How Are University Gyms Used by Staff and Students? A Mixed-Method Study Exploring Gym Use, Motivation, and Communication in Three UK Gyms

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Author
Rapport, Frances
Hutchings, Hayley
Doel, Marcus A.
Wells, Bridget
Clement, Clare
Mellalieu, Stephen D.
Shubin, Sergei
Brown, David
Seah, Rebecca
Wright, Sarah
Sparkes, Andrew
Date
2018-03-01Acceptance date
2018-02-18
Type
Article
Publisher
MDPI
ISSN
2075-4698
2075-4698 (online)
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
This study examined university gym use by staff and students using mixed methods: participant observation and an e-survey. Research in three UK universities entailed 16 observation sessions and an e-survey that reached 3396 students and staff. The research focused on gym use, the gym environment, the presentation of the self, and social interaction within gym spaces. The gyms were found to have a difficult role to play in providing functionality for some, while helping others to be active and minimize feelings of isolation and lack of control. This led to these gyms developing spaces of exercise rather than therapeutic spaces, and divisions in use of space, with some areas rarely used and often highly gendered, resulting in contested meanings produced within Healthy University discourses and physical activities.
Journal/conference proceeding
Societies;
Citation
Rapport, F., Hutchings, H., Doel, M.A., Wells, B., Clement, C., Mellalieu, S., Shubin, S., Brown, D., Seah, R., Wright, S. and Sparkes, A. (2018) 'How Are University Gyms Used by Staff and Students? A Mixed-Method Study Exploring Gym Use, Motivation, and Communication in Three UK Gyms', Societies, 8(1), p.15.
Description
This article was published in Societies on 01 March 2018 (online), available open access at https://doi.org/10.3390/soc8010015
Sponsorship
Cardiff Metropolitan University (Grant ID: Cardiff Metropolian (Internal))
Collections
- Sport Research Groups [1088]
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