Darko, N and Mackintosh, CI (2015) ‘Don’t you feel bad watching the Olympics, watching us?’ A qualitative analysis of London 2012 Olympics influence on family sports participation and physical activity. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health. ISSN 1939-845X

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Abstract

his paper examines the use of video diaries (VDs) and their value as supplementary methods in qualitative research examining the influence of the London 2012 Olympics, from the perspectives of five families in the East Midlands of England. The aims of the project were to assess their reaction to the Games and the influence it had on family attitudes, opinions and perceptions towards sports participation and physical activity (PA). We present qualitative interview data from pre and post Games interviews, and VD data to gather micro realities of the influence of the Games. The project draws on Erving Goffman’s (1959) dramaturgical perspective to explore the perspectives of families regarding the impact of the Olympics on their everyday lives. It has yielded the following themes: access, motivation, inspiration, apathy and reflections on methodological use of VDs. The benefits and challenges of VD use alongside Goffman’s framework are discussed in the context of assessing the impact of the Games on these families. Our evidence suggests that these methods are an invaluable tool for accessing the families’ immediate responses to mega-events during the period in which they are hosted. The feasibility and complexities of utilising VDs are presented and whether these methods assist researchers to examine the uptake of sports participation, or, simply encourage the researchers to become voyeurs watching the participants, watch the Olympics. The implications for using these methods as part of qualitative methods for analysis of the sports participation legacy and the impact of future mega events are also discussed.
Keywords: London 2012 Olympics; Qualitative methods; video diaries; Erving Goffman; families and East Midland

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health on 9 Jul 2015, available online: http://wwww.tandfonline.com/10.1080/2159676X.2015.1056825
Uncontrolled Keywords:	1106 Human Movement And Sports Science, 1608 Sociology
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GV Recreation Leisure
Divisions:	Education
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Date Deposited:	08 Oct 2015 10:57
Last Modified:	04 Sep 2021 14:12
DOI or ID number:	10.1080/2159676X.2015.1056825
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/1590

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• ‘Don’t you feel bad watching the Olympics, watching us?’ A qualitative analysis of London 2012 Olympics influence on family sports participation and physical activity. (deposited 13 Jul 2015 14:50)
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