If you have to do a referral for your ethnography please decide what category you fit into and then act accordingly; 

1. I did my time in the setting but failed my ethnography

For you this probably means you did not do your data collection properly or you did not write it up with enough academic depth, or you did not follow the very in depth outline – the mark sheet where i tell you step by step what to put in each section and a logical way of writing it up. Please do not ignore this the second time it is on Breo. 

If this is you then you should continue with your original focus – listen to the verbal feedback on turnitin, plus the extensive written feedback if you collected your work. You must put the completed appendices in the back – this again may be where you lost marks. 

IF you did not go into a setting first time and have not managed to before the lockdown

You must now be inventive. You should consider that you are actually living in a unique ethnographic setting resulting isolation from all kinds of issues relating to sport and physical activity. You have numerous options that you can do and i am just going to highlight a few as examples:

Football– A starting point could be headlines ‘Premier League suspended indefinitely following Corona virus crisis meeting’ 

What does this mean for fandom? – can you still be a fan if there is no football? How are fans coping without live football? 

The theoretical underpinnings for this are the sociology of fandom (women or men) – eg Tomlinson, or Stacey Pope 

Issues around IDENTIT(IES) how has peoples identity changed with the isolation around football – going to the pub to watch the game, drinking culture, how have they adapted? 

DATA COLLECTION METHODS

You can still observe some things  – for example your family’s reaction to the suspension, then the final decision etc Your story also is important. Observations from the news clips even.  

Interviews  – semi-structured interviews – you still need to retain the ethics code – the consent forms and informed participant information forms – then conduct the iinterviews face to face ONLY in your household, or by Zoom or phone call – obviously get permission to record the conversation. 

Coding data- into emergent themes – both from the theories and the data you have collected 

Critical analysis – remember  your findings need to be critical – the points you make linked back to the literature you have set up in your review of literature. 

Another suggestion is has the lack of lived gym culture seen the increase in alternate ways of keeping fit – how have people reacted to isolation and exercise? Some may react by no exercise, some by reinventing a routine at home? There has been a 400% increase in online exercise classes – will this continue after the lockdown and change the need to have an expensive membership? 

THERE ARE LOADS OF IDEAS FOR A FOCUS IN THIS LIVE ETHNOGRAPHIC SETTING WE ARE ALL LIV ING IN – PICK ONE ! Your research will be unique its never been done before!

I am available for tutorials – please email me first and we can arrange a call.