team names or mascots which suggest physical ineptitude - Women occupy a relatively small proportion of coaching and leadership positions in sport - Sport tends to reinforce ideas about the acceptability of heterosexual male dominance Racial and Ethnic Relations - Racial and ethnic minority communities have lived with contingent civil representation and rights and typically hold less power than racial-majority communities

- Mass media’s tendency to push narratives of athletic achievement by members of minority racial-ethnic communities as a “way out”, “only option” etc. o Limits our understanding of rates of participation among racial groups across various sport and physical activity settings - Few African-Americans reach important sport leadership positions, even in team sports that feature many African-American players Income - Wealthy people occupy influential leadership positions in popular spectator sports and in some physical activities - Those at the lowest levels of socioeconomic status rarely find themselves in positions of leadership Cultural Expression - Well-sculpted bodies and participation in expensive sports can mark individuals as wealthy - Sport can reinforce the socioeconomic belief that winners and losers deserve what they get o Winning is usually attributed to self-discipline, talent, and hard work  Underscored conception of merit that links hard work and talent to financial success  Causes people to overlook societal barriers (poor nutrition, gang violence, lack of child care, etc.) which hinder efforts by poor people to fully develop themselves - Team sports also send messages about importance of obedience and teamwork...