Ethnography
In seven weeks, I conducted seven separate field observations in two different gym settings. Amid the clanks of weights, metal on metal, and the grunts and groans of young men, I conducted detailed observations and compiled a series of field notes. My research focus was on differences between age, gender, and socio-economic class with regards to attitudes towards working out, gym culture, and the use of supplements including steroids. One of the research settings was Dean's Gym in Murrysville. The other gym was the Power Center at Duquesne University. At both places, my role was as active participant-observer. As a member of one of the gyms and a former member of the other, I had an in-group status but was also able to objectively seek information from demographic cohorts different from my own. Informants ranged from young to old, male to female.
One of the primary research questions I asked was, "Why do people go to the gym?" After all, there are many other avenues for exercise including solitary walks, runs, and bicycle riding. There must be a social component to the gym culture. Thus, I hypothesized that gyms offer a social component to exercising, and that many people purposely go to the gym because it offers the opportunity for social interaction. This approach is different from my own, because I have always worked out as if there is no one else in the room.
My experiences over the past seven weeks show that many gym-goers appreciate the interactions they have with other people at the gym; for some, it was one of the primary reasons they go. The social reasons for going to the gym differed somewhat according to age, gender, and socio-economic class. In general, I concluded that older people are more apt to go to the gym for social reasons than young people. However, at least one young person...
Among the young females I interviewed, several listed "social interactions" as being equally as important as health and looks. The most extreme use of the gym as a social environment was among the teenagers who go to Dean's Gym. Many of the adolescents do not use the equipment, or use it very little. They talk with their friends more than they work out, but when asked about their behavior seemed not to be aware that they were doing that.
Older members of both Dean's Gym and the Power Center invariably mentioned social reasons for going to the gym. Some had lost their spouses, and the gym was one of the only public arenas in which they interacted with other people. The older members of the Power Center tended to state their appreciation for being around the "vibrancy of the students," as one male professor put it. Another professor, a female in her 50s, stated that she feels more confident and self-assured as a result of working out so much and being with younger people."
Looks were also a primary reason why some people go to the gym, but this variable was clearly linked to age. When asked if appearance was important to them, many of the older informants at Dean's laughed it off and made self-deprecating comments such as, the 72-year-old male who laughed and said, "Look at me…at my age do you really think a woman would be still interested in me?" Similarly, an older female informant at the Power Center said, "At my age, appearance is no longer a big reason why I go to the gym."
Younger people valued improving their appearance as much, if not more, than improving their health. I asked one young man at Deans how important his looks were and he said, "On a scale of 1-10 it would be a 10." I then asked how important being healthy was…
