WILFRID LAURIER UNIVERSITYDepartment of Kinesiology and Physical Education

KP411: Advanced Sociology of Physical ActivityRoom: Alvin Woods 1-101A Time: M/W/F 1:30-2:20

Instructor: Dr. Rob LakeOffice: BA 519

Tel: (519) 884-0710 ext. 4773Email: rlake@wlu.ca

Office hours: Mon 2:30-4:30 or by appointment

Teaching Assistant: Meghan HoefsEmail: hoef7010@mylaurier.ca

Course Description

The aim of this course is to build on earlier courses in this area and continue teaching students to think critically about sport and physical activity. Students will be expected to engage in relevant theoretical approaches in the sociology of sport to assist in the analysis and discussion of a range of sporting issues, in particular: pain and injury, (dis)ability, aging and retirement, deviance and criminality, news and media production, and the commercialization of sport. This course will extend student knowledge and enable students to put into practice some of their theoretical knowledge, by conducting a research project in a sporting culture of their choosing. The overall objective is to provide a means for students to practically engage with social issues in sport and physical activity, and apply theoretical knowledge to better understand practical settings.

Reading

Given the truncated course structure, there is neither a course textbook for this course, nor a course booklet of articles and chapters for you to purchase. Instead, readings will be set for each topic that will be free to access through the university’s comprehensive online journal database; through Ebsco, Sport Discus, LA84, publisher search, Google Scholar or other means of academic search engine. Others might be made available as a PDF on My Learning Space. The readings set will be geared toward the lecture in the following class, and will help inform students of lecture

content. Students may be expected to answer questions related to the readings. Students will be awarded marks (see Class Participation and Contribution below) for their demonstration of competency and willingness to engage in discussions related to the readings. Students are encouraged to prepare themselves by reading the material as advised.

Assessments

Group project, researching social issues in a sporting culture (3 parts):Research plan (one plan per group, 2000 words, shared mark)

20%Group oral presentation (30-40 mins plus questions, shared mark)

25%Article analysis and follow-up seminar (40-50 mins, shared mark)

15%Individual essay (2000 words, individual mark) 30%Class Participation and Contribution

10%

Group Project (60% total)

Students are to form themselves into groups of 3 or 4 (must be a mix of Soc & Kin students), and pick one broad subject area from the following list:

1. Pain and injury2. (Dis)ability and sickness3. Aging and retirement4. Violence and deviance5. News and media production6. Sport and commerce

Once your subject area has been chosen, the groups are to think of a particular sporting culture or sub-culture to examine, where that particular subject area is relevant.

Part I: Research Plan (20%)

Once your culture has been chosen, the groups are to produce a research plan (proposal) achieving the following:

1. Provide a brief introduction to the sporting culture that you seek to examine, detailing pertinent information about its size, members, functions, etc. Note: Please only provide what you feel is relevant to you project, i.e. if the age, ethnicity, religion, class or gender of your

participants is relevant, then detail this information; if not, then save your space/words for the more important second and third sections below. Please do not provide names of people, places, teams, organizations or businesses, because this is not pertinent.

2. Outline the main sociological issues related to this broad subject area that are, or perhaps could be, pertinent to the specific culture you seek to examine. Note: This section will require a good deal of research/reading to complete. My lectures on this are only meant to be an introduction to relevant subject matters and are far from comprehensive.

3. Discuss how you intend to conduct research into this culture (i.e. methodologies) that would allow you to gain a critical understanding of the sociological issues introduced above. Note: This will require some reading of methodology texts and papers, and a sense of what other researchers have used to answer similar questions. You need to provide very specific information for the methodology chosen; for example, if you want to…

Conduct an interview, you will need to include an interview schedule, i.e. list of the questions you intend to ask, and information about who you intend to interview

Conduct an observation, you will need to detail what and/or who you intend to observe, and in what specific setting(s)

Distribute a questionnaire or survey, the specific questions and relevant scales will need to be provided in full

Conduct a focus group, you will need to specify who you might want involved and detail specifically what questions you intend to ask

Undertake an ethnography, you will need to detail the setting, proposed frequency of visits, how you would immerse yourself and what you intend to observe

Note: This information should come as an appendix at the back of your research plan, and will not count as part of your 2000 words. Any accompanying rationale or discussion that helps to clarify certain choices made (i.e. specific questions asked or areas/people to observe, etc.) should come in the main body of the plan and will count as part of the 2000 word limit.

Your research plan (one plan per group, 1000 words, shared mark, 20% weight) is to be submitted at the end of week 5, and will be graded according to the following criteria:

Background information and rationale of why you chose the particular sporting culture: All pertinent information provided; rationale is logical and theoretically sound.

Review of literature and theoretical depth: A number of interesting sociological concepts, ideas and areas discussed

Research methodology: Research plan supported by literature on “best practice” or by previous research that has done similar; plan is realistic, sensible, cost-effective and timely (i.e. don’t say you’re going to conduct observations of coaching sessions with the Toronto Raptors, do ethnography with ATP-Tour tennis players or interview Sidney Crosby!)

Students will receive feedback on their research plan and they will then conduct the research (i.e. collect the data) over the following two-three weeks. Guidance will be provided throughout, but students are expected to use their initiative when collecting and analysing the data. Students will transcribe their own interviews, focus-group discussions and observation/ethnographic field-notes, and data from this will be used in the overall discussion that you will present later in the course.

A note about ethical approval: Ethical approval has been obtained for the course beforehand, but each research plan (proposal) will be submitted to the Departmental Ethics Committee for review. You will receive feedback from the committee suggesting any changes on top of those that I will suggest myself. For the sake of providing a quick turnaround of ethical approval, please steer clear of researching children under the age of 16.

Part II: Group Oral Presentation (25%)

Groups are to present their findings to the class in the form of a 30-40 minute oral presentation. The presentation should commence with an introduction to the sporting culture, a discussion of the main research themes examined, and a rationale for the research methods chosen. Some key research questions or objectives should stem from this. The presentation should also include a good amount of primary research data where relevant, i.e. direct quotes from interview/focus group transcripts; observation/ethnographic field-notes; and/or, statistical data from questionnaires/surveys as a way to provide evidence, in much the same way that published sociology research articles do. This data should be included as part of an overall analysis of the subject matter. In general, students are to demonstrate competency and a command of the entire research process, from its incipient creation, to the review of literature, choice of research aims and objectives and research methodology, analysis of data, discussion of results and overall conclusions.

Presentations should be created using PowerPoint or similar, and although I would always encourage students to make their presentations interactive,

please utilize your ideas for group activities for the seminar class following your presentation (see below).

Part III: Article Analysis and Follow-up Seminar (15%)

At the end of each group’s presentation, the group will provide the full reference for an article they have chosen that the students (and Dr. Lake) will read before the following class. This article must be free to download online, so that it can be made available for download right after class through MyLS. For the seminar class, the group will create an interactive atmosphere by leading various discussions, with my assistance where necessary. The seminar should commence with relevant aims, and then lead on to discussions or debates based on critical questions from the article. Other relevant and creative activities should be included where appropriate, for the overall purpose to help the students better understand a specific area of the overall subject. Marks will be awarded for the following:

Choice of article: relevant, interesting, naturally leads to good discussions, easy to read and digest, based on sound research

Seminar discussions and activities: relevant to the article and overall subject area, interesting, engaging, fun, interactive throughout, critically in-depth, underpinned by literature

The involvement of classmates is mandatory for all seminars. A significant part of the Class Participation and Contribution marks (see below) will go toward overall student engagement with discussions during this part of the course.

Notes on marking: Each group is to submit ONE piece of work for each part, which will be graded out of 100%. Students are encouraged to share the mark (i.e. each student in the group will take the same mark), but students are also allowed to divide the mark differently between them, based on differences in effort or quality of work. This will be done in the following way:The grade I give should be multiplied by the number of people in your group, to give a score out of say, 300 or 400. As a group, you will have to sit down and divide this grade between yourselves. Here’s an example:

A group of 4 students submits a piece of work, which achieves a grade of 70.

Your group would receive a score of 280 (i.e. 70 x 4), for you to divide between the four of you.

If, for example, you come to a collective decision that one person (person ‘A’) deserves a higher grade than the others, you might divide it like this:

o Person ‘A’ – 76o Persons B, C & D – 68o (68 x 3) + 76 = 420

If, on the other hand, person ‘A’ wasn’t quite so good, missed a few meetings and made less positive impact than the others, you might divide it like this:

o Person ‘A’ – 64o Persons B, C & D – 72o (72 x 3) + 64 = 420

I will double-check all math equations, and as a last resort also act as mediator for any major group disagreements. I should stress that the onus is on you to work out any problems for yourselves.

Note: If there is evidence to suggest that a student’s input has been minimal to the point of barely negligible, he/she will receive a grade of 0 and the grade will be multiplied by one less member.

Individual Essay (30%)

Each student is to write an essay based on one of the six main subjects of this course (see above), but excluding the subject they based their group project on. Within the subject area, students can choose to write about whatever interests them but the essay should be structured around several key criteria. The essay should:

Commence with a clear introduction of the specific subject, including research questions, aims or a thesis statement if appropriate.

Be focused on a specific area within the broad subject chosen. So, for example, a student interested on writing an essay on sport and commerce might decide to write about the growth of sponsorship in professional soccer from the 1980s to present day, or issues surrounding the role of sponsorship and television rights in the Olympic Games. Is would be impossible to write a good essay on any of these subject matters without using specific case studies or examples, so it is strongly encouraged to focus and narrow your ideas for the essay.

Conclude with some clear statements that help to answer the research questions or address the aims that were mentioned in the introduction, and also provide an overall summary of the key points.

Include a reference section in consistent APA format.

Class Participation and Contribution (10%)

Throughout the course, students are encouraged to participate in group discussions and debates, answer questions and engage in the material in class. Students who demonstrate confidence and willingness to do so and who contribute meaningfully and relevantly will score highly in this element, which is a subjective mark based on your overall spoken

contributions to classroom discussions. At times, specific opportunities will be set aside for this purpose, like during the seminars, but at other times, showing a willingness to engage, rather than sit quietly or, worse, engage instead with laptops or cell phones, will be rewarded accordingly. Therefore, it is important that students engage with the course material, read the relevant readings and come prepared.

Tips for doing well: The mark for this element is subjectively and qualitatively determined by me; marks are not given per number of times a student contributes, as it were. My advice would be that if you want to score highly in this element, you make yourself distinguishable. Sitting toward the front of class helps (you are perhaps less likely to get distracted and you also appear bigger that way!), as does getting involved in class discussions when opportunities arise. Simply, if you make an effort both in and outside of class, you will score highly.

Lecture Schedule

Week number

Lecture info Required readings

Week 1(Jan 6-10)

Mon: Course requirementsWed: Pain and injuryFri: (Dis)ability and sickness

Wed: Roderick, M., Waddington, I. & Parker, G. (2000). Playing Hurt: Managing Injuries in English Professional Football. International Review for the Sociology of Sport 35 (2) 165-180.Fri: Berger, R. J. (2008). Agency, Structure and the Transition to Disability: A Case Study with Implications for Life History Research. The Sociology Quarterly 49 309-333.

Week 2(Jan 13-17)

Mon: Aging and retirementWed: Violence and devianceFri: News and media production

Mon: Liechty, T., Yarnal, C. & Kerstetter, D. (2012). ‘I want to do everything!’: Leisure Innovation among Retirement-Age Women. Leisure Studies 31 (4) 389-408.Wed: Brent, J.J. & Kraska, P.B. (2013). ‘Fighting is the Most Real and Honest Thing’: Violence and the Civilization/Barbarism Dialectic. British Journal of Criminology 53 357-77.Fri: MacNeill, M. (1996). Networks: Producing Olympic Ice Hockey for a National Television Audience. Sociology of Sport Journal 13 103-124.

Week 3(Jan 20-24)

Mon: Sport and commerceWed: Submission of groups and choice of subjectFri: No lecture, independent research

Mon: Biscaia, R., Correia, A., Rosado, A. F., Ross, S. D. & Maroco, J. (2013). Sport Sponsorship: The Relationship between Team Loyalty, Sponsorship Awareness, Attitude toward the Sponsor, and Purchase Intentions. Journal of Sport Management 27 288-302.

Week 4(Jan 27-31)

Mon & Wed: No lecture, group tutorials (guidance on initial ideas)Fri: Research methodologies

Week 5(Feb 3-7)

Mon & Wed: Research methodologiesFri: Research plans due

Week 6(Feb 10-14)

Mon, Wed & Fri: No lecture, group tutorials (feedback from research plans)Your research should commence this week!

Week 7(Feb 17-21)

Reading weekNo lectures. You should be conducting your research this week!

Week 8(Feb 24-28)

Mon, Wed & Fri: No lecture, group tutorials (progress with research, guidance and problem solving)

Week 9(Mar 3-7)

Mon: Group oral presentations dueWed & Fri: Group 1 presentation and seminar

Week 10(Mar 10-14)

Mon & Wed: Group 2 presentation and seminarFri: Group 3 presentation

Week 11(Mar 17-21)

Mon: Group 3 seminarWed & Fri: Group 4 presentation and seminar

Week 12(Mar 24-28)

Mon & Wed: Group 5 presentation and seminarFri: Group 6 presentation

Week 13(Mar

Mon: Group 6 seminarWed: No lecture, office hours insteadFri: Final essays due

31-Apr 4)

University Regulations and Procedures

1. Academic Integrity/Misconduct (cheating): Laurier is committed to a culture of integrity within and beyond the classroom. This culture values trustworthiness (i.e., honesty, integrity, reliability), fairness, caring, respect, responsibility and citizenship. Together, we have a shared responsibility to uphold this culture in our academic and nonacademic behaviour. The University has a defined policy with respect to academic misconduct. You are responsible for familiarizing yourself with this policy and the penalty guidelines, and are cautioned that in addition to failure in a course, a student may be suspended or expelled from the University for academic misconduct and the offence may appear on their transcript. The relevant policy can be found at Laurier's academic integrity website along with resources to educate and support you in upholding a culture of integrity. Ignorance of Laurier’s academic misconduct policy is not a defense. <see: www.wlu.ca/academicintegrity >

2. Special Needs: Students with disabilities or special needs are advised to contact Laurier’s Accessible Learning Centre for information regarding its services and resources. Students are encouraged to review the Academic Calendar <see: http://www.wlu.ca/page.php?grp_id=1365&p=5123 > for information regarding all services available on campus.

3. Plagiarism: Wilfrid Laurier University uses software that can check for plagiarism. If requested to do so by the instructor, students may are required to submit their written work in electronic form and have it checked for plagiarism. (Approved by Senate May 14, 2002)

4. Classroom Use of Electronic Devices – see Policy 9.3 (Approved by Senate March 8, 2012)http://www.wlu.ca/documents/50202/9.3_Electronic_Device_Policy.pdf

*sample syllabus statements available at: http://www.wlu.ca/documents/50198/Syllabus_statements.doc

5. Late Assignment Policy – specify any penalties that will be assessed when deadlines for the completion of course components are not met (Approved by Senate May 23, 2012). NB: no assignments may be due during the two study dates that fall between the end of exams and the beginning of the exam period (see senate guidelines on academic dates)

6. Final Examinations – Students are strongly urged not to make any commitments (i.e., vacation) during the examination period. Students are required to be available for examinations during the examination

periods of all terms in which they register. (See Academic Regulations – examinations in the academic calendars)

7. Foot Patrol, Counselling Services, and the Student Food Bank (Approved by Senate November 28, 2011 – see below)

My Regulations

Laptop Policy

Laptops are generally prohibited in this course, because I consider them to be a distraction for the students using them and also those sat nearby. However, if you believe that your academic performance will be unduly disadvantaged by not being able to use a laptop and can provide a compelling reason for this, please discuss the matter with me in person. All students granted leave to use a laptop in class will be required to sit away from other students so as not to distract them.

Mobile Phone Policy

All phones are to be shut off at the start of class, except if you have a dire emergency that you have to attend to, in which case you should let me know at the start of class. Text messaging is absolutely prohibited during class times.

Late Work Policy

Work handed in late will be deducted 10% for each 24-hour period past the due date and time they are submitted.