Chapter 3: Knowledge in Sport Sociology

Question 1

what is social research?

Answer 1

investigations where we seek answers to questions about social worlds by gathering and analyzing data

Question 2

what are social theories?

Answer 2

interrelated explanations of actions and relationships between humans and the organization and dynamics of social worlds

Question 3

what is the goal of sociology?

Answer 3

to describe socials worlds so that they’re consistent with collected evidence

Question 4

what is a personal theory?

Answer 4

summary of your ideas and explanations of social life and the context in which it occurs, used to anticipate events, actions, and consequences

Question 5

what is cultural capital?

Answer 5

practical knowledge that people develop through personal experience, used to navigate, manage, and control our lives

Question 6

what are the 5 steps of research?

Answer 6

step 1: developing a research question
step 2: select an appropriate theory and research method
step 3: collect and analyze data
step 4: use your findings to produce a conclusion
step 5: publish results

Question 7

how do you develop a research question?

Answer 7

• start with observations
• produce questions based on observations
• research to see if your questions have already been answered

Question 8

what is cultural theory? give an example.

Answer 8

• an explanation for the way people think and express values in their social world
  example) impact of racial ideology on sport participation choices

Question 9

what is interactionist theory? give an example.

Answer 9

• explains the relationships through which people give meaning to sport experiences and how they integrate them into their lives
  example) process of normalizing pain and injury in sport

Question 10

what is structural theory? give an example.

Answer 10

• explains different social organizations and how they influence actions and relationships
  example) who benefits when public money builds stadiums for pro sport teams

Question 11

what are narratives?

Answer 11

explanations and stories told by individuals to explain and make sense of their choices and actions

Question 12

what is the quantitative method?

Answer 12

• collecting data about people and social worlds
• converting data into numbers
• analyzing the numbers using statistical procedures and tests

example) written questionnaire

Question 13

what is the qualitative method?

Answer 13

• collecting data about specific people, media content, event, or social worlds
• identifying patters and unique features
• analyzing information using interpretive procedures and tests

example) interviews

Question 14

what are symbols?

Answer 14

concrete representations of the values, beliefs, and moral principles around which people organize their ways of life

Question 15

what is gender?

Answer 15

interrelated meanings, performances, and organization that become important aspects of social worlds

Question 16

what is ethnography?

Answer 16

fieldwork involving observation and interviews to provide information about the organization and dynamics of a social world

Question 17

what is gender as meaning? give an example.

Answer 17

refers to how people learn to identify certain colours, names, and objects as masculine or feminine

example) pink is for girls, blue is for boys

Question 18

what is gender as performance? give an example.

Answer 18

refers to the fact that people “do” gender while interacting

example) you throw like a girl

Question 19

what is gender as organization? give an example.

Answer 19

refers to the ways that positions, roles, and responsibilities are structured around gender

example) coaches are mainly men