Participant Observation

Participant Observation Sports are important kind mediums in our country, but basket swelling is the tho play where you can go to al close any park and play with slay strangers. While early(a) sports involve diverse equipment and numerous amounts of actors, basketball is a quick and easy plot that only takes a judicial system and a ball. While using the participant observation method, one can slowly see how pickup truck basketball becomes a common stage for well-disposed interaction.While my original perspective of the sport was that of a friendly natured gage among neighbors with a competitive aspect, my nones and observations revealed how diverse individuals who meet on the court can sometimes become aggressive to the point of hostility. As a gym phallus of 24 Hour Fitness, I regularly play basketball in their indoor gym. I chose the location in Hermosa Beach because of the diversity of players that wait on there. Using the participant observation method, I was both observing and active while taking notes (obviously not while playacting, for that would be an incredible feat).In a time span of twain hours, I cease up playing three games while observing six other games. The location I visited was crowded, while ten players were on the court (five against five), ab turn up twenty commonwealth were waiting on the sidelines by means ofout the night however, this number changed as citizenry grew either tired or impatient. On the sidelines was a list of name covering for plenty who wanted to play next. This called for a more organized agreement of who had next compared to parks where people keep track of who verbally called next.I raise that about half of the players at the gym were African-American, while the recess of the players were sundry(a) evenly between Caucasian, Asian, and Hispanic. Certain players, based on personify figure out and skill level, were given different roles throughout the game. The ages of the players seemed to be mostly former(a) twenties to early thirties, and at no point throughout my two hours being there did a woman enter the gym. Just as the demographics of the players were diverse, so was the gameplay.Some games were dominated by one key player, who scores most of the points, while other group ups had strong aggroup chemistry and relied on extremely to the open player. I also noticed that when a team is dominated by one player that team usually ends up losing. The team that I played on was very pass oriented, while the team we played against was dominated by only two players. The other team assumed that since their other players were short and small, that they werent athletic enough to give the ball, and because of this our team was able to double team the players who didnt pass as much.Players match up to other players based on skill and body size, which is why I was guarded by someone very akin(predicate) to me. I noticed that the biggest factor was height, meaning our tal lest player guarded their tallest player while our shortest player guarded their shortest player. However, during almost every game players put forward switches according to skill level in order to cause a more sufficient defense. Another important aspect of the game of pickup basketball is respect. When players call marked-up, even if they disagree with the call, the allow them to get the ball back.During game two, a person called foul but the player on the other team disagreed. As they began to argue about whether it was a foul or not, a teammate yelled out respect the call. After that he stopped arguing and gave him the ball. After I played, during the sixth game, a similar situation occurred in a more hammy way. One player jumped and caught the ball, but flipped over another player, and landed flat on his back. After everyone saw he got up and was ok, the player through the ball up top, so they could check the ball out and play again.A player on the opposite team began to argue locution that he shouldnt get the ball because his own player befouled him. After much hostile and loud arguing, I heard the injure player say, if you really are that thirsty for the ball you can have it, if you really are that desperate for a win. Everybody on the court agreed that the players allegation was a little too strict for a simple game of pickup basketball, and extreme competitiveness is frowned upon. Throughout the rest of the game the team did not pass it to him once, and before the game ended he quit.He became the focus of discussion for the rest of the night, as people began to criticize him behind his back. From my own personal experience, heated arguments over calls are not that uncommon in the sport of basketball, but usually from those with strong shell personalities. For the most part, the game is a civilized game where both teams make out for the win, and focus on teamwork and strategy. At the end of the day I nominate my perspective on this game had changed. The competitive nature of the game brought up the question How important is it to win? I observed that to some people the ules of basketball should be enforced strictly, so that the game is fair. However, the general consensus was that respecting other players safety and calls were more important. Nevertheless, I noticed that almost every game had some sort of argument that entailed. I concluded that there is a certain culture on the court that calls for a fair game and places winning as a priority. The sharp contrast to the other players who were only there for the fun and love of the game brings up questions on whether social or even economic backgrounds are what causes people to become so passionate about a seemingly frivolous game.