The Sociology of Behaviour in Golf Clubs
The Sociology of Behaviour in Golf Clubs
Research topic
My research topic is on the experiences of people in golf clubs. I looked at people's behaviour on the golf course and in the club bar. I studied their conversation topics and patterns and their attitudes towards playing 'well' or 'badly'. I also looked at their perceptions and views about other players. I also explored the themes such as gender, class and racism that were raised in my literature review. I saw if these correlated with my own research and whether new themes arose. I felt qualitative research was the most suitable methodology for my research.
Research Questions
Qualitative research involves formulating questions to be explored and developed in the research process, rather than hypotheses to be tested by or against empirical research (Mason, 1996:15). Research questions are questions, which the research is designed to address and should express the essence of the enquiry. In my study the questions I set out to address were:
* What are peoples experiences of golf clubs?
* Who are members of golf clubs?
* Are their experiences effected by gender? By class?
* What way do they behave on golf courses?
* What way do they behave in club bars?
* What do they talk about? Are their conversation topics and patterns different on the golf course to the club bar?
* What kinds of ideas, norms and beliefs operate in golf clubs? Are their any 'unwritten rules'?
My research questions were open enough to allow for a large degree of exploratory enquiry and they allowed me to generate further questions at a later stage.
Qualitative research
Qualitative research is a relatively new method of sociological research and has developed from the Interpretative Social Science approach in the last 40 years. Its emphasis is on the meanings and motivations people often attach to behaviour. Qualitative research is based on a naturalistic enquiry and it examines people in their own natural setting. It is also grounded on inductive analysis i.e. it is hypothesis generating (Silverman, 1993:21). The questions come out of the data. Preconceptions regarding the topic or research are abandoned and ideas are only formed once the data is obtained. An importance is placed on fieldwork with a concentration on the mundane. Also in qualitative research issues regarding ethics are to the forefront and there is also recognition that as a researcher it is impossible to be entirely impartial (McCracken, 1988:18).
Qualitative research is rigorous yet flexible and contextual. It is concerned with collecting and analysing information with the focus on exploring, in as much detail as possible, small instances which are interesting and aims to achieve 'depth' rather than 'breath' (Blaxter, Hughes & Tight, 1996:60). I feel that using qualitative methods helped get a truer sense of golf clubs, as the contexts of inquiry are not contrived. They are natural and therefore nothing can be presumed or taken for granted. Also, as a qualitative study, my analysis was ongoing and involved an appraisal by me, as researcher, of ...
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Qualitative research is rigorous yet flexible and contextual. It is concerned with collecting and analysing information with the focus on exploring, in as much detail as possible, small instances which are interesting and aims to achieve 'depth' rather than 'breath' (Blaxter, Hughes & Tight, 1996:60). I feel that using qualitative methods helped get a truer sense of golf clubs, as the contexts of inquiry are not contrived. They are natural and therefore nothing can be presumed or taken for granted. Also, as a qualitative study, my analysis was ongoing and involved an appraisal by me, as researcher, of what I feel I've learnt about the experiences of golf clubs. As a qualitative study, it directly concerned with the experience of golf clubs as it is ' lived' or 'felt', not the formal face that it may present tot the outside world (Blaxter, Hughes & Tight, 1996:60).
Qualitative Methodology
The methods used in my qualitative research project were participant observation and in-depth interviewing.
Participant observation:
Participant observation is " the systematic noting and recording of events, behaviour and artefacts in the social setting chosen for study" (Marshall & Rossman, 1995:79). It comes from the premise that one cannot really understand someone's viewpoint unless you actually live their life for a while. Observations are located in the here and now of everyday situations. It forces you to cast aside generalities and preconceptions. It should be open, flexible and opportunistic (Jorgensen, 1989:13). This is important because it is through this that topics raised in my literature review were substantiated or shown to be irrelevant. It is also through observing that new subjects or issues arise.
Participant observation was particularly useful in researching my chosen topic of golf clubs. This was because I knew very little about golf clubs and through observation you can gather a lot of information relatively quickly. Also, golf clubs are hidden from public view. This would lead to differences between 'insider' and 'outsider' views. Furthermore, I was aware, through my golf-playing parents, that there were meanings and terminology that could only be understood and made significant in the golf club setting.
Jorgensen pointed that animals behave and interact differently in environments constructed and manufactured by humans, such as a zoo, than they would do so in their natural environment (1989:15). This is similarly true for human beings. I recognise that my presence, in the role of observer-as-participant, may have changed the participant's behaviour. To minimise this and in order to get more realistic fieldnotes it was important to be as unobtrusive as possible and I avoided reacting to their conversation and behaviour.
Participant observation involves the taking of fieldnotes. Fieldnotes can be described as "relatively concrete descriptions of social processes and these contexts" (Hammersley and Atkinson, 1983:145). Fieldnotes are ideally written during the observation as it is easier do record each happening as it occurs rather than trying to recall it all afterwards. It is important to record every mundane detail as it happens and not just events that are deemed significant by the researcher. This is the only way a true picture of the topic can be formed. Every "apparently trivial happenings or utterances" (Lofland and Lofland, 1995:66) must be logged.
My fieldnotes were written on the left-hand side of the page and my interpretations were written on the right-hand side. In taking my fieldnotes, using Spadley's (1980) checklist, I took note of the space around me, drawing diagrams when necessary; the participants in sight and what they were doing; objects and props around and in use by the participants; any events or breaks from the norms that occurred; and finally any feelings I sensed or could recognise from facial expressions. I took six, half hour observations in the golf club. Three of the observations took place on the golf course and three took place in the club bar.
In-depth interview:
The second method of qualitative research I used was in-depth interviewing. Also known as 'unstructured interviewing, it is " a guided conversation whose goal is to elicit from the interviewee rich, detailed materials that can be used in qualitative analysis" (Lofland and Lofland, 1995:18). This type of interviewing is not like a question and answer session. You ask the interviewee some general open-ended questions in the form of a relaxed discussion and allow them scope to reply. This enables the interviewee to reveal the questions that as an outsider you may not know to ask and thus open up the unexpected (Blaxter, Hughes & Tight, 1996:155). My interview was with a low handicap female player. I chose my particular interviewee as she had been a member of a few golf clubs and is considered to be a skilled and successful player.
Advantages of in-depth interviewing are that it is a useful way to get large amounts of data quickly and it gathers a wide variety of informations. Also, it helps to explain some of the behaviours and events witnessed in the observations. I was careful not to influence the interviewee through prompts or facial expressions. I also bore in mind that an interview is subjective in nature and that the interviewee may, at times, be biased or mistaken. However, a particular perspective on events is still quite telling.
Ethics:
"Ethical issues are at the heart of a discipline such as social work" (Hugman and Smith, 1995:1). Before, during and after collecting information for sociological studies, it is important to remember to be ethical. Participation in both my observations and interview was voluntary and participants were free to withdraw and contract their consent at any time. The subject of my study was not hidden and I ensured that informed consent was given. My identity as researcher was known at all times and involved no deception. I also guaranteed the anonymity and confidentiality of the participants, which was also aided by the fact that my study is for educational purposes and will not be published. I also made sure to show an appreciation of the respondents for their time and contribution to the study.
The Setting/The Fieldsite
My research was conducted in Edenderry Golf club, on both the golf course and in the club bar. The selection of the fieldsite is important according to Spradely (1980) and I took note of the necessary criteria for selecting a fieldsite. They were simplicity, accessibility, degree of visibility/unobtrusiveness, frequently occurring activities and permissibleness. My main reason for choosing this particular golf club was accessibility.
Access
Access to golf clubs is normally restricted to members only. Non-members can gain access by paying a fee to play golf there for the day and by being in the company of a member of that particular golf club. I am not a member of Edenderry golf club but both my parents are. Therefore, my parents were the gatekeepers that allowed me access to the golf club. Also, Edenderry golf club is a small club and thus access isn't as formally restricted as it may be in a larger golf club.
Analysis
Analysis is a "breaking up, separating, or disassembling of research materials into pieces, parts, elements, or units." (Jorgensen, 1989:107). Data should always be recorded in a systematic manner that will facilitate later analysis. My observations were in the form of notes and my interview was transcribed. This enabled me to arrange, rearrange, sort, code and file them with greater ease. The notes were constantly reviewed and codes and categories are identified which by explaining and understanding develop into concepts and theories.
Analysis is an ongoing process that took place throughout my study. Earlier analyses influenced later data collection. My analysis followed the guide of Marshall and Rossman's five models of analytic procedures. These involve "organising the data; generating categories, themes and patterns; testing the emergent hypotheses against the data; searching for alternative explanations of the data; and writing the report" (Marshall and Rossman, 1995:113). My analysis also shows whether the issues that were raised in my literature, were relevant or present at all in my study. Through my literature review I was guided by "initial concepts and guiding hypotheses" (Marshall and Rossman, 1995:112) and through my analysis I decided what to discard and what was significant and reoccurring.
Biases
My bias and preconceptions about golf clubs were that there is a great difference between the experience of males and female players. I thought that men were more competitive and that I would observe them reacting more strongly to playing 'badly' than women. I also thought that women play golf for more social reasons and that they would talk more about non-golf related topics than men. I thought that women were deemed inferior players and that men were seen as more knowledgeable about the sport regardless of handicap. Having recognised these biases beforehand I hope I succeeded in avoiding them in conducting my fieldwork.
