Purpose
Ethnography in sport, exercise, and health has helped us understand the ways culture influences the social environment and perceptions of members in groups. There is a rich history of long and in-depth studies. However, current working conditions for researchers along with changes to sport, exercise, and health industries are changing the ways we plan and conduct ethnographic fieldwork.
Is it still possible to live up to Malinowski’s ideals of living among the people with whom one is researching? What about the prolonged engagement often lasting years?
This project is an ongoing effort to interrogate the ethnographic method as reciprocal relationships with participants, society, culture, and collaborators shape it. The aim is to make methodological and theoretical contributions to the field.
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Project 1: Making Mistakes in Ethnography
Making Mistakes in Ethnography is a recent paper by Niels Feddersen, which began with the question: “How do mistakes arise in ethnography, and how do they influence research trajectories?” In a recent article, the aim was to offer a methodological and practical contribution to the literature on ethnography by drawing upon three ethnographic studies conducted within sport organisations between 2014 and 2020. Mistakes were conceptualised as charged, revelatory moments. Adopting this perspective facilitated an exploration of three interconnected aspects of mistakes: a) wishful thinking, b) the influence of social relationships, and c) reflexivity.
In the paper, Feddersen argued that mistakes are likely to emerge during extended periods of participant observation. These mistakes can heighten awareness of similar errors in the future, potentially narrowing focus on other unforeseen challenges. Furthermore, I contend that no amount of planning, reading, preparation, or reflexivity can render researchers immune to mistakes when engaging with complex real-world settings and conducting research with people. Instead, these mistakes can foster a deeper understanding of the research context.
Project 2: A Sense of Place
There is a rich body of literature addressing the behaviours, meanings, and perceptions of participants as they navigate their contexts and cultures. However, an overlooked area is the reciprocal relationship between people and the places they inhabit and engage with in their daily lives. Reading contemporary ethnographies on sport and physical activity prompts one to wonder: where has the sense of place gone? Places likely shape people, just as people shape places. Hence, they should play an important role in data collection, analysis, and reporting.
Ethnographic research is often premised on presence and participation. Studies are inherently grounded in the places where participants spend their time. Historically, these places and populations were often unfamiliar to both the ethnographer and the reader. Yet, researchers frequently take advantage of their pre-existing networks and experience in sport, exercise, and health studies, entering familiar groups and settings. This profoundly influences how places are represented in contemporary ethnography.
In this project, the focus is on the intersection of the experiential dimensions of place and larger societal forces to illustrate how they reveal social dynamics among people. These experiential dimensions are tied to meaning-making, as faces, casual encounters, passers-by, and collective struggles unfold in specific locales. The social dynamics influenced by place lend their own narrative arc to the setting.
