Gym Stats Observations at the

Gym Stats Observations at the gym were made during four consecutive days in the morning hours, from five until nine a.m. The first morning of observation was a Thursday, and there seemed to be an equal mix of both men and women in the gym as a whole. At first, there were two women and one man, all white and appearing to be in their late twenties or early thirties, on the treadmills on the main floor of the gym.

A black man was at the weight machine, and within five minutes of the researcher's arrival an older Asian man appearing to be in his fifties and a black woman appearing to be in her late thirties both entered their respective locker rooms and emerged in the pool area shortly thereafter.

Activity in the gym increased until eight o'clock, reaching a height of twelve treadmills and seven weight machines in use at one time; four Hispanics (three male and one female), five more white males and two more white females, and two black males entered the gym during the period of observation. On the next morning, one man and one woman -- both of whom had been on the treadmills on Thursday -- were again on these machines.

The same older Asian man also came in and went directly to the pool, where he began swimming laps as he had the day before. For over an hour, no one else entered the gym; the tow individuals on the treadmill had left at separate times during this hour and the Asian man had moved to the hot tub.

Shortly after six o'clock, a black male and female couple in their early twenties entered the gym together and began working out on the weight machines; a steady stream of individuals including four white females ranging in age from twenties to forties, two Hispanic males and three white males entered the gym and began using the treadmills and cycles. On Saturday morning, the researcher arrived at the gym at the same hour -- five a.m. -- to find no one but the staff present.

This situation persisted for more than an hour and a half, when two men in their early forties -- one white and one black -- arrived and signed out equipment and a court to play racquetball. These individuals were the only people using the gym until just before seven a.m., when a black male in his twenties entered and began to use one of the treadmills.

By eight o'clock, there were two white males, one white female, three Hispanic males, and one Asian male using the weight machines, two white females, four Hispanic females, two black males, and one white male using treadmills, and the four lanes of the pool were occupied by one Indian male in his fifties or sixties, a white female in her twenties, a Hispanic female in her twenties or thirties, and a Hispanic male in his twenties. Though there was some rotation in the remaining hour of.