

 Exploring Religion and Physical Activity in Beeston for ‘Leeds Let’s Get Active’ Methodology By Jessica Horne

About LLGA  Pilot scheme set up by Leeds City Council and Sport England in an attempt to encourage more physical activity within the general public of Leeds.  Aims:  Increase activity levels in the least active in order to reduce health inequalities in Leeds.  Increase the range of activities and sports available in Leeds.  Open to all residents in Leeds, hope to encourage around 1300 inactive people become active.

Current Set Up  Free Gym and Swim offer in all LCC leisure centers > 1 hour free session within an allocated time table.  Free community offers, all taking place in local parks and community venues:  Health Walks  Beginners running  Family activates  Bodyline Access Scheme

Our Aim  To investigate and produce recommendations for LLGA on how and to what extent faith communities and religious organisations can be useful in developing links with the wider community, helping them to encourage a higher participation in physical activity among them.  Specifically:  What general understanding and current commitment to physical activity is there?  Are there any incentives to participate?  What religious commitments or boundaries are there affecting participation in physical activity?  What opportunities of promoting/encouraging members to join LLGA are there?

Academic Background Reading  Woods, R.B Social Issues in Sport. Human Kinetics  Religious Mapping Beeston  Dr. Mel Prideaux PhD Focused on Beeston  Creswell, J Qualitative Enquiry and Research Design. London: Sage Publications  Bryman, A Social Research Methods. New York: Oxford University Press

Data Collection Method Qualitative Research Is a method used in many different academic disciplines that use subjective judgment based on non quantifiable information. It is aimed at gaining a deep understanding of a specific organisation or event, rather a than surface description of a large sample of a population. It is used to get a better understanding through first hand experience. It aims to understand how the participants derive meaning from their surroundings, and how this meaning influences their behavior.

Why Qualitative Research  Allows one to encompass all kinds of research, rather than focusing on just one aspect such as statistics.  Allows the development of Grounded theory  Sensitising concepts  The key is in the detail  Literary Style of report  Active learner

Semi-Structured Interview  Start with an ‘Interview Guide’: - a list of questions that have fairly specific topics in which the researcher wishes to cover, but the interview itself has a great deal of leeway and does not have to abide by the guide.  The aim is that all the questions on the guide are asked, with any additional points added by both the interviewer and participant as the interview progresses.  We aimed for rich, detailed answers, providing us with as much information as possible.

Selected Participants Sikh Community Muslim Community Christian Community Existing secular organisations, similar to LLGA

Ethical Precautions  Informed Consent  Participant Anonymity  Recordings – all with granted permission. Once transcribed onto computer files, all were deleted.  Cultural differences  Role as researchers

Criticisms - Too Subjective & Impressionistic - Researcher Bias - Difficult to Replicate - Problem of generalising With two researchers we hope to reduce risk of this and the damage it might have. Aim to provide as much detail as possible. Any additional research done by another, similar to ours will in its diversity only provide more findings to better the intentions of LLGA. Further studies vital.

Analysis SUCCESSFUL! Made contact with all desired participants Ample Information Positive response & future for LLGA

Questions?