Qualitative Study of Reasons for Participation in Physical Recreation - Research Proposal Example

QUALITATIVE STUDY OF REASONS FOR (NON) PARTICIPATION IN PHYSICAL RECREATION Introduction: Objectives: The basic purpose of this qualitative study is to carry out a contemporary study about the ratio of health and fitness among the men, provided that physical activities are proved to be advantageous for the health and fitness, it is often known that the people who remain away from such activities may have some health limitations as compared to those who regularly involve themselves in physical recreation activities. (Green & Thurston, 2002 pp:56) Literature Review: There has been some research done on the relative topic. Some of them are discussed below. One of the papers published is by Lipscombe, N., Robinson, L., Sadler, J., and Johnson Centre. According to this paper the research is undertaken by Charles Sturt University, in order to examine the students’ behaviour towards sport and other social factors that affect their participation in the sports. 500 students were taken to complete the questionnaire. Location, year level were the parameters of study. Year levels were found the most significant factor that affected the students’ participation in social sports. Motivation of the individuals was another factor that influenced them for participation or non participation in leisure sports. (Lipscombe, Robinson, Sadler , Centre ,2002, pp:176) Another research was done by Nikolaos Tzormpatzakis and Mike Sleap. This research was done on the participation of men in social sports in Greece. According to this paper during 1990 and 200, Greece was found to be low in prevalence of physical activity and exercise. But in the recent years the ratio to participation in sports has been increased among men. The main factors that were found for the participation in leisure sports were health, weight control, stress management and fitness. Whereas the main factors that limit the men to participate in social sports were majorly the shortage of time, marital status, type of work, income, educational background, residence and age. Different strategies and campaigns were recommended in order to increase participation rates in general public.( Participation in physical activity and exercise in Greece: a systematic literature review,2008) Research Questions: Two types of male were addressed in the questionnaire, married and unmarried. The questionnaire was designed to have an insight about their approach towards participation in social games. The question review started with the question that if the person is involved in the regular physical activities. The reasons and factors that do not allow them to participate in he regular sports activities, and why these factors so heavily affect their participation. The question review also included the question that if they have friendly circumstances, they would like to involve in the physical activities or not? And if they have anything against the physical activities? Research Methods: Open: Open reasoning refers to one’s perception to anything according to his or her own knowledge based upon different facts and figures. Axial: Axial reasoning method is used to provide a connection between codes and categories. We can say that in order to integrate the code across the axes of main categories, axial coding is used. So it basically helps in interconnection of categories. It explores and examines the code, and compares categories and codes. Reflective: Reflective judgement model is used for the reasoning from adolescence to adulthood. This model defines the changes in epistemic assumptions and also revealed that how these changes affect the development of reflective thinking skills. (Persons, 2001 pp: 450) Data was collected in the form of questionnaire. 14 males were approached for this purpose. Two types of male were addressed, married and unmarried. The research was done keeping in mind the differences between the two. The extent of participation towards sports in married men is more heavily affected by time and work load. The unmarried men are more enthusiastic and can manage the time for participation in social sports. The comparison between the data of two groups was done in order to have an understanding that what are the constraints that motivate someone towards physical activities or restrain their participation. Discussion of Findings: The survey contained two type of men, married and unmarried. There were 14 men in total for the survey. 7 of them were married and seven unmarried study revealed that none of them regularly participated in the physical activities. A few of them rarely used to play but not on regular basis, and hence these few were from unmarried group. First considering the married group, 100 % of them never participated in the regular physical activities. And the main reason which all of them exhibit was the shortage of time, as they had a lot of responsibilities, they have their families so they need to work a lot and no time is left behind with them for the activities like this. They had the problem that they work a lot in the working days so whenever they have time they need to rest or perform activities which do not put any burden on their minds. Most of them also consider the health problem and age factor that resist them to indulge in the physical activities. As they thought that they are over age and their health does not allow them to exercise a lot, they remain un touched to such activities. Another reason which was found for not participating was the income and the expenditure for these games that was not affordable by them. Motivation was another factor as they did not find any charm in such activities so they never thought of dong so. Though almost 50% of them said that their family members do involve in the physical recreation activities, and none of them showed anything against the physical activities. 20% if them revealed that they cold think of getting involved in such activities if they have the suitable circumstances. As far as the unmarried males were concerned, no single person was found who was regularly involved in physical recreation activities. Though there were some that occasionally participated in games but never regularly. 50 % of the unmarried group was fond of playing games but could not maintain it due to certain reasons. Time once again was the main reason among this group. Many of them were jobians so do not have time for activities as such, as according to them they get tired of their work so never thought of getting involved in such activities. Others wre the students, their study and school activities were so tough that do not allow them to regularly participate in social sports. Some were of the thought that they already are fit with their health so they do not need to exercise or their jobs were already an exercise for them so they could not afford doing so. For them physical recreation is only for fitness. Some had the passion of games but their motivation was that it should be accompanied with friends, as that is only chill and relaxation of the mind. Income is another major reason found in young group, they do not afford the equipment fee and so they do not regularly go for social sports, although they do have the passion for doing so. But most of them never focused on the exercise and it was not the motivation factor for them. A few youngsters were also indulged in smoking and drinking habits so the exercise may exhaust them so they avoid the sports. The activity found on majority of them was watching TV and some like hanging out with friends. Some of them were of the view that physical activities are of fun. Conclusion: It has been concluded that as the time is going very fast and it is the time of competition, almost all the people are having so busy lives that they are unable to take out time for physical activities regardless of their marital status. It has been seen that science and technology is in nowadays, people are most likely to be involved in such activities rather then physical activities. Most of the people have their pass time as watching TV. Age is though another factor, but still youngsters are found to be passionate about sports as compared to the elders. Hence unavailability if resources and time often restrain them from taking part in it. Motivation is another very significant factor that people do not take part in physical recreational activities. Bibliography: Lipscombe, N., Robinson, L., Sadler, J. & Johnson Centre (2002), WHO WANTS TO SWEAT? Influences on competitive sports participation for Primary school children in Wodonga, Victoria Ken G. & Mirenda T. (2002), Physical education and health promotion: a qualitative study of teachers’s perception Participation in physical activity and exercise in Greece: a systematic literature review, (2008), International Journal of Public Health Simon Parsons, (2001), Qualitative Methods for Reasoning under Uncertainty, computers. Read More