Family Background

My family history goes pretty far back.  My great grandfather Marcus Christopher played for the Rochester Jeffersons, a sandlot football team back in 1917 who was actually owned by a guy named Leo Lyons, one of the first fathers to create the nfl.  In about the early 1930's, my great grandfather had changed his last name to Kitt because the last name Christopher is the English name of Kitt and he was the last Christopher in the family tree to had been alive at that time, losing all his brothers, sisters, mom and dad, as well as close relatives to old age and disease.  Starting the new last name of Kitt, he married a woman and gave birth to my grandpa as well as 7 other siblings to her.  Their family had started a tradition of playing a game of football every thanksgiving with the local neighbors.  Ever since then, even though we have many cousins and siblings to play a football game with, we still go out and ask the neighbors to play.  My grandfather is now passed away dying at the age of 98.  

Week 10-Posting 10

I plan to start off my mini ethnography by giving an introduction informing what I'm going to write about and a few points that'll relate to my fieldsite.  I am planning on taking one of the interviews with one of my informants and let that information lead me into talking about the stereotypes.  Then I will describe my position in the fieldsite.  My position is an insider and I will explain that I enjoy my fieldsite, but many people may disagree with me.  I think it would be interesting to take my reader through blocks while reading my mini ethnography.  When I say blocks I mean I'm thinking about breaking it down into sections of observations.  I plan to conclude it by giving my overall opinion of the of the fieldsite and then comparing that with the others that I have interviewed.  I believe this structure is the best way to do because all the observations that I make in the fitness room contain stereotypes in itself and focal points.

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My informant and I are in the Ball State Fitness Room.  We are seated in two chairs facing each other, in a corner where a treadmill and a dead-lift block meet to make a square of open space.  Mirrors surround us on one side.  He and I are sitting knees pointed in the direction of our bodies, about 12 inches of space are between us.  The words that we are conversing to each other have a meaning.  When a question is asked about a difficult or troubling subject, the tone gradually increases in volume and tension is spread through the texture of his voice.   Many gaps take place in his speaking where the air gets still and only the sound of weights and men grunting in the background are to be heard.  The rythm stayed consistent and words flowed from his mouth frequently with no breaks, showing that he knew his information undoubtedly.

Week 9-Posting 9

The hardest part of my research has definitely been the interviewing process.  In order to interview, I had to make time and base my time around other people's schedules which proved to be very difficult.  Some of the people had classes all day long, and some of them weren't from around the muncie area.  It included patience and some traveling.  The easiest part was the observations.  I had already knew many of the observations when I first started because I am an insider to my field site.  Having a good perception and idea of what a fitness room was like really helped in the observation process.  There is nothing that I would do differently.  Everything has worked out fairly well.  Keeping a blog has helped me because it helped me to brainstorm and come up with new ideas.  

Week 8-Posting 8

I have done quite a bit of research on my fieldsite of The BSU Fitness Center.  Research that I have done has came from interviews, websites, blogs, books, and magazines.  The main theme that I seem to be getting from all this research is that fitness centers are looked very highly upon for the health benefits but looked down upon for the atmosphere.  Many of the people, as I have researched, that look down upon the atmosphere of the fitness center are outsiders who have not had experience inside a fitness center.  I have talked to members of the community as well as interviews with members inside my fieldsite and the theme that I have discussed does run through it.  Throughout the eight weeks of research inside my fieldsite, my place has stayed the same because I was an insider to the fitness room when I began and I still am an insider.  The things that have changed, though, is my perception on the outsider view.  I have realized how many outsiders think that a fitness room is just a place for jocks.  I have even realized that people who are overweight and need the fitness room as a benefit the most, are afraid of going to a fitness room because of the fear of being made fun of.